Last Updated on September 13, 2023
Virtual assistants are game-changers for startups and entrepreneurs. However, there are various types of virtual assistants you can onboard to decrease your stress and increase your productivity.
As the demand for virtual assistants is increasing, it is key to remember that there are many types of remote assistants who can complete the tasks you want to delegate.
What is a virtual assistant?
The standard definition of a virtual assistant is a person who undertakes tasks remotely, usually from their home office. In their quiet office space, these assistants can perform various tasks based on their skill sets.
Hiring the most appropriate virtual assistant means knowing what type of virtual assistant you are looking for. It is best to make a list of tasks to be delegated before deciding on the type of virtual assistant to source.
Different types of virtual assistants
Here we will focus on the most in-demand virtual assistants. However, there are many more – just visit our services page to see more types of virtual assistants.
Virtual Social Media Assistant
Social media is a critical part of digital marketing and your overall marketing strategy. The problem is that social media can overwhelm you – you can easily spend up to 10 hours each week on your social media marketing.
However, when you delegate these tasks to a virtual social media assistant, you free up your own time to focus on your core work. There are many different virtual social media assistants to choose from.
The various types of virtual social media assistants
This list can be divided based on the type of work that must be completed; and on whether there are more specialized skills required.
However, here are some examples: Facebook ad manager, Pinterest virtual assistant, YouTube video manager, and generalist social media manager.
Virtual Real Estate Assistant
Real estate agents and real estate agencies can certainly benefit by hiring a virtual real estate assistant. This type of virtual assistant can do more than posting ads or following up with potential buyers or renters.
Other work includes preparing and filing paperwork, dealing with emails, acting as appointment settlers, and creating reports. Additionally, a virtual real estate assistant can manage your calendar and set up meetings.
They can also assist with some basic social media management. Such a person may be given the task of writing some articles or blogs that will form part of your content marketing efforts.
Your virtual assistant can also manage your database and your email campaigns and conduct research for you
Virtual Research Assistant
A virtual research assistant is a person who will conduct internet research. There are, however, many different tasks they can manage.
These tasks include accumulating research data, preparing the data, and presenting it in an easy-to-understand format. The assistant can search for statistics and useful sites for up-to-date information.
Additionally, the assistant can pinpoint where there is space for the business to grow while researching your competition and finding better vendors
Virtual Administrative Assistant
A virtual admin assistant can save you two to three hours each day! Besides freeing up your time, they can help to grow your business.
This is because a virtual admin assistant can help handle phone calls and emails. Your virtual assistant can see to the scheduling, make travel arrangements, and set up the meeting and calendar management.
Also, they can help with customer management and bookkeeping and ensure that all your filing is correctly performed.
eCommerce Virtual Assistant
eCommerce businesses are thriving, especially post-Covid. However, as online stores are becoming busier, the workload has also increased.
A virtual assistant can ease your burden and help you to manage your business better. Here the virtual assistant can manage the transactions, handle the inventory, assist with SEO descriptions, perform basic editing of images, and analyze the competition.
Also, they can assist with customer service, help with orders, assist with data entry, and manage exchanges and returns.
Various types of eCommerce Virtual Assistants
There are many different types of eCommerce virtual assistants. Your choice of assistant depends on the type of online platform you are utilizing.
For example, there are virtual assistants who specialize in platforms such as Amazon, eBay, Magento, and Shopify.
Data Entry Virtual Assistant
A task that can be extremely time-consuming and repetitive is data entry. For this reason, many businesses hire a virtual assistant to complete this task.
More so, the owner can save time and money this way. The virtual assistant will arrange, assemble, and categorize data for entry, review data for correctness, manage the database, and create reports.
Virtual Bookkeeping Assistant
Bookkeeping is part of most businesses, regardless of size. A virtual assistant can assist with both record-keeping and bookkeeping procedures.
The assistant can also help with budgeting, account reconciliation, and projecting the cash flow. In addition, such an assistant can help with your revenue expenditure management, payroll processing, and bank account reconciliation.
Virtual Marketing Assistants
Hiring a virtual marketing assistant can streamline the marketing efforts of any business while still applying an aggressive marketing strategy.
Here a virtual marketing assistant can help with social media marketing, perform keyword research, manage AdWord campaigns, promote your products and services, and also your YouTube videos and blogs.
They can also conduct research on the competition and new trends and set up email campaigns.
The bottom line
Although we have only discussed eight types of virtual assistants in this article, there are many more. However, these eight are the most popular virtual assistant.
The benefits of hiring a virtual assistant are that virtual assistants can free up your time and boost your productivity; they are therefore cost-effective.
Paying an assistant will cost less than it would cost you to do the work. Meanwhile, you have more time to focus on your core work.
If you need help deciding on a virtual assistant that would best suit your company – simply book a free consultation call with our outsourcing expert.
