[00:00:00] Welcome to this week's episode of Beauty Babble. Today, we're going to chat about Five things to consider before you hire a social media manager. I know sometimes we don't always call them or I've, I've heard that they're called social media person or social, whatever, you know, somebody to help you with your social media.
[00:00:20] This has been a, Topic that we've encountered with some of the people that we've talked to lately and so we thought it'd be a good idea to bring It to our listeners. Hi, Suzanne. How are you? I'm not alone. 
[00:00:33] Yeah. Yeah. No, this has definitely come up through discussion. So I'm glad that people have reached out so we thought we need to bring this to you and hopefully this will help you before you go ahead because I know social media can be overwhelming.
[00:00:49] And you're trying to just do your business and do the service and you just want to do what you love to do. And not everyone has the time or the know how, right? And so this is [00:01:00] kind of like an, hopefully it's an easy guide on what to look for before you invest. into someone, your social media person.
[00:01:10] Manager. 
[00:01:10] I think before, like, before diving into the list, which I've tried to simplify as much as possible, I just wanted to, like, I, you know, define it. So, you might not call them a social media manager, maybe they're your social media person, but basically, you're getting somebody to help you post on social media.
[00:01:29] Because, like you said, it can be a little, a little much, and I know a lot of our listeners probably do their own social media, but you get to a point where you're either frustrated or you're too busy, but you've decided, okay, I need help because really, it, it's a full time, it can be a full time job, so when you do get to that point, here are a few things to consider right before as you're preparing and then as you're going through hiring or meeting potential social media [00:02:00] managers.
[00:02:01] The first one, and I'm going to sound like a broken record, but of course it's always going to start with your goal. So really understand for yourself What is it that you want from social media before you hire somebody because then you're going to give them the guidance. They're not going to know what you want.
[00:02:19] They know social media, but you need to be clear on what you want. So for example, are you trying to get more clients from social media? Or maybe you started offering a new service and that's what you're trying to, you know promote or show that you do. Whatever it is, like really clearly This is what I want and doesn't have to be, it can be simple like that.
[00:02:42] We brought that up in our, in that workshop that we ran for free. And if anyone wants that link, let us know. We'd be happy to share it with you, but what's your why? Like, what is it? And that breaks it down to keep it really simple and very direct. I think is what you're trying to say [00:03:00] there, right? It can't just be, you know, A general over all thing.
[00:03:05] It's like you really do need to hone in and focus on. The one thing. And then you can keep changing that one thing. Exactly. Right? 
[00:03:13] A hundred percent. And you know, once you find the right person, they, you can work together and they can help you identify more goals or enhance it, whatever it is. But really just starting off with a little bit of a guide for them to go off of, right?
[00:03:29] And then the other thing, and I've said this, I have a post on my own social media where I've talked about this, is that your social media person. Most of the time is not going to be a, you know, a beauty pro. They're not going to be an expert in the industry. You'll be lucky if you get somebody who has experience in social media, in the beauty industry.
[00:03:50] But there's a lot of people that don't, and it's okay because they can still do an effective job regardless of what industry they work in, but you need to be giving them guidance [00:04:00] as well. And so the second point is about your audience. Like who are your clients? So, yes, the social media manager can look at your Instagram and your Facebook and they can pull analytics of your followers, but I find that what's really helpful is for you to tell them who are the people that come see you, who's getting treatments from you, give them a broad overview, right?
[00:04:23] Like say, you know, most of my clients are, you know, maybe they're all you. Maybe you're a lash tech and a lot of your clients are young professionals or whatever it is. Just giving them a clear identification of who your clients are and what are your most what services do you really do a lot of, right?
[00:04:40] Right. 
[00:04:42] So I think that can like two things, like gives them an idea, but also you can say maybe you're doing a lot of lash lifts, but not enough, I don't know, facials. And you really want to focus on facials. So telling them that too, like I want to shift and I want to target maybe you know, An older audience, whatever it is.
[00:04:59] I love how you said that, [00:05:00] I want to shift. So you, you don't need to promote to the people who come to you already. Right. 
[00:05:07] I mean, it's twofold, right? If you want more clients of the same, then, then just, I mean, you're talking to somebody who should be well versed in pulling out the interests and the pain points of audience members through their own research, but letting them know who your audience is first saves them time.
[00:05:31] Saves you that back and forth hassle of like, no, no, I don't, no, no, those aren't my clients. So just giving them something to get started with, I guess. 
