With the rise of social networks, what we can call the professional profile of social media has been developed , that is, the work characteristics of the person who works daily to promote the digital image of a service or product of a company.
I do not speak in this case of professional characteristics or aptitudes, but of the professional form that the community manager can acquire when working with a client taking his digital communication in Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google+, etc.
From the freelance we go to the opposite front: the internal contracted one. Only companies with developed digital identities require an in-house professional that works with the social media channels one on one and in direct connection, as a general rule, with the communication, advertising and marketing departments.
The option of the internal professional is not the most common – except in large brands – nor the most appropriate for SMEs because of its high cost, because it increases the cost of personnel. You should always justify a position like this based on the performance that can provide the company to work internally with social networks.
The most economical possibility to date is to hire a social mediaprofessional who works through an agency , usually communication or advertising. However, in this case, several aspects must be taken into account, among them the ability of the agency to cover our professional needs.
One of the points to consider is how to manage our “account” -enders as a customer-. Will a person always be linked to the product? Will we always have the same contact or will we depend on several community that will work sporadically on our “account”?
The main problem is to properly measure the objective results of a campaign in social media, if this issue is not solved it ends up damaging the trust in social networks as a marketing channel.
From my point of view, it is fundamental to demand that the person who is going to assume our work in social networks knows the brand perfectly and knows how to work with its values . While it is not absolutely necessary to carry our “account” exclusively, yes determinant that knows what we do to the millimeter.
The possibilities to face communication campaigns in social networks are diverse. Choosing one or another option will depend on our economic possibilities (available investment). Surely the most skeptical in social networks will have the first option outsourcing by agency without forgetting that the most important thing is to train employees in the proper use of social networks.
Undoubtedly, it is a way to start communicating on social networks that will allow you to take the first steps without a high investment. As a general rule, the path followed implies first the outsourcing ( freelance or agency) for later, whenever possible, internalize the work of digital communication .