How to Best Prospect for Clients as a Social Media Manager

Here are 8 Best Prospecting Practices for Social Media Managers

1. Get Curious

Make ONE introduction to a prospective client a week.

These opportunities are your #1 top “money-making” priorities for your career👌

Get curious.  Ask the business how they are doing with social media, ask them their biggest social media questions.  Let them talk and really LISTEN. It’s your best way to recognize opportunities to help them in ways they don’t even know they need your help with. This is a true skill of successful social media manager.

Reminder: Create” serendipity on purpose” (a motto of ours at Hay There), one outreach at a time. The more chances you take, the more “good luck” you generate.

2. Connect

Identify and reach out to the decision makers at companies you really want to work with.

LinkedIn is a gold mine, and don’t forget about your local community and network 😍

While it can be a good thing to have a variety of industries you work with, there is something powerful about getting deep into one industry like medical practices, retail based businesses or even senior living.  And then you start to know decision makers titles making it easier to prospect.

We discuss topics like this in our monthly INsider Huddles within our community 👏

3. Create a Work Product

Have one strong portfolio project handy at all times.

This makes you confident to answer a prospective client when they ask the question ‘can you send me something else you’ve worked on?’  It can make the difference in being able to explain what you’ve have worked on by showing vs telling only.

Developing a showcase of your client portfolio work is a 

BIG part of what we do with you at Hay There via our proven courses.

4.Exchange Winning Ideas

Share & trade best prospecting practices with other social media managers.

There is enough business for everybody.  We take an abundance mindset at Hay There and when one person wins at prospecting, we all win.

Feeling stuck? Ask a colleague.  There are new ideas and tactics to develop new client leads all the time. Sometimes it just takes a fresh suggestion from a fellow social media manager.

5. Talk to another social media manager that is working with clients that you would love to work with.

🌱Get inside information on your ideal clients.

Reach out to an agency or manager who is working within an industry or types of businesses you would LOVE to work with—explore how they work and speak to their prospective clients in their marketing and on their website, if it’s someone you can reach-ask them if you can take them for lunch or coffee and ask them about what it’s like to work with their clients, some best practices in the industry.

Examples of Questions— “how did you get started as an SMM in this industry? who is your favorite client and why? what are challenges you have found with these businesses/business owners? what is most important to the kinds of clients you work with?”

You could reach out to any of our INstructors if you enjoy their work and clients they work with or schedule a call with Hay There team for low-risk way to get this priceless insight!

6. Brainstorm with another Social Media Manager.

🌱You don’t have to build your business on your own,

in fact business owners are already usually solo but energy and expansion can get stale and stuck if you ignore creativity, connection, masterminding. It creates synergy. The definition of synergy- the results are greater then just the parts, another way of saying…we are better together!

Get that stuck energy moving with intentional brainstorming with other Social Media Managers of all levels.

You can find lots of this energy in our Community with Hay There Coffee Chats, Huddles and ongoing Professional Development trainings…always interactive, relevant and relatable.

7. Partner up and collaborate with another Social Media Manager.

🌱Let’s take reaching out to other pros & brainstorming with them to the next level with COLLABORATION.

Do you and another Social Media Manager have similar ideal clients but differing skills that complement each other? Are you both in front of communities that the other could benefit from, thus expanding your reach x2 and exponentially? Explore collaboration.

It’s a skill set that can be learned- we dive into it in our trainings and our “always on” community…Hay There resources are always teeing up business collaborations! Like we always say “you’re not alone”! 

8. Refine your pricing strategy.

via GIPHY

🌱The economy is changing, cost of living is increasing, businesses and their marketing are ONLINE more than ever, and business owners are paying MORE for content creation and management of their social media!

It’s not a secret that businesses must invest in their social media. PLUS…YOU are valuable, don’t forget your many skills you have developed over many years and experiences that are 100% transferrable to your Social Media Manager career.

If you have official trainings under your belt (like ours!), plus our NFT certification on your LinkedIn AND 24/7 education and masterminding with pro social media managers, then it’s time to raise and strategize those prices to match!

Don’t hold back. If you’re doubting yourself still, let’s work it out together or schedule a 1 on 1 conversation with one of us.

Plant those seeds and nurture your business.

Now is the time🌱