[00:05:37] Right. I guess what I'm, what I'm saying is that sometimes when that question comes up to, to the beauty pros is that, well, my clients are this, and then they think that this is talking to their clients.
[00:05:49] But you're not like they're just, you're trying to figure out who is already coming to you and you want more of them, right? You want more people who do that or like you [00:06:00] said, or it's a new service, completely new service, who are likely to be doing those services, right? You can't say that, you know, 16 to age 80 are going to come to you for lashes, as an example, right?
[00:06:14] So who do you realistically think in an age category? Right? Or working or not working, or a student, or, right? Like, you need to be, that's what you're trying to say, right? Like, who's your audience? You can use who your clients are right now as a guide, but who are the new ones that you're looking for, or the new service likely that they would come to.
[00:06:37] I think that's kind of what you mean, right? 
[00:06:39] Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And I think, , that's kind of like the prep work that you would do before you start considering having a social media manager. But once you start looking at working with somebody really treating it like a, hiring a position. So checking their work [00:07:00] experience.
[00:07:00] And it's not just about, you know, looking through a resume and saying, okay, so they worked here for X amount of time they worked here, but actually sitting down and asking them like, what What did you do for this, you know, for your last client or whatever it is? Maybe they have multiple clients, but you and I were talking about this, like, what was that client's problem and what did you do and how did you help them reach their or solve their problem or reach their goal?
[00:07:25] Letting them kind of describe their work and their success is important because it gives you a little bit of insight into what they're capable of doing, if that makes sense. 
[00:07:36] Right. So you could even be direct and say, okay, let's say my goal, Doreen, is I want new clients. So tell me the last time that you worked with a client that you, like you worked with someone to help them gain more clients, new clients.
[00:07:51] Tell me about that experience and how did you, how successful was it? What was the outcome of it? Like, was that client happy? She ended up [00:08:00] having a couple new clients every month. Like, what did that look like? I love it. Absolutely. Yeah, it is this. This is what it is. It's just blindly saying you hire someone.
[00:08:12] You know, it's not, you know, you're not Coca Cola, can you afford to just throw out money and just say, hey, I need you and then they get to do what they want and there's no, we're asking you to talk to them to help you with your investment that you're about to do when you hire, so it's not wasteful, right?
[00:08:31] And that, and those questions get to the, to the important information because I think a lot of. I'm assuming a lot of social media managers or folks working in this field, they would probably have some kind of portfolio where you say, but if their portfolio is referencing like engagement rate and followers and data, like all these numbers, they may look good, but what do they mean?
[00:08:54] And it's really kind of like peeling back the, the vanity of all the numbers and actually asking them, like, [00:09:00] tell me, what does this mean? How is this relating to my bottom line? 
[00:09:04] Right. And like you said, if it's a new client, right, you want more new clients. Be direct and ask them and say, well, I need new clients.
[00:09:13] How have you helped someone else get new clients? Tell me that experience, not, oh, I, they gained followers and they get, well, that's great. Don't get me wrong. Of course, people want followers, but what's the return on that? Oh, like you can just keep posting yourself and you'll probably get a few new followers.
[00:09:33] Not to put it down, there's more than that. Not to put it on social media. I do respect the job that's being done because it's a lot of work, and they do know but I think we forget how specific we need to be as beauty pros when we're asking the questions. Right? So when you're digging in, like you said, it is like a little bit of an interview and just say that.
[00:09:53] I'm looking around, I'm just seeing who will understand my niche and my needs for my [00:10:00] business in the beauty industry. Because it's a different beast than others. 
[00:10:07] Yes, I think, but I think also like, This is my my take on it. I feel like a lot of times, you know, with social media, I've seen a lot of account, you know, they've gotten the young receptionist to do the social media, or there's a little bit of discrediting in terms of like, really the amount of thought and work that needs to go into an effective social media strategy.
[00:10:33] And so in that mindset, sometimes you end up hiring people that might not be really qualified. And a lot of times, People just starting their career might start doing social media on the side, not really having a complete grasp of the entire strategy and really approach to how to help you reach your goals.
[00:10:55] And it might be just based off of like, well, you know, I got a bunch of followers and I'm, [00:11:00] you know, I have all this stuff, which is great, but not really because if it's not relating to what you want, then followers don't mean anything. So I think that's where I really kind of just bring it back to really treat it like a job interview because a professional social media manager would probably already have this information and this is how you kind of distinguish by somebody who actually does this as their profession versus somebody who's maybe, maybe they're just getting into it and you know, yeah, doing it on the side or, you know, I don't know. 
