Are Your Social Media Clients Happy With Your Work?
Maybe I should restate this question:
Do you know if your social media clients are happy with your work?
When asking myself this question, some doubts surfaced. I know, I know, shocker right? Afterall, I am human and I know that humans make mistakes.
Are my social media clients happy with my work? Yes, they are.
Are they happy all of the time? Probably not.
If you can figure out how to please your social media clients 100% of the time, you are a mindreading genius and I want to shake your hand! Seriously, identify yourself.
Learning from mistakes is what we humans do. Getting constructive feedback from a client will help you be a better social media manager going forward. Honing skills and improving strategies is what all social media managers should strive for.
Today, I look at 7 ways to please social media clients with the goal of keeping them on as long-term clients.
I would like to think that none of these ways are very new to you standing on their own. The best way to keep your clients is to be consistent and try hard every day of the week to implement all of these ways.
Then when do have that off day; a terrible, horrible, no-good very bad day, your client will still love you and probably forgive you and still be pleased with your overall performance.
7 Ways to Please Social Media Clients and Keep Them!
Retention marketing means you invest less money in getting new clients. Instead, you invest time and money into keeping the ones you already have.
While this is a great strategy for the social media management clients you work with, it might be time for you to practice retention marketing yourself.
Let's look at ways to please social media clients, and keep them!
1) Deliver On Your Promises
Ok, let's be real.
I was going to write for you to ‘overdeliver on your promises' but then thought better of it.
Here is a simple truth.
Do as you promised and complete the work that is laid out in the social media proposal and contract.
If you do this one thing well – you will be ahead of the majority of all service providers.
2) Deliver Work On Time
Stick to deadlines.
Let me say that again; if you set up deadlines with clients to deliver any type of content, stick to these deadlines.
Remind the team you work with about their deadlines and get them to deliver their part of the work on time. It's called ‘project management'. Get good at it. Your clients will love you.
3) Create a Personalized Social Media Plan and Work It
There should be very little cookie-cutting going on with regards to strategies.
Each client will have a unique product or service, niche, avatar, location etc.
Can you reuse certain strategies? Of course, you can!
Should you just do the same for each client? No!
Here are some ways you can ‘personalize' previously proven strategies.
- Complete a competitors analysis
- Consider demographics
- Reseach niche hashtags
- Set a budget
- Consider all resources (tools, software, hardware and people)
Once you set a plan in motion, work it!
4) Communicate Often
The easiest way to keep the lines of communication wide open is to ask clients first what their best way to communicate is.
You can set up Basecamp, Slack, a WhatsApp group or other use other tools and ways to communicate but if your clients aren't there, or willing to move to your preferred platform, communication is going to be minimal.
In time, you can introduce them to your preferred platform and mode of communication, but I highly recommend you ask their preference to get started.
NOTE: Take caution to set boundaries on your response time when communicating, no matter what mode of communication you choose.
5) Measure and Show ROI
This goes back to putting together a personalized plan. Without goals, you can not set KPIs. In case you need this info here is the definition of a KPI:
‘A Key Performance Indicator (KPI) is a measurable value that demonstrates how effectively a company is achieving key business objectives. Organizations use KPIs to evaluate their success at reaching targets.'
You will need access to the Facebook Pixel, Google Analytics, social media platform insights etc track progress. Measuring and showing ROI in social media management is possible if you set goals!
6) Share Online Reviews and Feedback
Do 5-star reviews make you happy? They will make your client even happier!
Share this positive feedback with your clients. Do not assume they see all the online reviews that come in; they are busy running their business. Use all feedback (positive or negative) to review policies, marketing material, and strategies in your next marketing meeting.
7) Be A Resource
Last but not least, nothing will please social media clients more than you being a resource to them for all things social media and marketing.
Whether they ask you about Facebook advertising, their LinkedIn profile, privacy settings, marketing materials, PR, a tradeshow set up, or your opinion about SnapChat usage by their teenager, be ready to give them feedback and share relevant articles.
Don't ever forget that you are the social media influencer in this relationship.
BONUS) Build a Personal Relationship
This could work for you, or against you, so use caution, but I didn't want to leave you without this bonus tip.
Building any sort of relationship takes time; if you build a more personal relationship with your social media client, you might end up retaining that client longer. It might also put you in an awkward position when things go wrong.
How do you take a client relationship to the next level? Here are some ways to do that.
Find out when their birthday is and send a video message or flowers. Know the name of their spouse and/or child. Take an interest in the sport they are active in so you can ask about their next race, game or training program. In short, take an interest in their personal life to become more personally involved.
Not every client you work with will, or should, become a friend. Just know that sometimes they can!
Is it Possible to Please Social Media Clients All of the Time?
If you've made it this far, you already know the answer.
At some point, sometime, somewhere you are going to make a mistake that is going to displease your client.
My wish for you is that you will not be judged on one (small) mistake. This can only happen if your relationship is filled with trust, and is built upon a working relationship that values timeliness, communication, deliverability and more.
How do you keep your social media clients, and keep them happy?
I am a Certified Social Media Manager, Strategist, International Keynote Speaker, Organic Specialist and Agile marketer! Blogging is my creative outlet. Running, hiking and skiing are how I recharge. You'll recognize me on stage and online by my always present orange glasses, a nod to my Dutch heritage.
