Virtual Assistance, what is it?
The virtual assistance profession has been around for as long as remote jobs have existed. However, the virtual assistance sector has grown so much in recent years following the Covid pandemic that it is projected to reach $25 billion by 2025 . So what is a virtual assistance?
A classic definition of a virtual assistance is a person who provides services to clients (individuals or companies) as an independent contractor. The virtual assistance works outside the customer’s office. A virtual assistance can either work from home (home office) or have their own office.
The classic tasks of a virtual assistance are activities that do not belong to the core business of a company. The employees of the company can then concentrate on their core tasks. In this way, the company optimizes its yield by filtering its tasks and allowing the corporate team to focus and develop on its core activity.
By non-core tasks, we mean absolutely all tasks that a company is not specialized in. For example, if a company makes and sells physical products, graphic design may be one of the non-core tasks. A marketing company is different: Selling their products can be a non-core job since their core job is the creative part.
So in which areas can virtual assistants be found?
In reality, there is no definite answer to this question. Any activity that can be performed remotely and is technologically possible falls under the areas covered by virtual assistance. If you browse through the job advertisements, you will also confirm this, because companies are looking for virtual assistances in many areas.
However, we have made a list of the 8 most searched and offered virtual assistant areas:
1. Virtual assistance to the administration:
they take over all administrative tasks. Examples are: planning meetings and work schedules, organizing calendars, booking trips, managing emails, scheduling appointments… etc. In other words: everything that makes everyday work in a company easier and smoother might!
2. Marketing virtual assistance:
they develop a company’s marketing strategy, set priorities and plan to help implement your ideas. They help with market research and identifying the customers’ niche and analyzing past marketing campaigns. They analyze the strengths and weaknesses of marketing strategies and monitor brand image. In other words, they help create the marketing master plan for the company. Virtual marketing assistants can also take on specific tasks, such as e.g. social media marketing, content writing, etc. But we have preferred to list these areas independently.
3. Graphic design virtual Assistance:
they create visual concepts, whether animated or not, in the form of logos, flyers, packaging, websites, etc. Whatever you want to express visually, the graphic designers of the virtual assistants are there for the company!
4. Virtual Assistance to the management:
While their duties may overlap with those of the administrative virtual assistance, they have a greater degree of responsibility and independence. They perform more complex and specific tasks and are assigned to one of the company’s senior executives. In some cases, they are the advisers of the company’s senior executives.
5. Virtual sales assistance:
In order for the sales team to concentrate on their core activities, the virtual sales assistants offer their skills to support the sales team. They organize the sales activities, prepare data, conduct market research, conduct cold calls, create sales documents, communicate with logistics and create sales analyzes for the team. The sales team can then focus on what they do best: sell!
6. Virtual Assistance for customer cervice:
Does the phone ring in the company without anyone answering? Then you need a virtual assistance for customer service. They are highly qualified professionals who ensure that every question is answered, every problem solved and every piece of information documented. This adds great value to the company and give small businesses an illusion of size.
7. Virtual assistance for data-entry:
Since data is vital to a business, keeping it up to date is very important. The virtual assistance for data entry ensure that the data in the various systems is always up to date and free from inaccuracies.
8. Virtual assistance for web research:
The market is just as important as the product, they complement each other. The product should respond to a need (of some kind) in the market. The virtual assistance for web research will help the company know the market and identify the market needs.
The areas of the virtual assistance are very broad and the technology is improving every day. More and more areas can be processed remotely.
We at Vapanana will help you with advice and services. We support companies to achieve the best results on the market.
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