As a business owner operating on the web, it’s important that you have knowledge of the inherent benefits of Social Media Marketing and Search Engine Optimization.
These two items play a large part of obtaining leads via social media platforms and search engine placement. They also lead to an increase in brand awareness due to regular placement atop others in your industry.
However, as a business owner your time is very valuable and it’s not always best for you to practice the strategies and tactics involved with these two items. Instead, this work is better off outsourced to third party services and providers so you can remain focused on the day-to-day operations and winning the big deals for the company.
Due to this need to seek companies providing these services, the marketplace has become saturated with providers (some good, some okay, and some downright terrible). The process of finding a reputable company for these services can be approached by using a series of best practices and proper due diligence in your research.
Here are a few of those tell-tale signs you may be dealing with the right individuals:
1. They’re active with engagement
Automation may be all the craze in online business and marketing but too much of it can actually harm your social engagement because it takes too broad of an approach to responding to feedback and sharing information that’s relevant to users.
A great company providing Social Media Marketing are those that have staff that are active in responding to the questions and comments with a personal touch. They engage the user and continue the customer experience.
2. They play the long game
Far too many companies and individuals you’ll uncover, when doing your research, are in it for the “quick wins” when it comes to showing you a return on your investment. The problem with the strategies they’re implementing is that they fail to make a lasting impression.
The intelligent approach is when they understand the importance of persistence, reputation and reviews, long-tail keywords, and laser focused engagement. As seen on the directory page for 29 Prime, this kind of comprehensive marketing requires a convergence of public relations, human resources, business development and technology.
3. They work with real numbers
How many times have you sat down with an employee or someone offering web services and listened to them shoot for the moon but crash on takeoff? A great deal of companies doing SM and SEO services love using the marketing angle of “benefits over features” and the “tell ‘em a story” to hook you in so they can make a grab for your money while you’re in an overly emotional state.
The name of the game is conversion marketing and it goes hand-in-hand with these other two items – in ways such as:
- Developing landing pages for specific campaigns
- Continual A/B testing of various elements like call-to-actions and headlines
- Active monitoring of brand keywords and search engine placement
- Regular reports and updates providing you with real numbers on conversions and engagement
The reputable companies are stone cold and dry. This is because they work around the numbers rather than lofty dreams.
Conclusion
Work off just these three factors when sourcing a company for SM & SEO services and you will have automatically removed a great deal of the low quality contenders.
Remember that your time is valuable, so it’s worthwhile to invest in these services but only if they’re reputable. Otherwise you could do great harm to your social media community, search engine rankings, and business finances.
