Possible new service - would you pay for this?

[LemonChip Web Design]

Hey all, I've been toying with the idea of adding a new service to my business...

Essentially what I'm thinking about is something along the lines of a "social media manager" type service for businesses that are too busy / can't be bothered to deal with building social interaction around their business.

There are a lot of businesses out there that have business pages, but don't get a really good following, or don't really know how to use it properly in order to make it work for their business.

My idea is essentially to offer a service to businesses whereby they might pay a weekly fee of say around $20 / week, for tweets, facebook, g+ posts on their SM platforms.

I'm not talking about spammy stuff that nobody cares about, I'm talking about a strategically planned ongoing SM campaign that's designed to increase followers, as well as repeat customers, and new customers.

What do you guys think? Do you think this is something you, or anyone else might pay for?

[DavidM]

Sounds like a good fit for a bolt on to a premium hosting offer.

[The Copy Chick]

I've already got a few clients (another one today!) who have asked me to help them manage this sort of thing for them.... and it's certainly not because I'm promoting this service.

In fact... I'm not sure how it keeps happening really, but the fact that it does indicates there is DEFINITELY a market for it. Each of these clients have also cited not enough time, understanding, or inclination to learn as being the reasons they're looking for someone to help them manage their social media.

As long as you can all agree on what you should be doing - and what THEY need to be doing - I'm sure you'll find it works out well.

Good luck!

[MatthewKeath]

Originally Posted by LemonChip

Hey all, I've been toying with the idea of adding a new service to my business...

Essentially what I'm thinking about is something along the lines of a "social media manager" type service for businesses that are too busy / can't be bothered to deal with building social interaction around their business.

There are a lot of businesses out there that have business pages, but don't get a really good following, or don't really know how to use it properly in order to make it work for their business.

My idea is essentially to offer a service to businesses whereby they might pay a weekly fee of say around $20 / week, for tweets, facebook, g+ posts on their SM platforms.

I'm not talking about spammy stuff that nobody cares about, I'm talking about a strategically planned ongoing SM campaign that's designed to increase followers, as well as repeat customers, and new customers.

What do you guys think? Do you think this is something you, or anyone else might pay for?

I think that there is certainly a market for it, but as an add on I'm not that sure.

I think it would work better as a stand alone company that offers SM strategy, marketing, management and tool to measure the engagement. Kind of like Roost (Now VerticalResponse Social) is but with management as an extra.

Now that could kind of business could be very interesting for Australia.

[LemonChip Web Design]

Really appreciate the feedback guys. Definitely sounds like it's worth a little bit of extra research...

A number of my existing clients have a similar story in terms of not having the time to devote to making regular (daily) posts on their SM that have the potential to add value for their business.

At the moment I'm already semi-helping a few people build their social media networks and that's basically what lead me to thinking I could add it as an actual service.

[relentless]

it's a great idea but what I'm noticing lately is that a lot posts that show up in my facebook stream are just funny photos not even related to what the business does most of the time. If the trend continues soon I'll just have a list of funny photos and there are plenty of funny pic sites already.

I guess that's where engagement comes into it, if facebook sees that people are not engaging with your posts I think your posts will become less visible.

How will you provide valuable posts if you are not in your clients industries, your knowledge is limited?

[LemonChip Web Design]

Yes I agree that's where the challenge lies... Obviously you can't just say "sure i'll make some awesome SM posts about your business" which you know nothing about.
On the flip side of the coin, I don't think any sensible business owner would just let someone they don't know have complete freedom with their SM "voice" and make posts about their business unchecked...

That's obviously where there would need to be some consultation, research, and some strategising on what exactly the content of the posts would be... Then once a direction is established you could achieve some autonomy.

[LemonChip Web Design]

Thought I would just post an update to this for those who were interested yesterday...

I've drafted up a kind of pricing schedule for the website. Just working on refining it a little bit before it goes up for a trial period.

Feedback is welcome.

http://lemonchip.com/social-media-management.html

[spinninghill]

Interesting idea. Would you cater for those wanting say 2-4 posts per day?

[IncredibleCo]

There's definitely a market for that kind of service, but I'm not sure if it's already being covered by other SEO experts? Also $20 is nothing and I think it undervalues the service you would be providing. Before going mass market I would attempt to sell this idea to some would-be clients and at a variety of price ranges. Also clients want to be able to quantify what it is they're buying. I'd be interested in how you went, many of my clients are too busy to properly manage their websites and facebook pages.