Business Social Media Services: A Complete Guide to Building an Online Presence That Converts
Introduction: Why Social Media Matters for Your Business
In today’s digital marketplace, your brand’s social media presence is more than just a marketing channel, it’s often the first point of contact with potential clients. It’s the place your potential clients go to validate your business when their friend refers them or where they go to search instead of Google. Whether you're an online business or a brick and mortar, social media shapes how people perceive your brand. It’s where credibility is built, relationships are nurtured, questions are answered, and conversions begin.
That being said, managing business social media isn’t just about posting pretty pictures or clever captions. It’s about building a purposeful strategy, showing up consistently, engaging with your audience, and adapting based on results. That’s where Business Social Media Services come in.
This guide breaks down what social media services should include, different roles to consider when hiring social media support services, and how to design a custom support model that works with your budget and goals.
What Are Business Social Media Services?
Business social media services refer to a suite of offerings designed to help brands establish their presence on platforms like Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and YouTube. These services may include:
Strategy development
Content creation and design
Content scheduling and publishing
Community management (comment and DM responses)
Performance tracking and reporting
Paid social ad management
What makes these services so valuable is that they bring structure to a chaotic and ever-changing marketing space, where algorithms change overnight and trends decide who goes viral. By aligning your social media services with your business goals, you can:
Attract, nurture, and retain ideal clients
Build trust and social proof
Increase traffic to your website or sales funnels
Stay top-of-mind with your audience
Build community within your industry or niche
These services can be fully managed by an in-house team, but for many small and medium sized businesses or lean marketing departments, outsourcing is a smarter, more flexible solution.
Benefits of Outsourcing Social Media
As I’m sure you know, social media is time-consuming, especially when it’s done well. And no – using Chat GPT or an AI tool to manage your content creation doesn’t count. In a world where everyone has access to the same tools, the human element is what makes your social content unique. It requires creativity, engagement, strategic execution, and analyzing what is working and what isn’t. Outsourcing to a skilled partner can help you:
1. Reclaim Time and Focus
You didn’t start your business to spend hours creating reels or replying to DMs. Let someone else handle the day-to-day while you stay in your zone of genius.
2. Increase Consistency
Many business owners go through waves of posting and then disappearing. A dedicated team ensures your content goes out on time, every time. Data from social platforms show that accounts that post consistently have more success than those who don’t. Quality, consistent content outshines quantity and AI-generated content.
3. Gain Expertise on Demand
From platform algorithm changes to design trends, social media experts stay on top of it all so you don’t have to. They literally eat, sleep, and breathe social media so you don’t have to. Not only that, they can help direct your content capture to ensure you’re spending your time creating content that actually performs well.
4. Avoid the Cost of Full-Time Hires
Instead of paying benefits and salaries for an in-house marketing team, you can access fractional support at a lower cost and then transition the role in-house when it makes financial sense for the business.
5. Get Strategic Insights
A seasoned social media marketing consultant or strategist can help you plan campaigns built around your target audience and develop a strategy built around monitoring what works and what doesn’t, allowing you to stay nimble and avoid the rinse and repeat cycle that so many of your competitors are stuck in.
Social Media Roles to Explore & What They Do
Building an effective social media presence often requires more than one person. Here’s a breakdown of common roles, what they do, and what to expect in terms of support and cost:
Social Media Virtual Assistant (Social Media VA)
A social media virtual assistant focuses on tactical support and execution. They:
Schedule and publish content
Pull basic performance reports
Monitor comments and DMs
Organize assets and captions
What they generally don’t do:
Develop your social media strategy
Design content or edit videos
Ideal for: businesses with a strategy in place and a desire to create their own content, but have someone else post and manage their channel.
Estimated Rate: $25-$40/hour
Social Media Manager
A step above a Social Media VA, social media managers handle content calendars, design and edit your content, write captions, and manage day-to-day engagement. They:
Write and plan content
Coordinate posting across platforms
Engage with followers
Track analytics
Ideal for: businesses looking for done-for-you execution with light strategic input.
