Hiring a Virtual Assistant for social media?

Question

Does anyone have any recommendations for a VA? Specifically to make facebook and instagram content. I see a lot of the experienced syndicators and large brands that have custom pics posted every day. Thanks for any help!!

Melissa McRay Johnson · Answer

Outsourcing marketing was a game changer for my business. You can find people on Upwork and Indeed, as well as VA providers like RocketStation. I have someone that I use to help me create video content, then that content gets chopped up into mini content (quote posts for Instagram, short videos for LinkedIn and Facebook, blog posts, photos, etc.) and distributed through the platforms I engage in. Someone who is good at marketing will understand how to squeeze the most content out of everything you do. It's helpful to shoot longer videos and then have them chopped rather than doing a whole bunch of really short videos. Make sure whoever you hire knows how to edit videos well, has an idea of your aesthetic, understands your audience, and is testing and measuring the results of all marketing endeavors. They should also provide you with some analytics and numbers on ROI for your marketing.

Hope this helps!

Mark Shaver · Answer

@John James, your virtual assistants can post news on Facebook and Instagram via social CRM like EClincher or via Social Media Marketing Platforms like Hootsuite. Read the article "7 Best Social CRM Software".

@Brian Briscoe, you wrote: "I want to keep my content in my voice with my personality shining through.  So I'm not outsourcing the that part..."

When the president addresses the nation (image by Wikipedia):

he usually reads the text of his assistant with a teleprompter (image by Wikipedia):

In my humble opinion, it's wise to delegate the creation of our personality to people who know this better than we do - hairdressers, makeup artists, photographers, speechwriters, image-makers, press officers, ... A good virtual assistant will further enhance the shining of your personality.

Brian Briscoe · Answer

There are free options... college interns.  Looking at that option now for several areas of our business.

Like @Taylor L., I want to keep my content in my voice with my personality shining through.  So I'm not outsourcing the that part... I will soon have someone polish it up and make it useable in several mediums and formats...

Lee Ripma · Answer

@Douglas Spence

I found a guy to do this for me on upwork that seemed really good, I’m sort of a control freak about what goes out so I haven’t delegated it yet. I’m sure there are lots of folks who are good on upwork. I am happy to sent you his name since I vetted him already (but always do your own DD). Speaks great English and is fantastic with technology is a must for any VA.

Mark Shaver · Answer

@Melissa McRay Johnson, I agree with you that virtual assistants are opening the way to video marketing. The long videos are not being watched now, but they are convenient to shoot. A virtual assistant makes a dozen small 1-2 minute videos out of one long video. It's the benefit:

• Short video is convenient to publish on social networks
• It's convenient to refer to them in correspondence
• Such a video should be inserted at the beginning of the article to introduce you to the readers
• Short video playlist is convenient for surfing. Everyone can choose short clips to their taste.

Example of a short video playlist.

Taylor L. · Answer

I'm working on this as well. I think having a pool of content that they can work off of is probably the best way to get started. Basically they can repurpose, rewrite, and repackage content that you've generated for the Facebook & Instagram audience. It'll be your unique voice and message, which is the thing I've struggled with most in the past when hiring VAs to generate content.

Doug Spence · Answer

Awesome! How much are you paying him Lee? I worked out a deal with a VA to create 30 posts (generated from articles I have already written) for $60.

Jason Graves · Answer

@Douglas Spence

Let’s work on this together...

Doug Spence · Answer

Wow this is all fantastic information. Thanks for sharing everyone. I'm trying to find a good VA now to help with my social media account, and I love the idea of them taking charge of it and repurposing my blogs and other content into IG posts.

www.onlinejobs.ph was recommended. Has anyone used them to find a VA? The prices are great but I know you "get what you pay for"...

Diego Hodge · Answer

@John James I would highly recommend it. Especially if you are going to post unique but redundant information. For example if you take a short blog post and instead of posting it you break it up into small bites and create visuals to support it that can be something that your VA can be responsible for. The key is to create some sort of system for your VA to follow while still having the ability yourself to post one-offs. Also engagement is huge. Your VA can go into hashtags and start commenting on interesting post. I use my VA to send birthday, anniversary, nice to meet you greeting cards etc. out to people in my network and others that I meet with or interact with along the way (including social media). She also sends cards to Authors of books that I have read. She sent a greeting card to Stephen Schwarzman at Blackstone about his book that I read, “What It Takes”. Stephen emailed me to thank me for taking the time do it. Relationships online and offline our huge and my VA helps me to be more intentional about it. Forgive me for the tangent.

Hiring a Virtual Assistant for social media?

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