Virtual assistants (VAs) are consultants who can help you run your business and social media accounts. They can perform a variety of tasks, including email and calendar management. Virtual assistants have many uses. A primary role is that of social media manager—or at least, most popularly so.
What is a virtual assistant?
A virtual assistant is an independent contractor (not an employee). A VA can be hired on a per-task basis, by the hour, or on a monthly retainer. If you hire a VA on retainer, they’ll add them to their calendar. They can then schedule your meetings, removing that responsibility from you.
Why is social media important for a business?
Social media is the new marketing hub. Social media is where your customers are and, therefore, where you need to be. Here are some of the top reasons that social media is essential for small businesses:
- Social media helps you connect with your customers. Social media platforms allow businesses to engage directly with their customers in real-time. These direct exchanges can help build customer loyalty, improve customer service, and boost sales.
- Social media engagement can help you reach new audiences more quickly than other marketing methods. Social media has a broader reach than any other form of marketing. This is because it relies on word-of-mouth recommendations from existing customers rather than paid advertisements or other traditional forms of promotion.
- Social media helps you stay up to date with trends in your industry so that you can remain competitive and relevant in the marketplace.
- Also, social media allows you to measure customer reactions to changes in products or services so that changes can be made quickly based on customer feedback via social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.
Virtual assistant and social media manager
The term virtual assistant is often used interchangeably with the word social media manager.’ However, not all VAs are social media managers. Some virtual assistants may specialize in administrative tasks like scheduling and organizing, while others focus on project management and research. Some people who work as VAs don’t even have a background in communications or marketing—they may have worked in sales or operations before becoming a VA. There are some critical differences between these two roles:
VAs are professionals who work remotely (i.e., not in an office), providing business support. While many of them have social media management skills, not all do
Social media managers and VAs are two different roles but have many overlapping skills. You may, therefore, wonder which one is right for your business. VAs are professionals who work remotely (i.e., not in an office), providing business support. While many of them have social media management skills, not all do. Depending on their availability and expertise, they can be hired by the hour or on a monthly retainer and will typically manage multiple clients at once.
While many VAs have expertise in creating content, others do not. For example, a VA with great administrative assistance and email marketing skills may not be able to make the images or videos you need for your posts.
While VAs are often great resources for creating and managing content, they are not always the best people for the job. Many VAs have specialized skills that lend themselves to assisting with social media management. However, not everyone can create or manage your social media content. For example:
- A VA with great administrative assistance and email marketing skills might be unable to create the images or videos you need for your posts.
- Plus, a VA with excellent writing skills may be able to help with blog posts but not necessarily tweets or Facebook status updates. The bottom line is that you, as a business owner (or manager), must know what kind of assistance your VA can provide before hiring one!
Some VAs are generalists.
These generalist virtual assistants can perform various tasks, including email management, calendar management, and data entry. Such Vas are well versed in the technology tools you need to run your business (more on these below) but don’t specialize solely in one area, such as social media content creation.
It’s time to hire a virtual social media assistant!
Social media is constantly evolving. Where once you could say, “I’ll do “I’llelf,” now that “is not possible – you need to hand over your social media management duties. However, to do so, you need someone savvy in social media who can handle your accounts while you’re busy with something else. Some VAs specialize in email management or social media content creation—and some have both abilities! You may want your VA to focus primarily on one or both areas at once. Using virtual social media assistants is an excellent way of managing multiple social media accounts without hiring someone full-time. VAs are affordable, flexible, and a customizable way of enhancing your social presence daily. VAs can manage your day-to-day tasks, leaving you more time to run your business. Social media marketing is essential for showcasing your company’s increasing visibility across the internet today. More so, a virtual assistant manages your online presence through services on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Pinterest.
Conclusion
Ultimately, it would help if you found a VA who fits your needs. While most VAs can handle administrative tasks and social media management duties, don’t assume one person can do everything for you. That said, if you have someone who can help with your monthly newsletter, create graphics for your social media posts, or even manage your email inbox, that could be a huge benefit. Ultimately, a virtual social media assistant helps businesses succeed on social media.