[00:11:29] I've gone through this too in different different capacities, if I can say it that way, different industries like the fitness world, right? When searching out for that and then, Oh, I saw it on, on Kijiji, this person's doing it or whatever ad support.
[00:11:44] And that's okay. Cause there's some people who do an amazing job. They're naturals at it. And they see that they're naturals and they're growing in it, and that's okay. But like you said, I had questions and I said, okay, you want to find, I had a partner in [00:12:00] this. I said, okay, yeah, no problem. But here's my questions for them.
[00:12:03] So I gave her a list of questions, ask them. And it was just, oh, but I can get you followers. I don't need you to get me followers. I need followers who purchase. I need followers who will come to me. What's the outcome of a follower. I don't need to be vanity and say, I got 5, 000 new followers this month.
[00:12:23] Great. That's wonderful. But are you okay? Am I trying to be the next social media influencer? Then sure that works, but I'm not trying to be an influencer. I need people to come in to see me. 
[00:12:40] Yeah. Yeah, this just happened to me too. Like, I think, you know, I got brought on to a new client who had somebody who got them lots of followers, but that didn't mean anything in terms of their, their goal, which is actual clients.
[00:12:57] So again, yeah, that's just [00:13:00] really treating it with the, and you know, when you approach it this way, they know you, you're, you're, you're serious and you know what you're talking about. And there's no room for any kind of misunderstanding. 
[00:13:12] Yeah, and I think we have to be okay with the fact that, like, I don't know everything about social media and I don't, that's why I wanted to bring someone in.
[00:13:20] But I, I wanted to know enough of what the end goal of the purpose behind it. Yeah. Right. Why are we going to hire someone? What's the purpose here? And I think that's the big thing, not just posting. Like really, I think there's definitely like we've been hammering this out a few times already that it's beyond that and I think we need to wrap our head around that, especially in the beauty industry that yes, you do an amazing facial, or you're an amazing lash tech, you're amazing at whatever.
[00:13:51] Yes, you are, because that's why you have clients. But if you're looking for something more, new clients, or you're looking for a new service, this is what we're trying to say. [00:14:00] So what are you after of your why and your goal? And you have to tell them. And be humble. I think we're worried that we look stupid.
[00:14:10] Well, if you could do social media, why are you calling them? 
[00:14:14] Right. They can't do aesthetics. So we all, we all have to stay in our lane. 
[00:14:18] They're part of your team now. I think that's a part to look at. Like you're hiring someone to be a part of your team now, in a sense to help you drive your business. And I think that it's good to reach out.
[00:14:31] Like, do you have a financial person or a, or an accountant, a bookkeeper? Like, do you have that's part of your team? No different than a social media manager. Right. 
[00:14:40] For sure. And I think social media managers, , those that do it professionally, they know that. Like, they, that's, that's what they, you do your business and we'll do your social media.
[00:14:50] So but it's just getting to that, to that right person. So I think, so that, that was the first three. I think once you've, you know, met somebody [00:15:00] and you want to work with them, number four is making sure you get a breakdown of deliverables. Not, that's a big word. What does that mean? You need a list of the things they will do.
[00:15:13] That's what that means in a simple form. So for example, how many posts are they going to do a week? You know, when I work with somebody, I usually say, okay, you're getting two posts a week. Maybe you're getting three posts a week, whatever. Maybe I do it on a monthly and I'm say, I do a range, like you get 12 to 15 posts a month, identifying exactly how many posts, how many networks you're posting on.
[00:15:35] Like, is it just on Instagram? Is it on Facebook? Is it on TikTok? Like knowing where they're posting? And the type of posts, like are they doing videos? Are they doing photos? Like, they, they need to be telling you this, so if you're not getting that information, here's where you question, right? Can you give me more detail?
[00:15:52] Because, again, this is not your area of expertise, but if you're not getting all the details, this just, [00:16:00] you know, Could be an indication that you need to just question a little more. And on top of that is also like, are they going to respond to messages and comments on your social media accounts? Are they going to be actively engaging with your audience and the hashtags you follow?
[00:16:17] Which means are they going to go out and, you know, intentionally comment and like and share content so that they can increase your activity on social media? And. Just having that understanding, you know, maybe they won't, maybe they will, that also, those affect pricing, right? So, the more that a social media manager does, the more that they will charge.
