Category Marketing

Social media has become a crucial component of many business’ marketing and customer service efforts. As a result, business owners frequently wonder whether they should outsource their social media management to free up time and money for the company’s other operations. However, it can also be very expensive and may require giving up some control over the company’s online presence. The advantages and disadvantages of hiring a social media manager or agency will be discussed when determining whether this is the best option for your company.

Social media’s importance in the current business environment:

In the current digital era, social media has become a crucial component of many businesses’ marketing and customer service efforts. Building brand awareness and customer loyalty is made easier by the ability for businesses to connect with and engage with their target audience in real time. Additionally, a great social media presence can boost client engagement, generate more leads, and boost revenue. 

Advantages of having a strong social media presence: 

• Greater brand recognition: Social media enables businesses to connect with a larger audience and increase the visibility of their brand. 

• Customer engagement: Social media platforms give businesses a chance to talk to their clients and address their concerns and questions. Increased client satisfaction and loyalty may result from this. 

• Increased website traffic: A strong social media presence can increase website traffic, which can result in more conversions and sales for a business. 

• Broader audience: Because social media platforms have a big user base, businesses may target particular groups and reach a larger audience. 

In today’s digital environment, having a strong social media presence is crucial for businesses. It can help in increasing reach, website traffic, consumer interaction, and brand exposure.

Considerations for deciding whether to hire out social media management:

There are several considerations to take into account when deciding whether to hire out social media management. Here are some pros and cons to consider:

Pros:

• Expertise: A social media manager or agency will likely have a higher level of expertise and experience in the field, which can lead to more effective and efficient social media management. 

• Time: For companies that lack the resources or the understanding to manage social media internally, outsourcing social media management can free up time for other business operations. 

• Consistency: Working with a social media manager or company can help you make sure that your online presence is engaging and active on a regular basis. 

Cons: 

• Cost, especially for small businesses: Hiring a social media manager or agency can sometimes be expensive. 

• Loss of control: When social media management is outsourced, some control over the brand’s online presence may be given up. 

• Communication: It may be more challenging to collaborate with a team or individual from outside the organization, which could result in misunderstanding or delays. 

One choice to think about is outsourcing some tasks (like creating content) while keeping control of the social media accounts in-house. This can provide a more individualized approach while still utilizing some of the advantages of outsourcing social media management. 

The choice to outsource social media management will ultimately be based on the particular requirements and assets of your company. Before choosing a decision, it is crucial to carefully evaluate the advantages and disadvantages and take into account aspects like cost, experience, and free time.

How to find the ideal social media management individual or team:

Choosing the right individual or team to handle social media management for your company is the next step once you have made this decision. To make sure you find the right fit, it is essential to do extensive research on it and carefully evaluate prospective employees or businesses. Here are some tips for selecting the ideal social media management group or person: 

• Examine prior work: Examine the social media profiles that the individual or group formerly managed. Look for profiles that are lively, interesting, and in line with the tone and message of the brand. 

• Request references: Asking for recommendations from previous or current clients is nothing to be afraid of. You can get a feel of the team’s or person’s working style and level of skill from this. 

• Take into consideration their knowledge and experience: Look for individuals or businesses who have expertise in your area and a solid grasp of social media best practices. 

• Check their availability: Make sure that the team or person has the time and resources to manage your social media accounts in an efficient way. 

• Take into account their personality: It’s crucial to identify a group or individual who is in line with the culture and values of your business. This will guarantee a successful and pleasant working relationship. 

You can identify the best fit for your social media management needs by doing some research and evaluating potential candidates or businesses. Take the time to select the best group or individual to handle this important duty, and don’t be hesitant to ask questions. 

In conclusion, social media management has evolved into a necessary element of many businesses’ efforts in customer service and marketing. Considering the benefits and disadvantages of outsourcing this activity, taking into consideration factors like cost, skill level, and time limits, is necessary to make the decision. When thinking about outsourcing social media management, it’s crucial to carefully assess and evaluate possible employees or vendors to discover the best fit. 

After taking into consideration all the criteria, it might be a smart move for individuals who lack the time or knowledge to maintain social media on their own or for those who want to ensure a consistent and professional online presence. For companies with the funds and knowledge to manage social media internally, it might not be essential. The choice should ultimately be based on what is best for your business.

Keep in mind, Reach is a website and marketing agency aimed at helping other small businesses, so feel free to give us a call for a no-obligation chat. Contact Now

You’re ready to take your marketing to the next level? Here are a few tips to help you reach your goals. 

1. Set and Post Goals 

Marketing goals are critical and will help you to define what you need to focus on and achieve. Your goals should be SMART: specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and time-based and POSTED for all to see. 

