Ask the Expert: Donya Parsa, Social Media Management

Welcome to Ask the Expert, a series where I sit down with creative industry leaders and ask them all the questions so you don’t have to spend hours and hours Googling! Introducing Donya Parsa, a New York-based Social Media Marketing Manager.

Tell us about yourself! Where you’re from, what you do, and a non-work related fact about you. 

DP: Hi! My name is Donya Parsa, and I am from Long Island, NY. I help businesses manage and create engaging content for their social media. I love visiting restaurants, trying new foods, and doing food reviews. I’m also a big traveler!  

Social media marketing can feel like a daunting task for a lot of small business owners. When clients come to you, what are they struggling with? 

DP: A lot of clients are struggling with putting content out on their pages and building their presence online. They either have a lot of content but don’t know how to put it together with engaging copy or are starting from square one. In this case, if they are in the early stages of growing their business, they likely need help with filming, editing, and putting together a content plan. 

What impact can social media have on a small business? 

Social media gives small businesses access to a broad audience to get their name and product/services in front of them. This can help drive website traffic AND sales.  Social media marketing can also allow small businesses to foster a sense of community among their customers. This increases loyalty, engagement, and word-of-mouth promotion. Social media platforms allow small businesses to narrowly target their promotions to reach specific groups of people who are most likely to be interested in their products or services. Social media marketing is a super effective way for small businesses to reach and engage their desired customers.

What are three tips you can give to someone who is just getting started using social media marketing?

DP: These are my top three tips I’d give to someone! 

1. Define your target audience: Take time to really understand who your ideal customers are. Identify their demographics, interests, pain points, and where/how they consume information. This will allow you to create more relevant, effective messaging.

2. Build your brand identity: Determine the personality and essence of your brand. Consistent branding helps connect emotionally with your audience and sets you apart. Make sure it’s represented across your website, social channels, logo, etc.

3. Prioritize digital marketing: As a new business, focus your efforts heavily on digital marketing channels like SEO, social media, and paid platforms like Google/Facebook Ads. They offer a lot of bang for your buck and can help you scale an audience faster. But don’t feel the need to do everything…master just 1 or 2 channels to start.

Which platforms are you partial to? Why?

DP: When it comes to social media platforms for marketing a small business, a few that I’m particularly partial to are Facebook and Instagram. As the largest social network, Facebook offers unparalleled reach and detailed targeting options for ads. It’s great for driving traffic, conversions, and sales. The organic reach is also still decent for small businesses. Instagram is a very visually-driven platform that is fantastic for showcasing products/services, behind-the-scenes content, and engaging followers. Instagram ads are also very effective, especially for e-commerce brands.

As small business owners, do we really need to be on everything? 

DP: Nope! As a small business owner, you do not need to be active on every single social media platform. That would be extremely time-consuming and likely ineffective. Instead, here are some tips on determining where to focus your social media presence. 

1. Know where your target audience is: Research which 1-3 platforms your ideal customers use the most and are most active on. That’s where you want to focus.

2. Start small: It’s better to start with one platform and build a thriving presence there before expanding. Quality over quantity.

3. Resources: Consider your available resources for creating content, engaging consistently, and managing ads. Limit yourself to what you can maintain.

4. Teamwork: Delegate roles if you have the budget and team to pursue a larger social media presence across platforms.

The goal is to be strategic, so choose one or two platforms that make the most sense for your brand and audience. Master those before expanding. Staying lean but consistent with high-quality engagement is key.

What’s a holy grail social media strategy of yours?

Here are NINE (!) steps you can follow to get started on your social media marketing strategy.

1. Identify your specific, ideal target audience and deeply understand them. Research their demographics, interests, behaviors, motivations, and pain points.
2. 2. Craft buyer personas based on your research to represent your real target customers. Name them and get very specific.
3. Create a cohesive social media presence and branded content that appeals directly to your personas’ wants and needs.
4. Focus 80% of your posting on valuable, educational content and just 20% on direct promotional messaging. Social proof is powerful.
5. Interact thoughtfully and consistently with followers to build relationships, engage with content, and provide great customer service.
6. Run both broad and hyper-targeted social media ads to reach more of your ideal audience and align messaging.
7. Use promos, giveaways, user-generated content, and partnerships to create buzz and drive viral sharing.
8. Diversify content formats across platforms – video, live, Stories, reels, carousels, etc. Cater to each platform.
9. Monitor analytics closely to optimize and double down on what converts and causes engagement. Continuously improve

The key is truly knowing your audience, creating content for them specifically, interacting humanly, and diligently tracking performance. Combine that with social advertising and conversion optimization, and you have a proven social formula.

Give us some insight into what working with you as a social media marketing manager looks like.

DP: As your social media marketing manager, I start by gaining a deep understanding of your business goals and ideal audience through an initial discovery call and audit of your existing accounts. I then develop a customized strategy to align with your brand voice across platforms. My day-to-day focus is on actively engaging your audience through thoughtful community management while also running and optimizing paid ad campaigns if involved. You receive monthly performance reports with data-driven recommendations to improve results. We have open communication through monthly check-in calls to discuss priorities, challenges, metrics, and results. My ultimate goal is to grow your following, engagement, conversions, and brand perception through dedicated, metrics-driven social media management that acts as an extension of your team.

Share a post you’re most proud of!

https://www.instagram.com/reel/CzCc6P5O4lH/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

Follow Donya on Instagram or send her an email: donyaparsa1@gmail.com!