While they may employ individuals who know how to use social media for themselves, personal experience doesn’t necessarily translate into successful brand strategies.
We’ve seen how things can take a turn for the worse when companies share content publicly by accident, or without adequately planning or reviewing it. Maintaining a healthy and effective online presence for brands requires much more thought and effort than it does for an individual. It requires ongoing planning, consistent management, and, in working with experts who can handle the moving parts, a decent budget.
From platform selection to content recommendations on a per channel basis, a brand needs a tailored playbook that best suits its needs and objectives. Here we break out the elements—and cost buckets—associated with setting up and running a successful social-media account:
Ensures that proper strategies and procedures are in place to set your brand up for success.
Ensures that there is enough inventory of content in the pipeline to be used for selected social platforms.
Ensures day-to-day operations, monthly KPI reporting, and ongoing performance optimization.
Addresses potential social media blunders or unexpected issues.
When you multiply all of these costs by the number of your brand’s social accounts, they add up fairly quickly. While it’s possible to achieve some economies of scale by recycling content across channels, many platforms require unique and relevant content for best results. (Marketers used to think that all channels should look and feel the same, but that level of consistency can actually be detrimental to your brand.)
Different social channels offer varying levels of exposure to your brand, so why not take advantage of them? Just be aware that it’s not the same as doing it free of cost for yourself.