You will also need to allocate a budget to your marketing activities. Your marketing budget will need to include elements such as:

• Website development and maintenance
• Website search engine optimization (SEO) & Keywords
• Design of branding
• Printing of promotional material (business cards, brochures, signage, etc)
• Advertising (google, social media, email marketing)
• Donations and sponsorships
• Employing staff or hiring an agency to undertake marketing activities

Click Here for a Marketing Plan Template

2. Market Research

Market research is a key part of developing your market strategy. It is about collecting information that provides an insight into your customers’ thinking, buying patterns, and location. In addition, market research can also assist you to undertake an initial sales forecast, monitor market trends and keep an eye on what your competition is doing.

3. Profile your Target Markets

Trying to promote your product or service to everyone can be costly and ineffective. Grouping or segmenting your potential customers based on certain characteristics will help to focus your marketing efforts.

Generally segmentation is based on factors such as:

• geography – location
• demographics – age, gender, education level, income, occupation
• behaviour – loyalty, attitude, readiness to buy, usage rates
• lifestyle – social class, personality, personal values.

Your target market should have a need for your product or service and be willing to pay for your offer.

4. Unique Selling Proposition (USP)

A USP is the unique reason your customers buy from you and not your competitors – it’s what makes your business stand out from the crowd. It is important to define what you do differently and be able to convey that to potential customers.

Your USP may be having a new or unique offering or providing exceptional service. Start developing your USP by answering the following questions:

• What do you love most about your products and services?
• What special skills or knowledge do you have?
• What makes your customers come to you instead of your competitors?
• How do your customers benefit by purchasing your products or services?
• Which aspects do you generally highlight when you describe your business to strangers?

5. Choose Marketing Avenues

Use a CRM. Customer relationship management (CRM) is a technology for managing all your company’s relationships and interactions with customers and potential customers. The goal is simple: Improve business relationships to grow your business. A CRM system helps companies stay connected to customers, streamline processes, and improve profitability.

Your website and CRM should be working seamlessly together. Your website collects data and your CRM for managing and reaching your customers. The most popular CRMs on our websites at Reach are Constant Contact and Keap. 

6. Nurture your Customers

Your customers are the key to your success so it is important to look after them. Providing exceptional customer service can keep people coming back and set you apart from your competitors.

Strategies to build loyalty in customers include:

• communicating regularly with customers
• providing after-sale automated and personal follow ups
• delivering on your promises
• go the ‘extra mile’ and exceed initial expectations
• using feedback and complaints as an opportunity to improve services
• listening to customers
• training staff in customer service and basic sales processes. 

Read more on providing effective customer service. 

7. Optimize your Website

Your website should be a fine oiled machine working 24hrs a day bringing in $ and saving you time. Your website should be glamorous on the front end and a work horse behind the scenes (SEO, Keywords, Meta Tags, Backlinks, etc…). Websites should inform of your services, give testimonials, show your products/services, introduce yourself and your mission, allow purchasing and booking options, and provide valuable insights and best practices. If you need a personalized website audit click here or use a generic service here. 

8. Content is King

Quality social media and website content is essential to bringing in and maintaining clients. Content helps people find you, builds trust, and keeps customers coming back. Be sure to frame your content in a positive light. Example, if you’re selling ground beef, is it better to focus on 25% fat or 75% lean beef? Also, do a google search for ground beef, scroll to the bottom to find other related search terms that should be included in your content. 

Use tools like Hemingway to grade your text on readability and grammarly to further edit your writing. Or Canva to make eye-catching graphics.

9. Monitor and Review

It is important to regularly monitor and review your marketing activities to determine whether they are achieving the desired outcome, such as increased sales. Initially you should review your marketing plan every three months to ensure your activities are supporting your strategy. Your website should provide plenty of analytics for this process. What products did your customers buy, how did they find you, what aren’t they buying, what content gained a lot of traffic? 

Be sure to also evaluate your website, CRM and social media analytic tools to determine the effectiveness of your campaigns.

Need help with an effective website, creating content, managing your social media or CRM? Reach is a website and marketing agency on a mission to help businesses reach their goals. Check out our range of blog posts, our talk to an expert advisor. 

Understanding your business payment collection options can get complicated. Once you’re familiar with all of the names you should know, you’ve got to turn around and choose one of them for your business. So, how does a business owner distinguish between Stripe vs. PayPal vs. Square? Even more, which payment companies is best suited for your business?

Here is your ultimate guide to understanding whether Square, PayPal, or Square offers up the best payment processing solutions possible for your business’s payments needs.

Stripe vs. PayPal vs. Square: The Basics

Understanding whether Stripe, Square, or PayPal is the best option for your business will require you to be familiar with the fundamental products that each option offers.

Let’s lay out the details on what Stripe, Square, and PayPal:

Stripe Overview

The core product that Stripe offers is an online payment API for businesses’ websites and apps. Stripe is an extremely developer-centric online payments option that offers customized payment styles like billing and platform payments. 

