How to work with a Virtual Assistant on your social media content

Social media is a behemoth. We all know we need to be on it, creating a ‘brand presence’ engaging in the comments and replying to DMs, as well as churning out impactful, stop you in your tracks, shareable content. It can feel like a full time job (because it is! Shout out to all our social media managers) The reality is, the more you put into social media, the more you will get out of it. 

It can be overwhelming, but there are so many ways your VA can help.

You’ve heard it before, consistency is key. Whether you’re struggling to nail your strategy, or you know you should be on socials, but can never quite seem to get around to it, your VA can step in and make it more manageable.

The most important thing to be aware of? Social media will always be a collaboration between you and your VA. Especially if you’re working on your personal brand, getting the right tone of voice, maintaining authenticity and creating content that sounds like you take input and intention. You need to show up and be part of the process.

AI is a great tool to help with socials, but we all know when a post has been written by a machine rather than a human being. Em dash anyone? You’re going for quality not quantity. Let AI help, but it’s always worth running human eyes over any content AI has created for you before hitting publish.

Start with a strong social media strategy

Before you even start creating posts, you need a plan. What are your goals?

Are you building a personal brand or growing an engaged audience for your business? A content specialist VA can help you to tailor your messaging and post formats to match up to your goals, and meet your audience at the right point in their customer journey.

How will you measure success? Your metrics will depend on your goals, a strong strategy wll make sure you’re paying attention to the right things.

Define your content pillars 

These are your core themes: what do you want to be known for online? They will give structure to your content and help your audience understand what you’re all about. Personal brands can and should talk about more than just business, chuck in the occasional meme, why not? 

Businesses should be letting their audience behind the curtain. No one wants just sales talk –  share your culture, your credibility and your values.

Your VA can help you brainstorm, refine and map out these pillars as well as which pillars work best with your audience and goals.

Use branded design templates for consistent visuals

Visual consistency means brand recognition. Your VA can create a suite of branded templates using tools like Canva so you have polished and consistent content quickly and easily. 

Let your Virtual Assistant handle social media research and trends

Social media moves quickly. Your VA Keeping on top of trends? Social listening? SEO terms? What is your industry talking about? Your VA can keep on top of trends, competitors, relevant hashtags and keywords as well as listening to your audience and what they are actually talking about. So your content is as timely, relevant and on the nose as possible.

Delegate social media content creation

Need help crafting your carousels, captions and posts? A VA can draft copy in your voice. They can source imagery or stock content, and apply your branding. If you have a blog, podcast or long form marketing materials, your VA can break them down into bite-sized posts.  If you’re already creating first ideas or draft content with AI, your VA can polish it and give it the human touch.

Automate posting with social media scheduling tools

You’ve created the posts – now you need to get them out there. Your VA can research the best scheduling tools for your chosen platforms, the optimal time to post based on your audience and enter the content to your tool. Bonus? An extra pair of eyes to catch any spelling/grammar/formatting issues.

Outsource engagement and community management

Just as important as the messaging you’re putting out, is the conversations you’re taking part in. Whether that’s responding to customer service DMs, to joining in the conversations in the comments of your target audience, your VA can introduce you and your brand. This is relationship building and it takes time and effort. But the more you engage, the more traction you’ll see. 

Track performance with social media analytics

Your VA can regularly pull reports on what’s working, what’s not and suggest what you can learn from it, to make sure you’re creating content your audience wants to see and engage with.

You want to grow your online presence? You can with the right tools and the help of your VA. If you’d like some help crafting a social strategy for yourself or your business, or with the nuts and bolts of content creation and consistency, get in touch. Caroline can suggest the right VA and services for you.