How to hire a rockstar virtual marketing assistant

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Want to hire a virtual marketing assistant?

As a small business owner, you may feel obligated to manage everything on your own. However, remember that you should do what you know best and delegate the rest. 

And while marketing is undoubtedly an essential aspect of your business, for most new professionals, marketing might not be their strongest suit.

That’s why you should consider outsourcing all your marketing efforts to an expert virtual marketing assistant.

In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know about virtual marketing assistants, along with tips on how to hire and manage a marketing VA.

This article covers:

(click on the link to jump to that section)

• What Is A Virtual Marketing Assistant?
• What Are The Different Kinds Of Virtual Marketing Assistants?
• 7 Crucial Tasks To Delegate To A Virtual Marketing Assistant
• 3 Benefits Of Hiring A Virtual Marketing Assistant
• How To Hire A Virtual Marketing Assistant
• 4 Smart Tips To Manage Your Virtual Marketing Assistant?

Let’s get started.

What is a virtual marketing assistant?

A virtual marketing assistant is a remote-working professional who assists with all the marketing needs of a business owner.

It may seem like a straightforward task, but marketing is more than just selling your product or service.

Think about it.

You’ll have to handle diverse marketing tasks, such as:

• Creating marketing goals.
• Market research.
• Creating a marketing plan.
• Drawing a marketing budget.
• Selecting the right medium to advertise.  
• Manage a company’s PR (Public Relations).
• And so much more. 

So unless you have a degree in marketing, it’s best to outsource these tasks to an expert!

What are the different kinds of virtual marketing assistants?

Here are a few different types of specialized virtual marketing assistants:

1. Copywriter 

When it comes to marketing, ‘content is king’! 

An exceptional copywriter will write good copy for all your marketing materials — including ads, emails, newsletters, listings, etc. 

They can help you convey the essential aspects of your business in a crisp and concise manner to keep your audience engaged.

2. Lead generation expert

A ‘lead’ refers to a potential client. 

Having a lead database will allow you to understand different demographics and plan your marketing strategy accordingly. 

A good virtual marketing assistant will help you generate more leads by building great landing pages — and incentivizing potential customers to make a purchase (or maybe even two!)

3. Email marketer

Email marketing is still a popular medium to reach potential customers.

An expert email marketer will help you create compelling content with relevant call-to-action phrases, which can direct more traffic to your business website.

Additionally, they’ll also have the skills required to find the right leads and send out the emails at the right time.

4. AdWords expert

If you have a consumer service or product, you may certainly want to display your ads on Google’s search result page. 

Depending on your target audience, you need to have specific keywords in your ads. 

An AdWords expert has the required skill set to search for the best keywords and boost your sales through Google ads.

5. Graphic designer

A picture is worth a thousand words. 

And if it’s something that can instantly catch the public eye and remain in their memory, it’ll probably be worth even more! 

Creating a unique graphic design for your brand will immensely add value to your business by attracting more customers, primarily due to the visual appeal (think KFC or Starbucks).

Additionally, you can have virtual marketing assistants who are also good at photography, blogging, podcast editing, etc. 

They can craft creative marketing campaigns, which will allow you to stand out from the crowd. 

7 crucial tasks to delegate to a virtual marketing assistant 

An experienced marketing professional is a multitasking expert who can minimize your marketing woes. 

Here are some tasks that they can handle with ease:

1. Conducting market research

The consumer market is an extremely dynamic one as it changes every few years.

This makes it crucial for a business owner to adapt their marketing strategies so they can catch up with the latest trends.

However, before you do that, it’s important to research and understand what your potential customers need. 

Your marketing assistant can conduct relevant and regular research, which will help you:

• Identify how and where you can find new customers.
• Explore new business opportunities.
• Understand which strategies are being used by your competitors.
• Test new trends and tools in the market, and find out what’s best for your business.

These insights will help you plan your marketing strategies in a way that’ll not only drive more traffic but also convert leads into paying customers.

2. Content creation and SEO

You can have an impressive social media presence and keep your audience engaged for a long time with an exceptional digital marketing strategy. 

The more time they spend on your website or social media page, the more connected they’ll feel with your brand. 

A digital marketing assistant with exceptional content writing skills can help you create exciting blog posts, funny social media memes, and even compelling advertisements. 

Content marketing experts can create plans for Search Engine Optimization (SEO), helping your blogs rank higher on Google, and reach the right audience. 

3. Strategy implementation

You might have a very elaborate marketing strategy but may not necessarily have the skills to see it through. 

Don’t worry! Your virtual marketing assistant will implement your plan down to the T. 

They know how to optimize your strategies like a marketing manager.

Since a virtual assistant (VA) is basically a freelancer, they may have good organizational and leadership qualities. This makes them an excellent asset for managing your marketing projects.

They can help you organize any marketing activity, monitor its progress, and even create a project report at the end.

4. Lead generation 

As mentioned above, generating good leads is vital for expanding your business. 

However, it doesn’t end there. 

Your marketing strategy should be able to convert the lead into an actual client.

An experienced marketing professional will have the required skills to generate and convert leads. 

This will allow you to devote your time to the tasks that require your attention, such as improving your product or service, resolving business-related issues, and much more.

5. Maintaining your website

A user-friendly and responsive web design is one of the first things you should have to boost your online presence. 

The marketing virtual assistant can help you keep your website updated with:

• A blog post every week.
• Promotional content.
• Seasonal sale.
• New team members’ bio, etc.

6. Social media management

Social media marketing has undoubtedly become one of the most important aspects of a good marketing strategy. 

Since social platforms are flooded with posts every day, you need to ensure that your content stands out and retains your target audience effectively.