Stripe offers payments APIs through the Integrated and Customized versions of their product. Overall, Stripe is so developer-friendly that their integrations into websites are seamless: It’s hard to tell when you’re using a Stripe payment API to checkout. But odds are, you probably have. Stripe automates online payments for some of the biggest brands out there. 

PayPal Overview

Compared to Stripe, PayPal’s offerings are much broader. That said, because of how many products PayPal has begun to offer, trying to understand PayPal’s payment options can be a bit overwhelming. Let’s break them down to make PayPal’s payments suite easier to wrap your head around.

First, PayPal’s core product is the checkout experiences they offer. There are three options for this product. PayPal Checkout is simply a plugin “Pay With PayPal” button that you can integrate into a pre-existing checkout. In contrast, PayPal Payments Standard offers a full, generic, and free checkout experience for your business’s website. Finally, PayPal Payments Pro is a customizable payments API, much like Stripe’s basic product.

Second, PayPal also offers online invoicing. Creating and sending invoices through PayPal is free, though you will have to pay a transaction fee once your customer fulfills the invoice with a credit or debit card, which we’ll cover later.

Finally, PayPal also offers in-person payments through their app PayPal Here and mobile card readers that turn smart devices into functioning POS systems.

Square Overview

Let’s take a look at what payment solutions Square can offer your business. Just as PayPal’s payments solutions were broader—and therefore more complicated—than Stripe’s offerings, so too are Square’s when compared to PayPal’s.

That’s right—Square offers up even more payment solutions than PayPal and Stripe. But that also means they will be even tougher to understand. Let’s carefully pore over all of the payments solutions Square offers:

Square’s first and core product is their in-person POS system. These started as the quintessential smart device POS systems that Square is known for. Their card readers—the headphone jack magstripe reader, their headphone jack chip reader, and their Bluetooth contactless and chip reader—allow your smart device to read card and contactless payments. And their free Square POS app turns your smart device into a powerful point of sale system. Their Square Stand, meanwhile, can turn an iPad into a countertop POS system. Finally, the Square Terminal and Square Register are both fully self-sufficient POS systems that respectively offer mobile and countertop solutions.

Square also offers ecommerce solutions for businesses that want to set up online shopping for their customers. These solutions include Weebly ecommerce stores fully equipped with a built-in Square checkout experience. If you already have your own online store set up, then you can simply set up Square checkout or a custom Square payments API, as well.

Last but not least, Square also offers an invoicing platform. Through Square Invoices, you’ll be able to send free invoices to your customers. You can set up invoices for one-time payments, repeat customers, and even recurring billing.

Stripe vs. Square vs. PayPal: The Costs

Now that you’ve got an overview of Stripe vs. Square vs. PayPal, it’s time to start digging into the details. Beyond the products that these three payments options offer, another main criteria you’ll need to consider is the fees associated with Stripe vs. Square vs. PayPal.

Please note fees are constantly changing (so we may be off by a hair), but they all have a very similar fee structure: 

Stripe Costs

Transaction fees: 2.9% + $0.30

Because the payments API that Stripe offers is so straightforward, Stripe fees will also be just as easy to understand. If you choose to go with their Integrated payments API, then you’ll only have to pay for successful transactions—Stripe charges no monthly fees or setup fees whatsoever. For each payment that your Square API processes, you’ll simply have to pay 2.9% of the transaction value, plus $0.30 per transaction.

Alternatively, if you opt for their Customized API for your business because of your high transaction volume or unique business model, you’ll be able to access customizable rates, as well. You’ll just need to contact Stripe to request a quote to get an idea of what these customizable rates might look like.

PayPal Costs

Hardware cost: $29.99 – 79.00

Transaction fees: 2.7% to 3.5% + $0.15

Now, let’s see how PayPal costs stack up. Most payments processed through a PayPal product will cost your business 2.9% of the transaction value, plus $0.30 per transaction. However, there are some notable exceptions.

While PayPal Checkout and PayPal Payments Standard will simply carry that default payment processing fee, PayPal Payments Pro will cost you $30 a month along with that same 2.9% + $0.30 transaction fee.

Additionally, payments processed with a card reader through PayPal Here will only cost 2.7% of the transaction value. Card readers retail from $14.99 to $99.99, depending on which reader you get. However, if you process a keyed-in payment through PayPal Here, it will cost your business 3.5% of the transaction value, plus $0.15 per transaction.

Finally, invoicing through PayPal will simply cost your business that 2.9% + $0.30 payment processing fee when your customer fulfills the invoice with a card payment.

