Essential Skills for Social Media Distant Assistants

Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media platforms have empowered entrepreneurs and business owners for a couple of years now. For distant assistants specializing in this field, what do you need to help your clients generate leads, increase conversions, and ultimately succeed in business? Here are 6 Essential Skills for Social Media Distant Assistants—straight from one of our rising distant assistants, Kristine.

1. Communication skills

We sometimes hear people saying that flattery is one important skill when dealing with customers. That to make a sale, you need to know how to soften their hearts by telling them praises.

But marketing on social media does not necessarily have to work that way. The ability to express ideas and connect with an audience can both be done with authenticity and a sincere desire to communicate.

“Communication does not only refer to your engagement with people who are on social media,” Kristine said. “This also concerns your connection with the company that you are representing.”

She continued, “Since I come from a different background and culture as person, it is necessary that I educate myself with the company’s culture and the people they are targeting in the business. In that way, I get to create content that is both interesting to the audience and effective in producing the results we need.”

2. Goal setting

Be it on Twitter, Facebook, etc. social media platforms, competitions in the industry abound. And with multitudes of content released daily on the internet, you could pretty much feel like a needle in a haystack.

How do you stand out?

Kristine shared that Social media management and marketing are no different from her other responsibilities in the company.

She said, “Setting goals and objectives will help me gauge a campaign’s performance. If the campaign does not align with the goals and objectives that I am trying to reach, then I have to redefine and adjust the content.”

3. Organizational skills

Social media distant assistants are not exempted from the need to organize and have a system — one that works best for them.

Every day they work with graphics, files, videos, and other items in their list of things to do. Forgetting where they placed what can become frustrating.

“Organization is very important to a social media manager. You need to create a schedule regarding when to post, what to post, and on which platform to post.,” Kristine said.

“Every social networking site varies in its effectivity to the audience. Pinterest and Instagram, for example, are good for images and other graphics. The other platforms have their own specialties as well.”

What does this call her to do?…

“It tells me to plot a social media calendar. I lay out my plans in a Google spreadsheet to have a better perspective on how things are going to flow.”

4. Attention to Details

Words, hashtags, images, comments, data — details that are either found or delivered on a social media platform call for deliberate attention. They’re the ones that welcome visitors and avid brand followers.

distant assistants who specialize in social media communicate on behalf of their respective clients. That is why whatever they do online, they need to align them with the standards set by the company.

Here is what Kristine said about it…

“It is also important to be keen on details. One mistake in the post may cause misunderstanding and confuse the audience.

“Before publishing or scheduling the post (if you’re using an automation platform like Hootsuite), always read your caption twice and check everything that needs to be checked.”

One can never be too careful.

5. Creativity and Innovation

Social media is constantly changing with new trends and technology. Nowadays, we already have Messenger chatbots and Facebook Live videos to name a few. The challenge for marketers is to learn how to use them in the best way possible.

“You have to know the current trends. Know what works for the company and what doesn’t,” she said.

“You could not just stick to posting photos all the time. You have to be creative in a way that would attract more people to like or follow your account. Create compelling content.”

6. Ability to evaluate and utilize data

One big challenge that marketers face is keeping the audience engaged with the brand. Quality content, likes, giveaways, comments — each of these has the capacity to generate good results for the company.

But without a good strategy and proper implementation, these engagement efforts can be put to waste. According to Kristine, more than the nod that a company receives from her followers, maintaining that connection is important. And data can definitely help.

“As a social media manager, analytics is very important. It tells you whether you’re on the right track or not,” she said.

“Learn how to evaluate data and find ways to increase the account’s performance on Facebook, Twitter, or whatever social media platform you are on.”

Recommended Tools for Social Media DAs

Not getting the most out of your efforts on social media? Here are some of the tools that Kristine recommends:

• Hootsuite – post scheduling and automation
• Canva – creating social media graphics
• Redbooth – steady communication with clients

Now, over to you. What challenges do you have as a social media manager? How about as a distant assistant?

Special thanks to Kristine Onihog for gracing us with an interview. May she continue to inspire and do well in her chosen path.

Let us know what you think about these Essential Skills for Social Media Distant Assistants. Feel free to share your thoughts with others in the comments below!

Other Articles You May Like:

• How to Communicate Effectively in a Distant Workplace
• The Right Time to Hire a Virtual Assistant

Share the love and tell your friends about the Essential Skills for Social Media Distant Assistants. Thanks for stopping by!

Bottleneck Distant Assistants is also on Facebook and Twitter.