[00:16:41] But really just understanding so that you know the expectations and they know the expectations. So there's no disappointment at the end of the month when you're like, well, you didn't do this or whatever it needs to be in a list. It needs to be written down. It needs to be shared. I even sign it by both.
[00:16:59] [00:17:00] Like, yeah, communication. And I think. Communication like that is really, really important like having a system of like, how are they communicating with you do are they telling you I'm going to email you once a month with all the posts so you can approve them before I, you know, I would definitely, definitely.
[00:17:19] not let somebody post on my social media accounts before I look at it. Because you might not be a social media manager, but this is your brand. This is your reputation, your voice. So until you get to a point where they, you know, they know, and they know, you know, like, I've gotten to that point with a lot of my clients, but until that point you get to the Approval process, they send you the pictures, they send you the captions, and you just read through them, and do you like it?
[00:17:49] Do you like how it sounds? That might seem like a lot, but it shouldn't, like, they should just, you know, it could just be reading through, you know. 
[00:17:56] And on that note, you can even do, like, I, I can't tell you [00:18:00] how many times I've said this sentence in my life. It doesn't matter if it was at the banker, the accountant, like, I, you name it.
[00:18:07] Someone help me understand this. Bring it down to my, my world. Right? Like, like my accountant I've dealt with for many years and say, okay, wait, stop. I don't know that accountant gibberish. What does that mean for me? Help me understand. And then they, they bring it down and, and sometimes they think we're a little bit shy to be out there saying, I don't know, but if you don't know, it's okay.
[00:18:38] Say it. Like, that's why you went to school. That's why you took this. That's why you're doing that. I didn't, if I, if I knew I wouldn't have you. Right. Here, right? Like In fairness, I think we need to be okay and be humble. It's okay to be that you don't know, or you still don't understand. That's happened talking through the mortgage and investments, all that stuff.
[00:18:58] Like, Hey, wait, what, [00:19:00] hold on, like, help me understand this. And my husband, for example, he knows he well, I know what it means. I go, well, I don't care that, you know, I want to know. So I'd looked at the banker, which I said, I need you to help me understand. I'm your client. Cause I get a little bit annoyed when I just get.
[00:19:20] You know, oh look, poor thing doesn't know, but you know, someone will help her. What? Help me understand at least a little, you know, help me. 
[00:19:28] And 
[00:19:29] I think that 
[00:19:30] leads into the last, number five, is monthly meetings. So, you need to be having monthly meetings, they don't need to be long, but they're a touch point, where Your social media manager is reviewing the analytics, so telling you what happened last month, what worked, what didn't work and what they plan to do next month to make it better.
[00:19:54] And this is where I think a lot of that help me understand would come into play because a lot of times you can look at [00:20:00] the analytics and not really truly understand what they mean. Their job is to look at the analytics and say, okay. We need to do more of this type of post because it got more engagement or more people liked it, more people commented, and we need to do less of this.
[00:20:19] Because it's not working. And so next month, they do more of the one they're supposed to do, and less of the other one. Is it working? Did it you know, so there's always going to be that tweaking, because we don't have the magic formula. There's no there's no secret formula. It's a try trial and error. But it should be on a monthly basis, and it should be a clearly explained conversation.
[00:20:42] Because you you I usually submit, like, when I give, I usually give, like, a, it's like a PowerPoint presentation, basically, or a PDF, but it slides with all the different numbers. They might not mean very much to the person looking at them, but then I, you know, can sit down with you and explain it. This is [00:21:00] what this means, and this is why, you know, I usually pull out like salient points and say this is, this is why this number is important or this post did really well and here's why I think it did well, and this is what I think we should do next month to do more like it so we can continue that traction or whatever.
[00:21:16] So I have a question for you. 
[00:21:18] I 
[00:21:18] go back to thinking when I had my business and I did this to my guy, he did my website and he was doing, he was working on it back, okay, I'm going back a long time ago. I wasn't pushing social media then because it wasn't what it is today, , but I knew that I needed it through, everyone was Googling, so it was all through Google.
[00:21:36] So I asked him, I said, is it okay if you, if we touch base. For the first few weeks, every week, so you help me understand this better. Is that even fair nowadays? Like, do you have enough data in a week to kind of try to help them understand right away? Or do you, would you want a full month? Cause I'm looking at, I got to pay a month and invest this kind of money for a month [00:22:00] and wait out to see if it's worth it.
[00:22:02] Do you know what I'm trying to say? Like, I'm just kind of curious. What's your honest take? 