Square Costs

Hardware cost: Free to $799

Transaction fees: 2.5% + $0.10 to 3.5% + $0.15

Because of their wide array of payment products, Square’s pricing system will be correspondingly complicated. How much you pay per transaction can vary widely based on which Square product and hardware you use, so pay close attention:

With Square POS systems, you’ll pay a range of transaction fees from 2.6% + $0.10 to 3.5% + $0.15, depending on which POS hardware you process it through.

If you process a card payment through a Square headphone jack or Bluetooth reader (which range in price from free to $49), then it will cost your business2.6% + $0.10 of the transaction value. The same transaction fee applies for payments through the Square Stand, which will cost $199, not including the cost of the iPad it needs to function.

For card payments you process through the Square Terminal, which retails at $299, you will also have to pay 2.6% + $0.10 per transaction. For card payments you process through the Square Register, which will cost $799, you will have to pay the same 2.6% + $0.10 fee.

Be sure to note: Any transaction that you process through any Square point of sale system by keying in the card information, you’ll pay 3.5% + $0.15.

The basic software that Square point of sale systems run on—the Square POS app—will be completely free. But the Square for Retail app will cost $0, $60, or $299+ per month depending on the plan you choose.

Alternatively, if you want to access a Weebly ecommerce store with a Square checkout experience, you’ll need to pay both Weebly and Square. A Weebly will start at $12 a month, but you’ll also get a year’s worth of free domain services and a $100 Google Ads credit. Meanwhile, the Square checkout experience for a Weebly store will cost the same as Square Checkout and the custom Square payments API:

In-person transactions: 2.6% + $0.10

In-app transactions: 2.9% + $0.30

Online transactions: 2.9% + $0.30

Finally, if you’re using Square’s new invoicing platform to invoice your customers, you’ll simply have to pay 2.9% of the invoice value, plus $0.30, if your customer pays with a card. However, if they pay with cash or check, the invoice will be completely free for you.

Stripe vs. Square vs. PayPal: Which Should You Choose?

Having familiarized yourself with the offerings and costs of Stripe, Square, PayPal, you’re ready to start thinking about which of these three options is right for your business. Don’t worry—to provide some guidance, we’ll delineate which types of businesses typically succeed with Stripe, Square, and PayPal, respectively. Let’s take a look:

Best for Larger B2C Ecommerce Companies: Stripe

Put simply, if you don’t have a web developer on your team, then Stripe is probably not your winner in Stripe vs. Square vs. PayPal. You’ll need a trained engineer to get Stripe up and running on your website. But, if you do have a developer on your team, then Stripe could very well be your best option. 

Also keep in mind that Stripe doesn’t offer an invoicing platform at the moment, so it won’t be a great choice for business-to-business companies that need to invoice their customers. If you’re working directly with customers, though, being able to invoice through Stripe won’t be necessary.

Best for Ecommerce Companies That Need Easy Online Payments: PayPal

On the other hand, if you’re running an ecommerce business without an engineer on your team, then PayPal is likely your best option of Stripe, PayPal, and Square. PayPal checkout experiences are easy to integrate into your ecommerce store, and they’ll be remarkably inexpensive.

Plus, by the off-chance that you need to run an in-person transaction, you’ll be able to do so with PayPal. That said, as you can read in our Square vs. PayPal Here comparison review, PayPal Here won’t offer a robust enough POS system to make it your go-to payments solution for a brick-and-mortar store.

Best for Primarily Brick-and Mortar-Businesses: Square

Finally, if you’re a running a brick-and-mortar business, then Square clearly beats out PayPal and Stripe for you. If you’re trying to choose between Stripe vs. PayPal vs. Square, recognize that Square offers up far-superior in-person POS solutions. And should you decide to expand into ecommerce, then Square can offer online solutions—like Weebly online store, Square Checkout, and custom APIs—that can help you with that. Nonetheless, if you’re primarily working face-to-face with customers, then Square should be your go-to, especially when measured against Stripe and PayPal.

Payment Recommendations

Understanding Stripe vs. Square vs. PayPal involves wrapping your head around a lot of information. But you’ve made it! Now that you’ve read through our guide to Stripe, Square, and PayPal—and how to choose which is best for your business—you’re equipped with the necessary information to move forward with your winner.

But be sure to know that there are options out there beyond Stripe, Square, and PayPal. Example, most of our website clients now use woocommerce payments as well for website transactions. 

Stripe is an online payment API that’s best fit for larger business-to-consumer 

PayPal offers online checkout experiences, invoicing, and in-person payments best fit for companies that need easy online payments.

Square offers POS systems, online checkout experiences, and invoicing best fit for brick-and-mortar businesses.

Bonus: Woocommece is a newer integrated payment option that’s a best fit for online businesses using wordpress. Talk to your web designer for integration.

Need further help with payment integration on your website? Reach is a website and marketing agency on a mission to help businesses reach their goals. Check out our range of blog posts, our talk to an expert advisor.