Social media: Should I do it myself, or outsource?
I have several social media pages for my business, and it's quite a lot of work to maintain. Should I hire a social media expert to improve or maintain them, or should I just work on them myself? What are the pros and cons to hiring a social media expert? My main concern is that a freelancer I hire may not get as good of a grasp of the ins and outs of my industry and what makes my particular business unique. What are your thoughts?
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Apr 18, 2021
Yeah, if you don't have any idea on how to do it the right way then outsource should be a way out for you. Here is a benaughty review for you. Here you can meet with new people and probably some of them will help you with your business problems. I'm sure that you will like it eventually.
Feb 14, 2021
If you know you have no idea of what to do, please kindly outsource to the right person.
Oct 16, 2020
I suggest you do it by yourself or hire some who has enough time to study the new ins out of your industry and manage your social media with the right audience who is keen to purchase your's offerings. I have tried Esferasoft Solutions, a Digital Marketing and Mobile app development company in Mohali. Check https://www.esferasoft.com/digital-marketing-company-india/ for more details.
Jun 19, 2020
You should be building an audience personally and for your startup as soon as you can. It's never too early to get started.
Whether you outsource or not depends on how organized you are and what your other daily focuses are.
If you want to grow, at some point you're going to have to either create your own marketing discipline internally or outsource to a partner.
If you're going to outsource you need to create buyer personas so that the organization you outsource to has a good strong understanding of your target audience and the content that they respond to.
You're also going to want to think about what it is you want to outsource. Is it just social media management or content creation and blogging as well or are you looking to hire a director of marketing that will manage other marketing experts.
This all depends on the type of business you've built and how aggressive you want to build it.
Another thing to consider is that you want to automate as much as you can when it comes to your social media but don't just automate, you need authentic engagement as well and that only comes with somebody being on the platforms responding to your audience.
Scheduling posts is the most important way of automating so that you can keep your social channels full of fresh content for your target audience.
If you already have lots of content then outsourcing might make sense right away as they can start to work with your existing content and continue to build your audience for you.
If you don't have a lot of content you may want to outsource someone to help you create it initially.
When it comes to outsourcing, you still have to think of it as a long-term partnership. Marketing today is very much a marathon not just a single sprint.
It takes time to build an audience online especially with a limited budget so, a long-term partnership with shared goals is the preferred approach.
Jun 10, 2020
I believe in doing it yourself. You know your customer. Do the research and go with your gut on what your customers would love to see. You can purchase a program where you can make your entire year of social media posts and schedule them to go out so you have posted almost every day. Make sure to use the 80/20 rule, however.
Mar 14, 2018
Hi Zack,
In order to grow, it's necessary to utilize the art of "interdependence." Bringing in someone who knows how to do something you don't or can do it (possibly better) as you do. Don't worry about them not know your business model, that can be fully explained and you can help them gather a firm grasp on the tone, strategy, demographical areas you're targeting, etc. They may even have a suggestion or two, that you haven't thought of.
Hiring a freelancer can be a little like hiring a graphic designer. There's often no middle grey area - they either have it or, they don't (talent-wise). You'll catch on pretty quickly as to whether they'll be a good fit for your business or not.
If it's time-consuming, that's definitely your signal to say it's time to outsource. You can then focus your attention on other things. One great way to ensure your voice is heard in the right light is to create a list of social media posts ahead of time. This way, the freelancer can utilize these to post several times a day on various social media platforms and get the hang of your tone and aim of what you want to accomplish with your social media campaigns.
I'm frugal (ok, cheap) and built my empire on literally buttons and bows, in the beginning. I still go the frugal route when I can (why spend more than you have to?) and frequently visit sites like Fiverr.com where you can find great talent for a low price. It may be a bit of trial and error to find a match for you, but for $5, what have you got to lose?
