In my opinion, you need a social media consultant to help you understand more about why your companies needs social media and what you can use it for. 

I believe its necessity falls under these six areas and in this order. 

1. Reputation – people say a lot of positive and negative stuff online. You need to know when someone is bad-mouthing you or becoming an advocate for you. 
2. Customer Service – People assume if you have a social media presence, you respond to questions on there. If you set up a channel, ensure you have someone to monitor it.  
3. Revenue – If your audience is on social media, you could be losing sales. People who are interested in your product or service will most likely want to see what you get up to online. In most businesses, your most engaging customer is usually your most profitable. 
4. Time – The owner of the business is always the best advocate. However running a business takes time and effort. It would be best if you weighed up the opportunity cost of not being there. 
5. Creativity – Some business owers may not be creative and need a hand deciphering what to do and what type of content to create. Your social media consultant would do this for you. 
6. Community – people love brands. If you can build an audience of avid product buyers or service users, you have a powerful community that can help you grow. 

Most Social Media Consultants will charge between €50 to €250 per hour depending on their level of experience, perceived value, time availability and business situation. They may also charge based on project fees.

I charge €75 per hour. Generally I’ll work with companies for a minimum of 8 hours a month for a minimum 6 – 12 months. Organic social media takes time. I’ve worked with some clients for over 5 years developing their online branding.

A freelancer will generally charge less than an agency. Agencies may have large staffing and office costs. If you’re a large company and need over 20 hours a week on a project a large agency may be more suited to your needs.

You may also opt to employee a full-time in-house Social Media Marketing when you’ve realised the value and ROI of social media for your company.

A social media consultant is your spokesperson for your social networks. You need to be sure they have the best interests of your company as their number one priority. Together you should decide what KPi’s you expect when working together.

While improving your presence online, your social media consultant should let you know about all positive and negative feedback.

When deciding on a social media consultant, you should ask a series of questions to see if you’ll work well together.

1. How do they conduct themselves online?

You should check out your consultants’ activities online. Their reputation should be important to them. Seeing how they conduct themselves on their private social platforms should be a good indication of how they’ll potentially represent your brand.

Checking their personal profiles will indicate if you’re a good potential team. If their interests are similar to yours you may have a better working connection.

Personalities don’t always mean you’re choosing the best candidate so keep reading.

2. Speak about Success Stories

Your consultant should be open about success stories they’ve had for previous clients. You should walk through some visuals of their previous social media marketing efforts as a proof method.

You may meet a few consultants that are quiet about other clients, especially if you’re in a similar industry. You can respect confidentiality too.

3. What industries does your consultant have experience in?

If you find a consultant that has expertise in your industry, you have an advantage. Especially if you know their client had a successful social media campaign or presence.

4. How open is your social media manager?

Ask them what they’d do if you signed their services. What would be the first item on the checklist? It’s a simple way to put your consultant on the spot and see how creative they are.

Take a lot of notes in your initial consultation. Consultants understand that sometimes you don’t gel with a client. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t give them the best advice possible to help them.

5. Measuring Results

A lot of consultants will be quick to take work but you need to be sure you agree a reporting structure you’re happy with. When you agree your KPi’s, you need to ensure you have a way of tracking them.

If you’re tracking leads it maybe a spreadsheet. If you’re focusing on traffic choose Google Analytics. If you need multiple sources of information you should really set up a unique dashboard with Google Data studio. You decide the format. You’re consultant should show you a few different options.