A virtual social media assistant is the best thing for any business owner who wanted to concentrate more on growing their business. Every business owner typically knows that an impeccable digital presence is valuable for the success of the business. Most successful brands found their success through engaging their customers endlessly. However, it is harder to attend to all the business’s social media accounts as a business owner when it grows and still runs it.
Running the business’s social media accounts is not necessarily the business owner’s task. Between running the business and making sure your audience is engaged, disaster is bound to happen. Thus, as you focus on running the business, you can delegate the duty of managing your social media accounts to a virtual assistant to ensure that there is frequent posting, the audience is engaged, and your social media presence remains strong.
Who is A Virtual Social Media Assistant?
By definition, a virtual assistant provides support services to a business remotely. In the case of a virtual social media assistant, they do not have to be within your business premises but can access and run your social media accounts from anywhere. As a business owner, you will be required to provide your social media accounts log-in information to your virtual assistant and let them run your accounts.
What Should You Expect From A Virtual Social Media Assistant?
A virtual social media assistant’s primary duty is to ensure that your social media presence is not affected as you carry out your business. Among other things, virtual social media assistants can:
a) Manage multiple social media accounts.
The virtual social media assistant will manage all the business social media accounts. Their job will be to pay attention to replies and respond to them accordingly, reach out to the target audience and prospective clients, share content frequently and consistently and schedule content. An excellent virtual social media assistant will manage your accounts effectively, and you can run your business without worrying about how your social media presence is affected.
b) Identify and interact with your target audience.
A successful social media presence by a business ensures that it reaches the people who will bring profits into the business. A virtual social media assistant is therefore expected to get to your target audience and interact with them. The posts they make should be able to attract the correct niche of people to your business platform. A good social media assistant will make your social media platforms work for you.
c) Schedule and manage the calendar.
Virtual assistants are not just there to manage your social media schedule. Indeed, they do so, but a skilled virtual social media assistant will schedule posts on your platforms for maximum impact.
d) Marketing.
Today, most marketing efforts are done through social media. Social media marketing has gained traction such that anyone running business social media accounts can handle follow-ups and improvement of the marketing strategy. Your virtual social media assistant should be able to run your social media marketing campaigns through follow-up and managing the email communications connected to your business social media accounts.
Ignoring social media in the twenty-first century can be compared to digging a grave for your business. Social media presence goes beyond marketing as it is the first point of interaction for your customers to your business. Hiring a virtual social media assistant may be suitable for your business.
35 Features of Hiring A Virtual Social Media Assistant
When hiring a virtual social media assistant for your business, you want to ensure that your social media accounts are run to satisfaction. A good virtual social media assistant should be able to:
a) generate catchy ideas for posts b) draft social media content c) schedule posts d) monitor and respond to comments e) carry out content research f) manage marketing campaigns g) track social media metrics h) post regularly and consistently and i) ensure a good social media presence for your business.
Therefore, when hiring a virtual social media assistant, you should be keen on the process. Below are some of the things that, as a business owner, you could look at when hiring a virtual social media assistant.
1. Have clear expectations
You can not hire a virtual social media assistant who will be helpful to you if you do not know what you need them for. Having an idea will help you understand what to delegate to your assistant. A good assistant will also help you figure out what your needs are and perform them for you. However, having clear expectations as to why you need the assistant in the first place will be greatly useful.
2. Keep in mind the qualities you are looking for
A virtual social media assistant is an employee like any other. For this particular reason, you must ensure that they are qualified for the job at hand. The interview process should be designed to know how an individual will handle different situations when handling your social media accounts. While experience may count for something, someone’s wit and problem-solving ability may come in handier when running business social media accounts.
3. Keep in mind the skills you are looking for
Having a clear understanding of the skills you need from your virtual social media assistant will help you hire a person who is a perfect fit for the role. Every business owner needs different things from their employees. You need to know what you need from your virtual assistant to gain the full advantage of their capabilities.
4. Make communication clear
Since a virtual assistant is remote, you will need a communication system where information can easily flow between you and your virtual social media assistant. Communication is crucial in such an engagement, and you should thus hire a virtual assistant who can maintain total transparency during communications at any given time.
