All social media managers know that maintaining a good, strong relationship with clients can be tricky. You can do a great job, post amazing content, and drive towards the best possible results, but sometimes it’s just not enough for the client. As long as direct communication with your clients is lacking, you risk them thinking you’re doing - well - nothing.
But worry not! We’ve gathered a few tips to help make sure your clients know what you’re doing for them, feel that you understand them, and most importantly - are absolutely satisfied.
The onboarding process - it’s more important than you think
Congrats! You’ve got yourself a new client. Now it’s time to get to work. But before you can start posting amazing content and drive results, you need to get to know your client’s business, end-to-end.
A brief, a questionnaire, or an onboarding form - whatever you call it, is necessary to build a strong foundation. This is your chance: collect all the information you need to create content and interact with followers in a way that reflects the business.
But, this questionnaire has additional merits. It will help you look professional. It will also help you avoid reaching out to the client too many times with too many questions (that they may expect you to know the answers to, especially as time passes). By asking all those questions now, you show your client:
Bottom line - you demonstrate that you’re making their goals your own.
If you want to properly onboard your client, download & use this comprehensive questionnaire template we created for you.
Know your clients’ goals (and make sure they know them too!)
Sounds obvious, right? Not necessarily. Social media managers with a track record in working with clients know: sometimes even the clients themselves don’t know how to properly define their marketing goals. They might be masters in their field, but they are trusting you to bring the marketing skills to the table.
Start by asking your clients what their business goals are. In most cases, they will be able to provide you with numbers and aspirations. Use this data to help you develop the proper social media strategy and define supporting KPIs.
If they don’t have a business plan in place, try to understand why they hired you. What are they expecting from you? What they are looking for? What will they consider as success?
Aim to find a common language. State the goals of the customer relationship right from the start. All of this will help you focus on what’s important to the clients.
It will also allow them to judge you based on the proper metrics. If the social media goal is to increase sales, for example, this is exactly what they will be looking for by the end of the month.
Reporting and transparency
If we’re already speaking about the end of the month (or any other management period) - reporting is important. We usually think about reports when running ads. However, even if we’re only doing organic social media management, it’s still essential.
Reports force you to take a closer look at your work and evaluate it. You’ll ask yourself: am I achieving my goals? Am I going in the right direction?
Moreover, recurring reports delivered at the end of a defined period are probably the best way to keep your clients happy, even when you don’t meet those goals.
How so? By sharing reports with your clients you can:
Not hitting your monthly goals can be disappointing. But what might be worse is not communicating with your clients ongoing. With that said, it’s best to share a transparent report regularly.
In each report, show that you know you haven’t met the goals you outlined. At the same time, demonstrate that you’ve figured out the problem and how you’re optimizing your efforts to improve the situation. This can go a long way in keeping the relationship alive and your clients satisfied.
Download this report template and adjust it to each of your clients to make sure they know exactly what you do.
Communication is key
So we’ve said it already. But let’s say it one more time for the sake of importence - relationships are all about effective communication. Whether we’re talking about briefs, reports, or weekly phone calls, getting in touch with your clients can be the difference between a successful partnership and total failure.
This is even more true when dealing with the ever-changing, dynamic, fast-paced world of social media. Most of our clients do not understand these things (at least not from a marketing perspective), so communication can be the key to success.
Good luck!
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