[00:22:06] Yeah, I think, you know, I'm going to give you the answer that I usually hate getting, which it depends because it really, it really does depend. Like, for example, if your goal is to get more clients maybe you do want to touch base more frequently because what you, what's going to happen is if they are in charge of your messaging, you're, you know, checking your messages and responding, you're not going to know how many people were interested.
[00:22:32] So before somebody books with you, they're going to maybe DM you. They're going to maybe comment on a post. So there might be some preemptive engagement before that booking because it sometimes doesn't always happen right away. And that's, so. Checking on touch points like that throughout isn't a bad idea.
[00:22:53] I think for me personally, I would need a little bit more time. Like I, I don't think it's [00:23:00] also fair to expect it's right content to do that for you right off the bat. It's not gonna do what you want it to do the first month or the first two months.
[00:23:10] It takes time. So 
[00:23:12] that's really important for people to understand. So you can't think I'm going to try this for a month. No. Can you look at this for like a three month period or actually it's longer. We know this, but in fairness to really see if it's driving, this isn't an, I know social media is immediate to you when we, like as a person looking at social media, that's immediate to you as the viewer looking, but the behind the scenes It takes a lot longer.
[00:23:39] And that's something that my guy did say to me especially with on, you know, Googling, like he said to me, you've got to give me time. And I said, well, how much time before I start seeing a change that I'm number one on the Google list. Every time you search days, Boston, Edmonton of any kind of beauty, any service, anything it's different today.
[00:23:58] It's way more [00:24:00] competitive than it was then. Like, and I know that, but I said, okay, so in my head, I knew I had to budget for at least three months. Yeah. To give this guy a chance. Right? Do you see what I'm saying? So I think people need to also understand. Yeah, I think. How far they need to look ahead and not just say, Kedrina, I hired you, first month was terrible.
[00:24:19] Nothing happened. Well, you're fired. But if you did your job and helped me understand, and then you're going to do the analytics. Okay, we need a month to review what's working, what's not working. So I need you to think like a three month budget here. And I think that's important for people to understand.
[00:24:38] They think it's immediate because we're thinking social media in our heads as a viewer. But someone doing the job behind the scenes, it doesn't work like that. I think that's where the miscommunication falls sometimes. And that's not fair to the social media person either. But if you're a social media person [00:25:00] doing this for professionals, we'll just say the beauty industry, because that's our focus.
[00:25:04] Your job is to make sure they understand what this is all about, 
[00:25:08] as 
[00:25:08] well, to help them understand, so you build that relationship together, right? Well, 
[00:25:11] that's a good point. I'm glad you brought that up, because actually, yeah, it's not gonna be a month. It's not gonna be two months. It's not gonna be three months, to be quite honest with you, because if you look at your own behavior, on, on social media, how often do you just find an account and buy something from them?
[00:25:31] Not, I don't, I actually follow somebody for quite an, a bit of time, get to know, feel like I've known them, and then I would, you know, go through that purchase. So there is there is a growing towards it, but what your social media manager will do is help you identify what is working and how it's getting you closer to your goal.
[00:25:53] So if your goal is to book more clients, followers isn't necessarily. what you're looking [00:26:00] at. It's more people engaging. How many people clicked on your link in bio? How many people have commented or sent you a direct message? These are indicators that the content is working. So the next step from that is going to be that full conversion into becoming a client or buying a product or whatever it is that you're selling.
[00:26:20] So that doesn't come right away. It is a A step towards but every month is going to be an an indication that you're moving towards that goal, but I'm so glad you brought this up because yeah, that's something that I forget people don't realize is that you're you're not going to reach your goal the first month and if you do.
[00:26:41] Like, send me that person's number, because I don't know what they've done, because it just does not, it does not happen that quickly, not for, you know. 
[00:26:51] And that's why I think, because sometimes we are like, on, on this end of it. I've hired a social media person and I said, I want new [00:27:00] clients, I need bookings and three weeks in, I've got nothing.
[00:27:04] I'm like, what's going on? I've spent all this money. I've done all of this. How come I don't have anybody yet? So I think in fairness, if it was maybe that meeting with the social media person and the person, the beauty person, was that told to you? And what's the likelihood? I want a new client this month.
[00:27:23] Is that your goal? One new client this month out of this? Is that, is that possible? And then you get two new clients. It's like, woohoo, I got two, right? And I think we have to really show that and understand that you're not going to get an immediate response because it is so competitive out there. And that's again, like I said, like what holds them to the space on your, One post to make them read the whole thing that you put because it's so sorry guys but some of it's so long or You've given [00:28:00] all the information all the steps all the products all that.
