Social media is one of the most popular and fastest growing methods of marketing your business today. Yet most marketers are not fully aware of the benefits of social media management. If you are new to social media, then you might not realize all the benefits you can reap by using social media to your advantage. I will outline below some of the top benefits of social media management that you should be aware of.

Becoming a social media manager does not necessarily require an educational background in marketing. The majority of social media managers began their careers as marketing assistants for large corporations. This experience enabled them to learn how to effectively use multiple platforms to promote products. However, if you are looking to become a social media manager, it certainly does not mean you have to have a degree in marketing or advertising to succeed. In fact, even those with no backgrounds in advertising or marketing can benefit from a few campaigns under their belts.

First, conducting a social media management audit is important. You want to make sure that your company is utilizing its platforms in the most effective ways. For example, a balanced scorecard analysis will show which platforms give you the best engagement and which do not. You also want to be able to tell which platforms give you the most traffic and which ones draw in the lowest amount of visitors. If you are able to pinpoint which social media management platforms are not giving you the results you desire, then you can make significant changes to your strategy.

Second, having the right tools is key. The problem with some social media companies is that they do not provide the tools necessary for proper campaigns. Therefore, a social media management consultant can help you identify which platforms provide you with the information you need, and which ones you should avoid at all costs. By using the analytics provided by most platforms, you can analyze your audience, how you are making your ads, the types of keywords you choose, and so much more.

Third, and finally, the fourth step in managing social media is the implementation of these strategies. By analyzing the information provided by your analytics, as well as the data provided by your third-party sources such as Google AdWords, you can determine the success or failure of each social media campaign. By implementing the strategies that are drawing you the most success, you will be able to increase your revenue and actually save money in the long run.

Through step four, you can take a look at which social channels are bringing you the most success. In order to discover which conversations are working for your brand, it is important that you ask people directly on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and other social channels what they think about your brand. If you have an open dialogue on any given social media channel, it will help you gain a better understanding of what conversations interest your customers. Through this step, you will be able to find conversations that are working towards helping you build a better business, increase visibility for your brand, or even drive more sales.

As previously stated, social media management involves analyzing metrics. One of the metrics that are most useful for this step includes the number of interactions or “instances” that take place between customers and businesses through social media channels. Interaction is defined as a post that was created, shared, commented on, or replies were made to a post. This data will show you how many times a user went from one social media channel to another, how many pages they opened and read, and the keywords they used to enter these interactions. These metrics are useful because they will tell you that social media channel is working for your brand.

The final step in this process involves building your marketing funnel. Your marketing funnel involves all of the pages that are associated with your company. For example, if you were a dentist, your marketing funnel would include: your website, Facebook page, Twitter account, YouTube video, blog, and so on. By analyzing the types of social media that are working for your company, and then testing different aspects of those social media channels to see what works best for your brand, you will be in a better position to maximize your brand’s social media presence and generate greater return on investment.