Estimated Rate: $40-$75/hour
Social Media Marketing Consultant / Strategist
These are your high-level thinkers. They build the roadmap, identify goals, and recommend tactics. They:
Conduct audits and competitor research
Create a full-funnel strategy
Set KPIs and evaluate performance
Guide content themes and campaigns
Ideal for: businesses looking to grow their brand intentionally, launch offers, or expand audience reach.
Estimated Rate: $100-$200+/hour
Social Marketing Expert or Fractional CMO
These professionals combine marketing experience with deep platform knowledge. They may:
Oversee your full marketing funnel
Align social media with sales goals
Train internal teams or external vendors
Bring a network of specialists to execute
Ideal for: established businesses scaling revenue or visibility, or launching a new division.
Estimated Rate: $150-$300+/hour
Important Note: The same person typically does not fill all these roles. The person who builds strategy is often not the same person scheduling posts. If you find a partner who can provide both, make sure you're clear on how pricing is structured. Often, strategy hours are billed at a higher rate than execution hours. This allows you to get expert guidance without overpaying for implementation.
Learn more about how we can support your business on social media
What Business Social Media Support Can Look Like
Every business is different, and your social media support should reflect that. Here are a few examples:
Scenario 1: Solo Consultant or Business Owner
You might need a strategist to develop a 90-day launch plan for your new brand and a virtual assistant to post offerings and manage DMs. You only pay the strategist for a few hours a month, while your VA handles weekly execution.
Scenario 2: Coaching Brand Launching a Course
You need a consultant to plan your course funnel, a designer for ads and social assets, and a social media manager to schedule and monitor content during the launch window.
Scenario 3: SaaS Startup Scaling to Series A
You bring in a fractional CMO to oversee content, ads, and performance, supported by a remote team of platform specialists and community managers.
This modular approach means you can scale your investment up or down based on need.
Tools and Systems We Integrate With
The best social media teams plug into the tools you're already using. Whether you're managing leads in a CRM or tracking content in project management software, social media support can integrate into your ecosystem seamlessly.
Common tools:
CRMs: HubSpot, SalesMate, ClickFunnel, Go High Level
Content Design: Canva, Adobe Creative Suite
Scheduling: Later, Planoly, Buffer, Meta Business Suite
Project Management: Trello, ClickUp, Asana
Analytics: Google Analytics, native platform tools
We recommend aligning your social content calendar with your overall marketing and sales goals. That means syncing with launch dates, promotions, and community events.
FAQs
Q: What’s the difference between a virtual assistant and a marketing consultant?
A virtual assistant handles execution: they publish content, reply to comments, and track data. A marketing consultant designs the strategy. You need both, but not always at the same time.
Q: Do I need to be on every social media platform?
No. In fact, being on fewer platforms but showing up well is often more effective. A social media strategist can help you choose where to focus.
Q: Can I get help with my personal brand and my business accounts?
Absolutely. Many of our clients run both a personal brand and a business page. We can create custom content streams for both. It’s often a venn diagram situation where there is some shared content, but both have separate points of view and content tracks.
Q: How much should I budget for social media support?
It depends on how much you want to outsource. If you are planning to take care of engagement and stories yourself, you could be looking at 8-10 hours a month for feed posts on IG. Whereas, if you want someone to support your social end-to-end, you can expect to need 20-25 hours per month for a single channel. If you’re looking at leveraging TikTok, it could be much more, since it’s proven that daily posting pays and it’s all video content.
Q: What if I already have a strategy in place?
Great! We can plug into your current plan and focus on execution and optimization.
Social media isn’t optional anymore. It’s one of the most powerful ways to build trust, show up consistently, and attract aligned clients. Whether you’re just starting out or scaling to your next milestone, the right support team can make all the difference.
Ready to design a support model that meets your goals? Let’s talk.