[00:28:04] Well, okay I'll just go online and see if I can find that product, 
[00:28:09] right? I mean, there's always gonna be those people But you do bring up a really good point. But I mean, this is a simplified explanation because absolutely You know, when somebody, you know, this is the technical of it. So if somebody tells me they want more clients, I convert that into a social media goal because that I can't give them more clients.
[00:28:32] What, how does that relate to a social media goal? So I take their business goal and I turn it into a social media goal, which says, which is then a smart goal. So I named numbers and time and, you know, make it really clear and break it down. So that means we are going to aim for more link by link. You know, 
[00:28:51] Lincoln bioclicks, we're going to aim for, you know, 10 Lincoln bioclicks in the first month or whatever it is that just becomes a little bit [00:29:00] more nuanced of a conversation.
[00:29:01] But I know sometimes it's so overwhelming with 
[00:29:04] how 
[00:29:05] much information there is. But it is good to, it is good to note for sure. Like, yeah. 
[00:29:13] And if you know people out there, the beauty pros listening, and you know that Sally does her own social media and she keeps getting new clients, maybe you need to take her for coffee and say, okay, tell me how that works.
[00:29:25] Now you're learning a bit more. Doesn't mean that you can do what Sally does. But you understanding more of what they're doing and how they're doing will help you make that decision. All four, I could not have survived my business if I did not hire out and have people to help me with my business.
[00:29:42] Because then I could focus in house, in my space, with my staff, at my level, there. And then I had the people outside helping me grow that. So it's all part of the pie, do you know what I mean? Like it was all, everyone had a piece of that working together. And as [00:30:00] direct, I said, listen, this month was terrible.
[00:30:01] You know, I can't afford that extra ad that we thought we were going to do. Right. Like I was very transparent. And I think that's another thing we need to be with that is transparent and say, I can afford a hundred dollars this month. That's it. Be okay with that. It's better than zero. 
[00:30:20] Yeah, I think advertising though, like when you're hiring a social media manager, you pay them what you've agreed to pay them every month, regardless of how, how you've done, right?
[00:30:30] So that has to be it. That's its own 
[00:30:31] thing. Yeah, there's a set amount. And then sometimes too, you could say, okay, give me your packages. What does package one look like, what package two, three? I mean, I've had that where, you know, someone said, I can do it every day for you. Okay, perfect. What's that look like?
[00:30:47] Okay, what about if it was only if you're going to do it for two times a week? And then you can start looking because then my goal is how do I get that person to do all of it for me? [00:31:00] Right. So I'm going to start with baby steps of what I can afford to do. And then I'm going to grow and say, Hey, Doreen, I need you to do.
[00:31:06] I'm ready next month. And I have to give notice I'm thinking by next month, I should be able to afford you on that next level. Right. And I think that's something it doesn't have to be a one time looking. Some have those packages already set out, right, Doreen? Like, they, they 
[00:31:22] do already. Yeah, most, most social media managers will have several packages that offer different tiers of post numbers, engagement, and they would present it to you, and then you would pick a package.
[00:31:35] I do want to touch on something you said, though, before we get, like, shift to, into too much of a different subject, but you're talking about Sally, and she's doing really well on social media. Yeah. And taking her out for coffee, I'm going to say no, you don't need to take her out for coffee, you need to go on her social media and look at all her posts, and see what's working, and why she's doing well.
[00:31:56] What types of posts is 
[00:31:57] she doing? That's what I'm saying, it's like, 
[00:31:58] sometimes 
[00:31:59] people don't even [00:32:00] know, oh I really like that, they just don't get it, Dreen. Yeah, but also They don't understand it. 
[00:32:04] Your social media manager, when you hire them, should be, it's It's called the competitor analysis. They should actually be doing that for you.
[00:32:13] So they should do, yeah. So as part of their I mean, if you get a social, so if you get a social media manager that takes the job and just starts posting and hasn't done any prep work, you need to get another social media manager. So what they're supposed to give you in that list of deliver deliverables is also, a plan, like how are they doing it?
[00:32:38] And as part of the plan, they won't know how to do it if they don't know what is working and what's not. So as part of that plan, they would lay out their social media goals, they would lay out, they would take what you've told them about your audience, and they would give you an actual audience analysis with a, you know, a buyer persona.
