Do you know that as of April 2021, there are 4.72 billion active internet users around the globe? That’s more than 60 percent of the world’s total population, and the number of users continues to grow at an annual rate of 7.6 percent – equals to an average of more than 900,000 new users each day. Can you imagine the marketing potential? It’s enormous! There are billions of people online just waiting to find your company. So to future-proof your business, you may want to consider getting a virtual marketing assistant to help you get an edge over your competitors.
So why should you hire a virtual marketing assistant when you have the option to add an office-based employee to your team? Well, first of all, it will cost significantly more to bring in someone from the US. The hourly rate of an in-house marketing assistant typically falls between $18 and $24, so that doesn’t seem like much – until you factor in the other costs.
Hiring someone locally also means paying for employee benefits like sick days, medical and dental insurance, social security, and workers’ compensation. There’s also the matter of extra office space and equipment. You don’t have to worry about any of those if you hire a virtual marketing assistant. In fact, hiring a full-time virtual marketing assistant from the Philippines would only cost you around $400 to $500 a month. We’ll talk about this more later on.
A virtual marketing assistant can plug the holes in your marketing campaigns. Here are some of the tasks that they can handle:
Social Media Marketing
Businesses cannot afford to neglect social media marketing these days. As of April 2021, social media users worldwide have already reached 4.33 billion, and six social media platforms now claim to have more than one billion monthly active users (Facebook, YouTube, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, Instagram, and WeChat). Data collected by Sprout Social also shows that 64% of consumers want brands to connect with them in social channels.
The problem with social media is that it can quickly become an enormous time sink if you’re not careful. To avoid this, you can get a virtual marketing assistant to handle tasks like replying to comments/messages, engaging with customers or prospects, finding and posting relevant content, scheduling posts, and promoting your products or services. They can also help you come up with an effective social media strategy for all your social channels.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is still relevant in the age of social media. According to Litmus, it is estimated that email marketing returns an average of $42 for every $1 spent. In a survey by SaleCycle, 59% of respondents also say marketing emails influence their purchase decisions. You can’t just ignore the potential of email marketing, so let your virtual marketing assistant create press releases and email newsletters to stay in touch with your customers or potential clients.
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Search Engine Marketing
Search engine marketing (SEM) is a popular concept in online marketing that involves promoting your website by increasing its visibility in search engine results pages (SERPs) primarily through paid advertising. Virtual marketing assistants can help you with this by doing tasks like website analysis, keyword research, competitor analysis, On/Off page optimization, and link building.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is actually a pretty sound strategy. You can reach your target market easily through the use of a blog, for example. In fact, a study by Hubspot has shown that businesses with a blog get 55% more website traffic.
However, content marketing can be time-consuming, and you will need a constant stream of ideas. Virtual marketing assistants can help you come up with a content marketing plan. They can research blog topics and resources, find appropriate images or videos for the articles, and if your virtual marketing assistant has some experience in writing and developing content, they can even write your blog for you.
Collect And Moderate Customer Reviews
Do you know that 70% of online consumers check product reviews before making a purchase? That’s right. Product reviews definitely help consumers make purchase decisions, so you have to make sure that customer reviews are displayed prominently on your website and social media channels. Let your virtual marketing assistant solicit customer reviews, so you don’t have to spend too much time doing it yourself.
Customer Correspondence
Hire a virtual marketing assistant to help you stay in constant touch with your customers and make sure that each query is promptly answered. Remember, customer service is one of the most important aspects of a successful marketing strategy.
You have two choices. You can hire one yourself, or you can work with a virtual assistant agency.
If you prefer the do-it-yourself route, we recommend OnlineJobs.ph. It is where we hire most of our virtual assistants, and our experience with the remote workers there is mostly positive. Just head to the website, sign up for free, and post your job ad.
* Disclosure: The link above is an affiliate link, meaning, at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To find out more about our view on affiliate products, please see this page.
It should be noted that the free account only allows you to view the applications. You need to upgrade to a paid plan to reach out to the applicants. There are two pricing plans available there – the Premium plan for $99 per month and the Pro plan for $69 per month. Just go with the Pro plan unless you’re planning to hire a lot of people. Once you’ve hired someone, just cancel your subscription.
If you can’t find the time to go through the recruitment process, you can simply reach out to a virtual assistant agency. There are a lot of reputable ones online. Virtual Staff Finder, Virtual Coworker, and Remote Workmate are all good options if you prefer to hire someone from the Philippines, so go and check them out. However, you should know that agencies mark up their virtual assistants’ salaries, so you will be paying much more if you choose this route.
We can also help you with this. Just give us a call.
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