How to Work With an External Social Media Marketing Specialist

Hi! I’m Caitlin, and if you don’t already know I’m the social media marketing specialist at nvision. I decided to write a blog about how to work with a social media marketing specialist. Because as hiring someone externally to work on your social has become hugely popular. It’s still sort of new and can be awkward trying to find the bearings at first. Each business operates differently, so it’s very likely that the relationship and working experience a specialist will have with a client. Will be different. Every. Single. Time.

Social media marketing specialists are generally bubbly and outgoing people. Who come up with really random ideas. But that’s what makes us good at what we do. Because we work externally, it can sometimes make things difficult for us. But there are a few things that can help ease the process of working with each other. So your specialist better understands your business and can really

Rock your social.

1. Make them feel like they are part of the team

Making them feel like they are a member of your team is a great way to help them connect them to the brand. Whether you are looping them into team meetings, inviting them to the office for coffee and round-table meetings. Or even asking them to work out of your office once and while. You want them to gain the experience of your brand’s lifestyle. So even though they may not work out of your office every day. They still know the people who work there and how things run day-to-day.

2. Call them up for a chat often

Content calendars are great because they can be scheduled and ready to go. But there’s a lot of things that also come up week-to-week. Never be afraid to call up your specialist for a quick chat to check in. See how things are going and also to chat about some recent stuff that may have come up. Trust me, they won’t be annoyed, they’ll appreciate it.

3. Schedule reoccurring meetings

Whether you chat over the phone once a week and meet once a month. That connection is vital to your social. The connection is my favourite word when it comes to social strategy. I need to CONNECT to your brand to CONNECT to your social community. These meetings help me learn more and more about your business. I find that with each meeting I have with a client. I learn more about them, and the kind of passion they have for their business. That passion makes my content reflect what your brand so much better. And as the months continue, your social will continue to get better. Be yourself around your specialist. They’re a people person and want to get to know the real you and your brand.

4. Get them to experience the brand

I can sell your product or service online. But if I’ve never experienced it before. I’m probably just going to regurgitate what other people online are saying or what your website says about it. Get your specialist to experience your products or services. So they have a better understanding of what it is you want to sell or stand for. This is something that is SO important. We’re not looking for free stuff. We’re just trying to connect with it better. We’re basically your online sales reps, and if we know the product or service. We can speak to it much better.

5. Send them photos and invite them to events

Photos make the world go round these days. If there’s content you want to stand out, you need an amazing photo to go with it. If your specialist can’t be at the office but something hilarious or cool happened…send them a photo with a quick explanation. They will be happy to push them out in addition. To any other content, they have scheduled for the day. If you have an up-coming event invite your specialist! They can send out real-time posts and photos.

The best way to have a great relationship with your social media specialist. Is to keep them involved in as much as possible. Although they may have other clients on the go. It’s still important to try to include them in as much as possible. So they can really get a good connection with the brand.