Ready to rock social media in 2017?

4 reasons a PR partner may be good for you

In the world of social media in 2017, you have to be all in. Effective social media includes a robust content strategy, a regular drumbeat of content and conversation and ongoing conversation monitoring. It can be a full-time job for someone at a small company. At a large corporation, it can require a whole team of professionals.

So if you’re ready to step up your social media game in 2017, where do you begin? The first step is to analyze what resources you need for what you want to accomplish. Many organizations may be debating between hiring new staff or working with an agency that specializes in public relations and social media. While having a team in-house that is privy to social media is important, there are also numerous benefits to working with an agency.

Reduce staffing costs.

Hiring can be time-consuming and expensive. Think about the resources you need to hire a social media manager or social media team, including everything from recruiting to benefits and office space. Working with an agency will eliminate those costs and provide peace of mind that you’re working with industry experts.

Work with those on the front line.

PR professionals are agile and accustomed to changing. Every day they tackle complex challenges from clients in diverse industries. They are constantly using the latest communications outlets to send messages on behalf of their clients. When it comes to your social media approach, gone are the days when you pass it off to an intern or the first person in the office to have a Twitter account. Instead, tap into the experts. They know what they’re doing, and they won’t let you down.

Understand your overall strategy.

If you’re currently working with an agency for your public relations or marketing plans, then they already understand your big picture goals, and they can strategize the best way for social media to help you achieve your goals.

Access to resources.

A good social media team doesn’t just publish tweets and Facebook posts. They create content and push out the content through social outlets. A social media team should have writing expertise, design expertise, communication expertise and even photo/video skills. Hiring an internal team with all of that experience will get costly fast. Instead, tap into an agency that already has skilled personnel who can crank out great content in no time at all.

Want to know more about managing your social media? Download Axia Public Relations’ e-book The Essential Social Media Management Guide to learn the best ways to reach your target audience.

Julie Miller is a marketing and communications professional with more than seven years of experience in the industry. She specializes in technology, digital marketing and communications. Julie has worked for Axia Public Relations since November 2015. Connect with Axia on Twitter @axiapr or tell us what you think in the comments below.