Your virtual marketing assistant can plan your social media campaign, create posts accordingly, and even keep track of the campaign’s performance.

A skilled social media virtual assistant will know which strategy to implement for different social media channels like Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, etc.

Want to learn more about social media virtual assistants? Check out this detailed guide.

7. Customer support

Like any other assistant, your marketing assistant can help you enhance the customer experience by providing the necessary support. 

Of course, the marketing assistant will specifically deal with comments and queries on your social media pages, website, and other marketing campaigns. They can also help you monitor the responses received through surveys or feedback forms. 

3 benefits of hiring a virtual marketing assistant

Here are three key advantages of hiring a virtual marketing assistant:

1. Save costs

Virtual assistants work remotely, saving you the costs of fixed expenses such as a separate desk, equipment like a telephone line, laptop, etc.

Many of these assistants work part-time, allowing you to pay them per hour or project. 

This is undoubtedly more cost-effective than full-time employees, who may need to be paid hefty salaries and other employee benefits (travel allowance, insurance, etc.)

2. Hire from anywhere

Since a virtual assistant doesn’t need to be present in a physical office, you can hire people from anywhere on the globe!

Technological advances have made it possible to communicate with people based in any country effectively. 

You can use online tools to hire your assistant solely based on their skills, irrespective of the geographical boundaries.

3. Better work flexibility

If you’re a new entrepreneur or have a small business, you may not need a full-time marketing team yet. 

With a virtual marketing assistant, you have the flexibility of hiring them only when you need to. 

It may be for a particular project, for specific hours a day, or even to just kick-start a digital marketing campaign.

Additionally, hiring a virtual assistant isn’t half as lengthy or time-consuming as a full-time one! You don’t need to go through time-consuming recruitment meetings or unnecessary paperwork while hiring a virtual employee. 

How to hire a virtual marketing assistant

Here are some websites where you can find virtual marketing assistants with ease: 

1. Hire through an agency

Hiring a VA through an agency will ensure that you don’t have to cross-check the VA’s skills and expertise since the agency does it for you. 

Here are two great agencies:

A. Delegated

Delegated (formerly known as Red Butler) is a virtual assistant company based in the United States, which provides virtual marketing assistant services. 

Their staff is also based in the US, and is highly educated and specially trained to cater to any small business.

They can handle online marketing tasks like:

• Publishing on WordPress.
• PPC (Pay Per Click) marketing.
• Affiliate marketing.
• Email marketing.

B. TaskBullet

TaskBullet is a virtual assistant service provider based in the US. They recruit highly educated professionals from the Philippines.

The VA you hire from TaskBullet will have advanced English skills and can assist you with several marketing tasks like:

• Writing an engaging blog post for your website.
• Conducting keyword research.
• Creating an AdWords campaign.

Here are a few more websites where you can find great virtual assistants.

2. Post a job Ad

If you want to hire a freelancer marketing VA for your startup directly, you can post your job requirements on different portals such as:

A. Indeed

Indeed is an employment website, which allows you to post job listings from anywhere on the globe. The registered candidates can view these ads and directly apply for your job through the platform.

B. ZipRecruiter

ZipRecruiter is an employment platform for recruiters and job seekers.

It uses artificial intelligence (AI) powered smart matching technology and connects professionals and businesses of all sizes.

4 smart tips to manage your virtual marketing assistant

Are you worried that you may find a great marketing VA but may not be able to manage them since they work remotely?

Don’t worry!

You can easily manage your marketing virtual assistant like any other remote employee. 

Here are a few handy tips:

1. Maintain open communication

Open communication is vital for keeping things transparent between you and your remote assistant. 

You can use these tools to ensure effective communication:

A. Instant messaging

Instant messaging tools like Slack, Skype, etc., are great for quickly connecting with your VA. 

You can use them to:

• Follow-up on daily tasks by sending direct messages.
• Share files, images, screenshots, etc.
• Have separate channels for each team member to streamline processes.

B. Video calling

If you feel the need to communicate face-to-face with your marketing assistant, you can use video calling tools like Google Meet, Zoom, etc. 

They allow you to:

• Conduct video conferences with many members.
• Share your screen to quickly demonstrate how to do a task.
• Have better interactions with virtual team members.

Here are 14 Simple Tips to Conduct Successful Virtual Team Meetings.

2. Use productivity tracking tools

Today, there are various advanced productivity management tools to help you monitor a remote employee from anywhere in the world.

These tools allow you to understand how much time virtual assistants work actively, which websites they visit, etc.

Time Doctor is one such excellent productivity management tool.

Time Doctor is a comprehensive employee time tracking and productivity management tool used by various major companies, like BBB (Better Business Bureau), and small businesses, like Thrive Market, to boost team productivity.

Here are a few things you can do with Time Doctor:

• Track the time the VA spent on each task. 
• Monitor time required for individual projects.
• Generate and access detailed reports regarding the VA’s time use, website visits, etc. 
• Track your VA’s billable hours.
• Directly pay VAs through different gateways like PayPal, TransferWise, etc.

3. Start small

Irrespective of the VA’s skills, you should start by giving small projects to your marketing virtual assistant. 

Depending on their performance, you can gradually increase their workload.

If you feel that your VA is a good match for your business, you can even include them in your core team.

4. Be specific about the tasks

Since you don’t interact with your marketing assistant in person, you need to give them specific instructions for every task. 

Be as straightforward as possible regarding your expectations, standards, deadlines, etc. 

This will prevent miscommunication and disappointments on both sides.

Final thoughts

A virtual marketing VA will undoubtedly add tremendous value to your business, especially if you’re a small company.
Use the above tips to hire and manage your virtual assistant. You’ll be able to see how quickly a virtual marketing expert can boost your brand value.