[00:32:54] They would do and then they would do a competitor analysis. They would see other people in your [00:33:00] industry, doing what you do in your area. What's working for them, what's not working for them. And how can you make what works yours and how can you avoid what isn't working? And then they would actually look at your own stuff and they would tell you what you've done, that's good.
[00:33:15] And what you've done, that's not good. And how to make it better. That's if you do like a social media manager, if you actually decide to hire like a communications professional, they would do that, but they would also look at your website, they would look at your other marketing and look at it from a more holistic perspective, because I think you also touched on something where.
[00:33:35] You know, looking at your your social media and it's not showing you the results right off the bat. Well, it can't work and it can't exist in a vacuum on its own. It has to work with your website and. Which is a whole other conversation that makes it more overwhelming, I think. It's very, there's a lot to it and I think that's why there are people who do this professionally.
[00:33:59] Because [00:34:00] it is, like you do what you do professionally because that's your expertise. And the people who work in, In social media, that might be their expertise, but if they're a social media manager, that does not necessarily mean they're able to work on your website or they're able to help you with email marketing.
[00:34:18] I think at that point, you need to upgrade to a communications professional who is actually equipped with looking at everything that your organization does or your business does. In In terms of how it communicates out with your, with your clients. Such 
[00:34:32] a good point to, to tell people on that, like what I meant with also to, I don't mean go for coffee with Sally and pick her brain.
[00:34:41] So you follow, I meant more, that's probably a person you trust. So you're, they're going to help you kind of understand what they do so that you go hire someone, right? Like then you're, maybe that's helping you understand and you can say, Hey, you know what? I want you to look at this. [00:35:00] And that helps guide that manager social media person that you're hiring into what's working, and that might just, you know, help to help bring that together a little quicker because not all social media people know beauty, know the beauty industry.
[00:35:20] But no, necessarily, yeah, it's not necessarily they have to know the beauty industry, but they kind of need to know a little bit of what, what's working out there is all I meant by it. It's just more, if I knew someone, I'd be asking them questions and say, Hey, I really like your website. What did you do?
[00:35:37] How did you come about this? Who did you hire? 
[00:35:40] Yeah. No, I don't understand and agree with you. Yeah, that's what I mean by that. You might not, they might not know somebody, and their social media manager should not, it should not matter what industry they work in, they should be doing the same thing for every single industry.
[00:35:54] Yes, you become more versed in specific industries, and there are some that will only focus on a particular [00:36:00] industry because that's what they enjoy doing. But as a professional, you should actually be able to research and understand what's How, what's working and what's not for just by look, you know, doing your research and seeing, okay, I don't understand aesthetics, but I can see this person's doing well.
[00:36:19] And this is what they're doing. So I'm going to, you know, make an inference. They're doing well, because this is the type of content they're posting or whatever. 
[00:36:26] And that's exactly what I was trying to say. Push into the fact that you, you know, I had that with like I said, it was different industry and they're like, Oh, well we post, we'll do the post for three times a week.
[00:36:38] Okay. And what I've been doing that now on Sundays, I schedule it out. What does that, what does that do for my business though? Well, you know, it'll, it'll bring more viewers. It was very general. I remember that conversation and my friend was Oh, this is so great. They'll take it off our plate. I said, what?
[00:36:58] No, they're not doing any more than [00:37:00] what we're doing. Okay. Right now. So it was, and it was a firm. It was a marketing firm, but it's okay. Don't get me wrong. But I, like we said, we need people to purchase this package that we developed, right? Oh, well, that's different. I said, well, how is it different? So the conversation changed and I felt like just to be honest, and this is why I'm sharing is that person was not understanding what we needed.
[00:37:26] So I told my friend, we need to move on. Because we need to find someone who's understanding. Perfect, exactly. They're so big that they just, you know, some little person, I shouldn't say little person, some person is behind a cubicle putting together social media things. Great, that's wonderful. But what, you need to be more intentional of what you want from this when you're especially a small business.
[00:37:51] You're a big business, you're McDonald's, Here's my million dollars a year, have at it. Well, I mean, we've got everybody to [00:38:00] do everything. One's only doing this post. One's focused on this one. And because like you said, there's so many different ways to do this. That's different. And we, and I think we need to understand a little bit better on our part to do our due diligence to make sure that if you're a sole entrepreneur.
[00:38:16] How much money do you have to put into this? So I think you, you need to step up and wear your business hat and try to at least kind of understand the purpose behind it. Yeah, I'm giving a little bit of a, you know, tongue lashing out there, people. Like step up and wear your business hat. Doesn't mean you have to know how to do it all.
