Fast-growing SME? Here’s why you should outsource your marketing. Today.

01 August 2022By Michelle

Your business is growing, fast. Great news, right? Time to pop the champagne corks, surely?
The truth is, having a business that’s growing rapidly isn’t all sunshine and lollipops.
Among keeping up with demand (and keeping customers happy), ensuring your staff don’t reach burnout and managing a burgeoning pile of admin, staying on top of your marketing can soon take a back seat. And as we’re about to explain, that could be a BIG problem…

Tick tock, tick tock – Stop wishing there were more hours in the day

64% of marketing teams report spending six or more hours each week on social media.

And if you don’t have a marketing team, those six hours turn into 12, 18 or more (practically a full-time job in itself).
The thing about social media that so many businesses overlook is that it has to be social – it should be about community and connections, not meaningless images or barely-thought out posts. It takes time and if your heart’s not in it, it shows. Which is right where a social media agency should step in. But not just any social media agency, because…

Outsourcing social media shouldn’t *just* be about social media
Any social media agency worth their salt should understand the whole customer journey – from stumbling upon your company to handing over their cash. This journey could (and often does) require:

• Social media strategy – which defines post frequency, content type, keyword research influencers and competitor research;
• Set-up and branding of your social profiles – graphics, branding and the voice of your copy should be consistent on every social platform
• Sharing and commenting on third-party posts – but only when they are relevant to your audience;
• Engagement – Striking up conversation and replying to comments;
• Ongoing monitoring – so you pick up on mentions of your company and capitalise on them;
• Customer service – responding to questions, queries or complaints;
• Staying in the loop by following relevant industry influencers and potential business customers/clients;
• Content marketing – developing original images, videos, memes, articles, blogs and resources;
• Email marketing – to progress the buying journey and the connection you have with your audience.

Growing quickly is tough. You should be focusing on scalability
88% of businesses enjoy increased exposure from using social media, 78% report increased website traffic and 69% an increase in customer loyalty.

There’s a lot you need to do in order to scale. Like automating your finances, customer support and sales process. Like growing a remote team so you can deliver more services to more clients (or sourcing new suppliers that can provide more products). Your extended social media team should not only lighten the load, but also have enough business acumen to change their support as you grow.

Social media *should* have played a role in getting you to this point – don’t let it grind to a halt
Business is good, you’re flying high. You increase outgoings – new storage, teams, supplies. Working 15-hour days, your social media slips. Then a slowdown-hits. Suddenly it’s not looking so rosy.
This is a very real risk with businesses that grow quickly. Keep feeding your growth through outsourced social media.

When you’re growing fast, there’s a lot of social-worthy news to share…
Like follower milestones, new team members, a change in business premises. Everyone likes a success story. Tell them about it.
Other things to keep them in the loop about include:

• New or discontinued products and services;
• Changes to company address or hours;
• Special promotions or contests;
• Links to articles, blogs or places where your company takes centre stage;
• Events or conferences you attend.

At Lead Social, we’re here to help you grow (in fact, that’s kind-of our job). We understand just how stressful this time can be, and that your marketing needs to be on-point if it’s to support you as you take your next business steps. Let’s talk about how we can do this, together.
Book your free social consultation with us today.