3 Reasons to Hire a Social Media Agency

78% of people in the United States use social media -- a number that continues to rise. Even though we use social media as individuals on a day-to-day basis, trying to take your business onto social media can be daunting.

If you use social media marketing properly, you can reach more customers than ever before, and your sales can skyrocket. However, if you use it improperly, you risk wasting money at best -- and damaging your brand’s online reputation at worst.

By hiring a social media agency , you can gain all the benefits of using social media, without any of the risks to first-time marketers. Let's check out a few reasons why social media marketing might be better left to the professionals.

Social media agencies maximize budgets.

People new to social media advertising can expect to spend hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars -- just by trying to learn the ropes. On the other hand, a social media agency knows all the in’s and out’s of social media and paid advertising. Instead of piecing together an ad campaign and hoping for the best, an agency will employ tried-and-true practices to squeeze the most value out of every dollar you spend on ads.

Even if you don’t want to utilize advertising, just getting organic traffic is no walk in the park. Social media websites are constantly updating their algorithms, forcing businesses and agencies to relearn everything. Unless you’re following the best practices for your niche and audience, your Facebook and Instagram posts are likely to get drowned out as thousands of other brands compete for attention.

With a social media agency, you don’t have to worry about this. They probably manage the social media accounts of dozens of brands, and since it’s their whole business, they already know how to get the most out of your marketing -- whether free or paid.

Social media agencies help avoid public embarrassment or damage to your brand.

A bad social media campaign could spell trouble for your business, and not just in the form of lost funds.

When you’re sitting within the walls of your own business, it’s easy to assume that a joke you came up with for a social media post will be just as clever to everyone else as it is to you. Unfortunately, this is not the case, even for experienced and intelligent executives. Unless you have significant experience with publishing and marketing already, there’s just no way for you to know for sure when something’s inoffensive or when it crosses a line.

If this seems farfetched, you should know that brands are constantly making this mistake -- even larger companies with their own marketing departments. Unless you’re well-versed in modern public culture, it’s nearly impossible to know 100% of the time whether it’s appropriate to say something online or not.

When you accidentally put something offensive or inappropriate online, things get messy fast. Your account may be suspended. Your inboxes may get filled with hate notes from people who were once your fans. You could even end up being the target of a lawsuit.

Fortunately, social media agencies make their living by avoiding these issues altogether. Because they specialize in media and marketing, agencies know what not to say online to avoid the slightest chance of controversy.

Social media agencies give helpful perspectives from outside your brand.

It pays dividends to be a leader, rather than a follower, on social media. In other words, you don’t want to just capitalize on trending ideas -- you want to originate them.

However, that can be easier said than done, especially when your marketing department consists of two or three people with responsibilities outside of social media.

A social media agency will give you the benefit of an outside perspective. Often, we get stuck inside our bubble of perception, and how things look to us aren’t really how they are. Outsourcing to a good social media agency can help to eliminate this problem before it becomes a problem, especially where your online presence and social media marketing are concerned.

From having an outside perspective to avoiding unhealthy controversy, hiring a digital marketing agency to manage your business’s social media presence can provide enormous benefit to your growth.