5. Have a suitable communication channel
Communication is very vital to the success of any healthy relationship. When hiring a virtual social media assistant, you should adopt a communication channel that is easy for both you and your assistant. Find a line of communication that will keep you both informed on the dealings of your engagement.
6. Find someone with expertise in your industry
As earlier mentioned, the virtual social media assistant is charged with keeping your social media presence impeccable. Therefore, you should hire someone who knows your line of business. An individual with solid experience in your industry and line of business will understand what your audience wants. Additionally, they will know how to attract your potential clients and engage your audience in a manner that will keep them coming back.
7. Find someone who can take responsibility for their actions
A good virtual social media assistant should be able to take ownership of mistakes they make while working. Only through taking responsibility for one’s actions can one purpose to correct themselves and become better. Getting someone who denies making mistakes may hurt your social media presence since your customers may find interacting with your brand a nuisance.
8. Find an individual who understands social media
What good is a social media assistant if they don’t understand it? Find an individual who fully understands how all the platforms where your social media accounts are working. In addition to the functionalities of these platforms, your virtual social media assistants should know what they can do for a business.
9. Inquire for verifiable references
Testimonials can give you a preview of how your prospective hire is. Ask for references from past employers to get a picture of their work ethics and whether their personality and skills match what you need.
10. Find a resourceful individual
A good virtual social media assistant should not only be good at completing the tasks assigned to them. Find an individual who is confident enough in their skills and experiences to share suggestions that can help improve their work while benefitting your business. A resourceful virtual assistant would be a great addition to your team compared to one who is only good at following orders.
11. Find a curious individual
While hiring, a curious individual who asks questions and asks for clarification shows that they will not do something without clearly understanding it. That way, you can be assured that whenever they carry out a task they are expected to, they are sure of what they are doing and will deliver results as you desire.
12. Have a probation period
Before ultimately having an individual as part of your team, carry out a trial run to see whether you are a perfect fit and can work together to advance the goals of your business. A probation period will allow you to identify the virtual social media assistant’s attention to detail, critical thinking, and work ethic. Additionally, you can ease your social media assistant into simple roles and gauge their ability to handle tasks before fully committing them to your business.
13. Find someone with good management skills
In most cases, your virtual social media assistant will have to run your business social media accounts without your supervision. To ensure that a virtual assistant can carry out their day-to-day activities smoothly without the constant need of having you guide them, it is good to find someone who possesses excellent management skills. Such an individual will be able to prioritize the different tasks given to them without missing out.
14. Hire an individual who is passionate about their work
The only way you can get the most out of a virtual social media assistant is if they value your business. This can only be possible if they are passionate about what they do since they will do their best to give you results.
15. Find someone whose personality is compatible with yours
Since your virtual social media assistant is someone who will be working closely with you and representing your business on social media, their personality should be compatible with yours. The only way to work well with an individual is to blend and efficiently work together, even remotely.
16. Hire an individual who understands your target audience
Your virtual social media assistant will be connecting with your social media audience and bringing them closer to your business. Therefore, they should understand your audience or be willing to improve their knowledge of connecting with them for your business’s best interest.
17. Find someone who will remain within reach
The fact that your social media assistant is virtual means that you can not physically access them. As such, you need to hire someone within your reach, not just in terms of a line of communication but also comfortable with your working hours. That said, if they are in different time zones from you, you should establish working hours so both of you can communicate with each other.
18. Find someone willing to learn
Rigidity should be one thing to look out for from an individual you want to hire as a virtual assistant. If they are not willing to learn, then they may not be able to grow with your business as it grows. The importance of having someone willing to learn new skills to improve themselves is that they can better their skills and become a great asset to your business as time goes on.
19. Find an individual who can accept feedback
A virtual social media assistant serious about improving their service delivery will seek feedback on areas to improve. Working with such an individual will ensure continuous improvement of your business social media accounts and, consequently, your social media presence.
20. Find someone who can deliver detailed reports
It is only through reports that you can track the progress of how work is done. An individual who can provide you with detailed reports of their work to track their work status, progress, and improvement areas is an excellent addition to your team. Moreover, your virtual social media assistant’s reports can help you monitor your social media return on investment.
21. Hire an individual who anticipates what you need
A good virtual social media assistant will take the time to understand your business. Additionally, they are able to understand the needs and anticipate what the business requires to improve them.
