Should Your Business Outsource Social Media or Keep it In-house?

No one can deny that having a social media presence is essential for businesses; however, what does that look like for your business? How do you decide when to keep social media in-house or when to outsource it? And what is more beneficial to your business?

Why it’s Important to Learn Social Media and Keep it In-house

While daily posts are recommended, they do not always fit into everyone’s workday schedule, especially when it comes to being engaged on multiple social media platforms. Before contemplating outsourcing your social media, consider learning from or teaching someone within your team rather than hiring an external agency. Some benefits of training existing team members in social media (or learning it yourself) include:

• 1. Increased skills and empowerment: Training your staff or yourself a new skill enhances what they can bring to the table and often boosts staff morale. Learning new skills are shown to empower staff members, as they feel more appreciated, engaged and valued.
• 2. Simplicity: Specialist training can be provided via phone or online with an expert brand marketer (if you’re looking for a larger presence on social media) to provide insights unique to your business.
• 3. Flexibility and ownership: The biggest benefit to keeping social media in-house is when “in-the-moment” opportunities arise that make a great post. These moments are easy to share on social media and allow you to do this immediately, whereas taking the photo and sending it to an external agency naturally means there is a delay in the posting.
• 4. Direct contact: Social media is a communication tool and allows you to directly connect with the end user of your product or service. This is your opportunity to reach your online customers! Social media marketing is about starting conversations, not just posting daily promotional messages, but engaging with all comments and questions, connecting with your audience and building relationships and a community.

While this sounds fine in theory, there is also a downside in keeping social media in-house. It could mean potential lost hours on other projects or tasks, or hiring additional staff to meet the demand. Of course, there is often a learning curve, whether the individual is new to speaking on behalf of a business or new to learning your brand and product/service.

The Benefits of Outsourcing Your Social Media to the Experts

It was recently reported in a Forbes article that for a medium-sized company, managing a single social platform could take roughly 32 hours per month. Are you able to devote the hours necessary or is it time for an expert to step in and run your social media? Becoming a social media expert takes time, just as it took for you to become an expert in your field. Here’s why you may want to consider outsourcing:

• 1. Time saver: In utilizing expert knowledge, it is inevitable that posts would be curated more efficiently. As well, it takes time to watch day-to-day account activities, evaluating trends, researching and creating content, scheduling posts, and engaging with comments/likes and other platform users. Ultimately, you can work with the outsourcing agency to determine the hours that work for your business to devote to social media, along with their recommendations to ensure the service fits your budget.
• 2. Increased brand recognition: Results on social media platforms do not happen on their own and enlisting an expert can help traction to become more prevalent and get you started on the right foot.
• 3. Expert knowledge: An expert understands the platforms, uses essential tools for reporting what is and isn’t working, and ensures posts are optimally timed; an expert also comes with fresh ideas and suggestions to continually improve social media platforms and posts to increase engagement.
• 4. Content: Let’s face it. You know your business best. However, you may not be able to interpret your information clearly, without the industry jargon that may only be relatable to you. An outsourced social media expert can be just what you need to communicate your most important benefits; a content strategy is critical (regular scheduled posts) so you’ll never miss an opportunity to put your brand in front of potential customers.

Working to set ground rules prior to having an outsourced agency take care of your social media will allow you to feel confident they understand your business, are on the same page with your digital marketing goals, comprehend the tone you are looking for, and even formulate some responses to avoid time delays and unnecessary tension or negative feedback.

Are you interested in getting support with your social media presence? Connect with us to learn more about the options we provide.