[00:38:34] You know, Doreen's going to do it for me. Great. But at least I kind of understand when she's talking to me. Of what works and what doesn't work. And I don't want to do it. Oh good, I'm glad you figured that out. Perfect. Keep going. That's kind of what I mean. I think it's what I'm trying to say to people so they understand.
[00:38:50] Hopefully this is helping people with their decisions. Of how to begin or who they're working with right now. Maybe it's not working. You know, maybe don't fire them. Like maybe you should have had that [00:39:00] conversation and see if there's even a problem. Anything to do with it, like, did you do those things?
[00:39:05] Did that person, like, what kind of relationship did you have? You need to be inquisitive and ask questions. Be curious so that you know more, a little bit more, right? And that 
[00:39:16] I think exactly. And I think you'd be involved. Yeah, and I think like in like I just want to kind of bring it back to just it can be very nuanced and there can be a lot to it, but I don't want people to be turned away like it could be a little too much.
[00:39:31] I think you have to jump into it. If you're at a point in your business where you have the budget to hire somebody to do your social media, I mean, some, some businesses have a full time staff member that does it for them. And some people will hire a contractor to come and just, you know, do a certain number of posts, understanding that the more you pay, you get what you pay for.
[00:39:55] So if you can only afford a certain number you know, if your budget is [00:40:00] small and that person is only posting, you know, once or twice a week and they're doing no engagement, Understanding that's going to affect your results. So there is a lot of, you know, nuance to it. But if you ask the question, So if you go in a little prepared, you would understand that the person who you're talking to, if they're able to, you know, help you understand and explain things to you, then you can kind of get a better idea of their, their sense of like, okay, I can trust that this person's able to guide me in the realm that they're a professional, an expert in while, you know what I'm saying?
[00:40:37] Yes, I do. Don't be scared. It doesn't have to be super overwhelming and you don't have to know it all. You just have to know what you want and you have to be able to just explain that to somebody and just understand that it does take time and it's, it's a journey and you have to just stay in open communication.
[00:40:57] With the person that you're working with they should be [00:41:00] explaining to you that this is not going to happen overnight, but that it's, it's slowly month after month, you should be able to see that you're working towards your goals. And after if after like six months, you're not seeing anything, then maybe that is a time where you start to consider that you might need to.
[00:41:16] Either, you know, shift, or maybe if they're advising you that you need to be doing more engagement, or you need to be doing advertising, like this is where you start to consider how else you can approach it, or again, like I said, maybe look at your website, but I think, you know, just taking it a little baby step at a time, because there is, it's a lot, there's a lot to it.
[00:41:36] So how about this? I know we talked a lot about all sorts of things on this. Can you recap your, your five, highlight five tips? Hopefully, like I said, this is something that was you know, that people got something from this and understand it a little bit and little steps to help you make those decisions, right?
[00:41:53] Absolutely. Okay, so number one, you need to know what you want from social media. So if you want more clients, you [00:42:00] want to promote your service. Number two, you need to be able to explain who your client is, who your clients are. You know, are they a certain age range? Are they, you know, seeking certain types of services?
[00:42:12] So you need to know your clients and share that with your potential social media manager. And number three, you need to be asking about their work experience and how they've helped other accounts with actual, like, you know, asking them of how they did it, did they help them, you know, get more clients or whatever it is, the goal, whatever 
[00:42:29] that goal was.
[00:42:29] Right. 
[00:42:30] Yeah. And then getting from them a list of all the things they are going to do for you, just that clear communication of what they're going to provide you. And then you being able to. Ask questions about it or having it there in paper so that nobody's disappointed at the end of the month. And then the last one is just to have regular meetings.
[00:42:50] Have regular meetings, review what's working, what's not, and ask your questions. And ask them how it's going to get better. 
[00:42:57] Perfect. I hope [00:43:00] that sums it up. It's a great way to start, I think. And Yeah, thanks so much for taking the time during to help beauty pros in this because I know you and I have had many conversations about this.
[00:43:14] Yeah, yeah, I mean it is, you know, I think we try to simplify it as much as possible. I think you do lose a little bit of the nuance when you do simplify but you have to start somewhere and so you have to take it in that little bite size. Pieces of information and then as you conquer one thing, then you start to expand and you can, you know, get more and more into expanding your knowledge of it.
[00:43:37] So hopefully that's helped. Thanks to everyone for listening and we'll be back again next week