Give it a whirl. I'll bet you'll be pleasantly surprised :)
Michelle Arbeau
#1 Celebrity Numerologist in the World, 2-Time Bestselling Author, Motivational Speaker
CEO, Authentic You Media
Featured Columnist, Face/Brand of http://www.LotteryUSA.com
http://www.MichelleArbeau.com
Ph: 323-252-5169
Talent Agent: tammy@thenatomagroup.com
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Mar 9, 2018
If you know you have no idea of what to do, please kindly outsource to the right person.
Mar 8, 2018
Well for me if you can do it and if you have enough experience or knowledge you just do it yourself but if not well i think you just outsource it so that it will not have a toll on you or you will not have a hard time on it. I agree to all the people who answered this question but surely it will depend on you and how your strategy would be. Maybe you can read more about outsourcing here Offshore Business Processing BPO Provider Company.
Mar 5, 2018
There are a couple of questions you need to ask yourself.
How you rank yourself in Social Media skills? Do you think if you do it on your own you will achieve your targets?
If you outsource your Social Media department, what you will do in spare time? There is a term called 'Opportunity Cost', you need to calculate that to decide this either you should go for outsourcing or not?
I can guide you better if you can share more details regarding your business
Feb 28, 2018
The answer is -no one can do it better than you / if you have the whole time in the world :(
Jan 23, 2018
It is a Time vs Money vs Expertise question for most people.
Do you like doing social media yourself?
Do you have the time to dedicate 1 hour thrice per week to it?
Can you afford to pay for it?
Nov 14, 2017
My professional suggestion to you is this:
As you said, a freelancer may not know your business as much as you do.
The best bet for you is to either learn it and develop yourself on the field by going for trainings or you higher a capable hand in the field (social media expert) who will be a part of the business and understand the business with you.
During this period, you can familiarize yourself with the methods and tactics of social media marketing.
In this way you still make progress and learn on the process rather than waiting
Oct 26, 2017
Well, i think outsourcing is a good option. Its not like that they won't understand your business and its theme. The only thing you need is to give them right idea and give them right direction, what actually you want for your business from them.
May 5, 2016
It depends on the type of business in question. If your work is very personal, people will use social media to find out about you - deciding whether you're the kind of person in whom they can place their trust.
There are programs such as Hootsuite that can help you coordinate your efforts. Others, like MailChimp incorporate feeds into their program so that your newsletter also gets posted to your networks upon publication to your subscribers. This can streamline your efforts, making less work for you.
One way to reach out to your public that takes less time and effort involves looking for articles relevant to your clients, and hitting all the social media buttons that come with the articles, so that your people get that information. Not all of it has to come directly from you!
If you are going to go with an expert, take the time to interview them, and look at their work for other clients. How well do they grasp that individual's personality and offerings? I've stopped reading emails from service providers I respect, simply because their email headings were disingenuous and clearly written to be provocative rather than engaging and caring.
May 5, 2016
I think social media is something you can do yourself, it just takes a lot of time if your goal is to master it. Tools like Hootsuite and Tweepi can help you schedule your posts and find new accounts to follow. This is quick and easy to manage if you are tweeting 3-5 times a day. The parts of social media that are more consuming and you might want to outsource are:
-Writing new content to share
-Monitoring social media response to brand
-Replying to customer inquires and tracking feedback
-Keeping up on how your competitors are using social media
-Starting conversations: live chats, Twitter polls, new hashtags, etc. to create engagement
Feb 5, 2016
I get this question all the time. As someone with a background in social media in a corporate setting, outsourcing your social media to someone else could mean doomsday for your business. That being said, a lot of business owners I know don't have an interest in managing their social media profiles and want to focus their time on other aspects of the business. The bottom line, you should not outsource UNLESS the person taking over your social media strategy 1) really knows what they are doing and (just as importantly) 2) knows your industry and your business inside and out. They need to know the lingo and the current events that fall under your business niche so they can properly align your content strategy with what is being discussed online. I recently wrote a blog post about why you shouldn't outsource your social media if you're interested. