Entrepreneur magazine recently published a list of 8 do’s and don’ts for outsourcing social media. As a company that provides social media management services, I’d like to share some of our thoughts on the list. Each of these eight points comes from the original article, which I encourage you to read, although the commentary is our own.

1.) Ask for References

Absolutely! If you want to know how well a company can potentially help you achieve results, talk to others who were in a similar situation and used the same services. We have a lot of success stories from clients already on our site that outline our client projects and what we did for them as well as the result it had for their business. We are always happy to connect you to them.

In other posts we have talked about tips for finding the right technology partner, which takes this a little bit further by looking at a company’s depth of internal resources, the ability to communicate very clearly and quickly, their reputation, and their past experiences.

2.) Don’t Wing It

You can’t "just do" social media and expect results, and just being another account on the site will do nothing for you. Without clear goals and objectives you will never see the success you hope to see. When we work with clients here, one of the very first questions we ask is about business goals.

By setting key performance indicators (KPIs) and determining what and how you will measure success, you will be much better equipped to actually accomplish your goals.

For many businesses, this is a new experience and so we can help design and develop an appropriate social media marketing strategy ahead of time. This gives the client the opportunity to learn and understand how it all works, as well as gives them some confidence that we are headed in the right direction.

3.) Do Demand an Editorial Calendar

As mentioned above, having a strategy in place before you start will be extremely valuable to the success of your campaign. Much like you would not head out on a road trip without a map or destination, we won’t jump into a project without first defining a clear plan of action. At the start of every campaign, we will work with you to establish a plan.

An editorial calendar also helps align important events, such as new product releases, business anniversaries, sales, tradeshows, or other important dates. Of course the calendar can (and should!) be updated as you move along, but it is important to have an outline before you start.

4.) Do Proof Content

We are really good at what we do, but that does not mean that we are necessarily good at what you do. By proofing and signing off on content, it helps train us to talk intelligently about your business as well as helps us to match your personality and tone. It also helps you get a feel for managing the social media account.

With some industries (especially finance and law) that can be extremely important since you have to be very careful on everything you say. But other industries have a lot more flexibility.

5.) Do create and give your third-party provider key messages and talking points

One of the easiest ways to create meaningful content over time is to identify key messages for your campaign. This is something we help refine during the strategy phase, although messages can be updated over time.

Aside from helping maintain consistency and give you good topic ideas and "talking points," it also helps define your voice and personality on the networks.

6.) Don’t allow your company to be held hostage

The point that Entrepreneur magazine makes is that it is important to create your own accounts and make sure you have the username and password to those accounts. Even though you may need to share this information, you will retain full control of it.

Even though this has never been an issue here, it is still our preference that the client creates the accounts and then gives us the access we need. For Twitter, this still means sharing login information, but for Facebook Fan Pages, you can set up multiple administrators which make it simple to manage between multiple users and multiple accounts. Also at the end of the project, it is easy to transition control back to the client since they already have the master key, so to speak.

Most accounts are easy to set up, and we can help walk you through the process.

7.) Do get everything in writing

All our projects are outlined in detail, and signed by both parties. This makes sure that both parties understand what the project will entail and who is responsible for different aspects of the project.

During the sales process, it never hurts when a client wants to add more detail to a project outline before signing.

8.) Don’t operate without analytics

One of the many things that Amadeus Consulting does very well is measurement and reporting. We understand that for most businesses, this is an investment that is expected to produce a positive result.

In order to prove that value, we rely heavily on measurement and tracking. As mentioned above, it is vital to set goals and determine KPIs. What most businesses forget is to take the final step and actually measure and report on the results. This takes a little bit more time and effort, and so we build it into our strategy from the very beginning to make sure we can easily gather and analyze that data at important phases during the campaign.

For more information on Social Media Management through Amadeus Consulting, including mobile app marketing through social media, please contact us.