22. Find an individual who keeps you up to date
Since it is not physically possible to keep an eye on what your virtual social media assistant is doing, it is good to find someone who will keep you updated in good time.
23. Find an individual who is enthusiastic about research
Being a social media virtual assistant involves a lot of research. From the audience, competitors, and the content good for the target audience. In addition, you should collaborate with someone who knows how to obtain valuable information to enhance your social media outlook.
24. Hire a creative individual
Since handling posts is one of the things a virtual social media assistant must do, it will be beneficial to you if you hire someone with a creative spark who can create new and worthy content.
25. Look for someone with good communication skills
Apart from communicating with you, your virtual social media assistant will be required to interact with and engage your audience at different levels. For instance, they would reply to customers’ comments or messages. They should therefore have good communication skills that will keep your customers indulged.
26. Look for someone conversant with social media tools
Many social media tools make the managing of social media accounts simple. Tools such as Socialays are essential in monitoring social media accounts and ensuring that no comments or replies are left unanswered.
27. Find someone with good problem-solving skills
One of the primary functions of a virtual social media assistant is to deal with customer grievances. An individual with good problem-solving skills will ensure that customer issues are solved in time and do not escalate to tarnishing the business brand.
28. Find someone with an excellent online presence
The primary advantage of hiring someone who already has an excellent online presence is that you already know that they are good at maneuvering the social media platforms. In addition, they already know how to build an audience. You are assured of their ability to build brand awareness on social media.
29. Look for someone without negative publicity
While publicity is publicity, that statement does not apply to typical businesses. That is to say, you do not want your business to be associated with individuals who have a bad reputation. They may lower your popularity as a result and have customers boycotting your products and services. Work with individuals who have clean records.
30. Hire within your budget
The main aim of hiring a virtual social media assistant is usually to free your hands so that you can run your business better without hurting your social media presence. However, you need to hire an individual within your budget so as not to strain your business. The good thing about virtual social media assistants is that they are mostly paid for work done, thus a wise investment.
31. Find an individual good at analyses
Part of managing your social media presence is accessing and analyzing essential data from your social media engagements. Therefore, a good virtual social media assistant should be good at analyzing data and interpreting it for the business’s benefit.
32. Find a resilient individual
Breaking through social media can be tricky and a lot of work, especially in the initial stages. Look for a resilient virtual social media assistant who can soldier through the initial days. Moreover, they should be tenacious when creating and maintaining an online presence. This is especially crucial if you have a business that is starting out.
33. Hire a customer-oriented individual
A big part of making a business’s social media presence a success is to ensure that your customer comes first. That is why you need a social media virtual assistant who knows the importance of the customer. Moreover, they should also know how to handle your social media accounts. Happy customers improve business sales.
34. Look for someone who can share in your vision
A social media assistant can only be helpful if they share the same vision as you. Additionally, by aligning themselves to your vision they can build your social media as to how you want it to be.
35. Hire someone ambitious
Ambitious people work diligently to build their careers while giving the best of their services to their employers. Hiring a social media virtual assistant who desires to grow themselves will prevent employee turnover. As a result, you are bound to get outstanding results from a self-driven and ambitious individual.
Guide To Social Media Virtual Assistants
When trying to find a Virtual Assistant, it may be hard to find a good one. However, you can quickly get yourself a virtual assistant from:
- a) Virtual Assistant Companies
There are many virtual assistant companies that can provide you with immediate help. In addition, these companies offer well-educated virtual assistants for a premium rate. Depending on your needs, these companies can hook you up with an assistant to help you run your social media accounts.
- b) Virtual Assistant Job Postings
You can hire a virtual assistant from the many sites that provide freelancers.
Boost Your Social Media Engagement
Social Media Virtual Assistants can help boost your social media engagement by;
- Scheduling posts across all your business social media platforms
- Refer people to your websites
- Keep your business information up to date
- Reply to comments on your posts
- Interact with your followers
- Respond to messages
- Keep your business social media accounts entertaining
Conclusion
Hiring a social media virtual assistant will effectively help you grow your social media without hindering activities that are important. However, getting excellent virtual assistance requires you to be careful. This is because the success of your business will be highly dependent on this individual. It is for this reason essential to take precautions when hiring someone as your virtual assistant.
