One of the main reasons to hire a social media company is to make sure the whole social media marketing process doesn’t get overwhelming. Your social media agency does more than simply take over the management of your accounts. They streamline the experience for your users. They ensure that your audience feels comfortable engaging with you on Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest and other platforms. A top social media firm is always uncovering new opportunities for you. Let’s examine 8 ways that they do that, and how they maximize your investment in social media marketing:

1) Consistent posting to keep fans returning to your accounts for the latest news. This is one of the most important reasons to hire a social media company. They stay involved on your account and post new content daily. Over time your audience looks forward to this steady stream of content and that builds engagement and loyalty.

2) Competitive research that helps your audience understand how you provide the best solution to their problems. One of the key roles your social media company undertakes is that of detective. They need to be watching what your competitors are doing. Your agency will review your competitors’ content and strategy. Your agency can report back to you and you can decide if you would like to share similar content (photos, messages, coupons, etc.). It’s okay to create similar posts, but your agency will be tasked with creating a point of view that demonstrates your value proposition.

3) Timely posting to match and follow trends. Timeliness is huge on social media. Your agency will need to create and distribute content that works perfectly for specific times. They should create content for particular holidays, important events taking place in your industry, and the latest trends in your vertical. These are extremely important times to reach out to your audience and social media is a great way to do that.

4) Follow commentary and mentions about our brand and engage directly with people on social media. Posting is only part of what a good social media company does. It also has to observe what is said about your brand and then engage directly with your audience to answer questions, spread goodwill, and help resolve issues should they arise.

5) Save you time. Your social media company is staffed by professional social media specialists who can do an effective job in less time (using tools and techniques of the trade) than it would take someone internally who would need initial and sustained training.

6) Your social media company can review past content posts and see which content has succeeded with your audience; i.e., directed them to contact you or buy products from you. Your agency can then capitalize on this by creating similar content for the future. The best agencies work from an editorial calendar and they use that calendar to track what content is resonating with your audience.

7) Your agency knows the most effective platforms to use to reach your audience. They post content on those platforms that will direct your audience to transact with you. Few businesses use all of the social platforms. It’s best to have your agency find the top two or three platforms where your audience likes to congregate. They should post to those, versus spreading your investment too thin on too many social networks.

8) Save money. Outsourcing your social media allows you to allocate your internal resources to best advantage. When you hire an agency to work on your social media (and doing this assumes you have done your due diligence and hired a firm that is the right fit for you) you can free up internal staff to work on other areas of your business.

Bonus Tip: A top agency will use your key phrase research to align your social posts with your other online marketing initiatives. If you have not had your key phrase research updated in the last year, ask your social media company to run a new list and look for the latest key phrase opportunities.