Should you Outsource your Social Media?

I get this quite often, social media seems like such an easy channel to manage yourself or have a high schooler manage in the afternoons.

While anyone can log onto Facebook to make a post, social media marketing requires a strategic approach if you are going to translate it into dollars. Let’s be real, if it isn’t driving revenue, it’s a waste of your time.

Let’s dive in.

Reason 1: Strategy

If you have been managing your social media profiles without a documented strategy, this is working against you. When you choose to partner with a company for your social media marketing efforts, they will document a social strategy custom to your brand that will answer questions like below.

• What is the competitive landscape like on social media?
• Who are the influencers in your industry and how do we communicate with them?
• What are our current messaging strategies across other marketing channels and how do we integrate them into social media?
• What types of content work/don’t work?

Waking up every morning and asking yourself “what am I going to post on the company’s page today?” is not a strategy, it’s putting social media last – and in this day and time, that is more detrimental to your brand than you can imagine.

Reason 2: Time

Your time is valuable. Spending hours on social media posts and content might translate to your bottom line, if done right. But is that the highest use of your time? If you met with potential investors or high-dollar prospects instead, would that generate even more?

Everything we do is a trade-off of value versus our time. If your best use of time is managing and generating content for your social channels, then don’t stop doing it. However, many business owners or higher ups can generate more money spending their time in other areas.

Always live by the highest best use of your time, and when considering your social media marketing, it is no different.

Reason 3: Knowledge

I’ve been in digital marketing for years, and social media channels come and go – while others constantly evolve. Keeping up with the latest is important, but understanding which channels would make the biggest impact for your brand is essential.

Digital marketing agencies who provide social media marketing services live and breathe this world. From blogs to events, they are extremely knowledgeable in best practices, innovative strategies and can tailor social to meet your business goals.

Don’t be fooled by a high schools graduate who knows the “ins and outs” of Instagram, because the moment you ask them about Facebook’s advertising terms and conditions, they probably won’t have a clue. (Facebook owns Instagram, just to clarify)

Reason 4: Costs

If you are looking at increasing your social media activity, or it has just become too time consuming to handle, there are costs associated to whichever direction you take.

1. In-house – hiring someone in-house sounds great, but the added costs of benefits, training and risks that come with them might not outweigh the reasons you chose to keep it in house. Also, if you have a small to medium sized business, a full-time employee might not have enough social media work to keep them busy for 40 hours a week.
2. Do It Yourself – As a business owner, you might choose to manage it yourself because “it doesn’t cost you anything”. Sure, that might seem like the case but remember that your time is valuable and always play by the highest use scenario when choosing to DIY.
3. Partnering – when you decide to partner with a social media agency, it’s like a burden has been lifted. You typically will have a monthly cost associated to this arrangement, but having the reassurance that you are working with a knowledgeable partner who can actually generate revenue for you allows you time to focus on your core business areas.

Reason 5: Revenue

The money that you can make using social media marketing will likely make you drop your jaw. After deciding that you want to partner with a digital marketing agency, be sure the strategy they deliver is in line with your business goals, aka revenue.

Don’t waste time inconsistently representing your brand on social media. Make a plan, work with a knowledgeable partner and see revenue, it’s that simple.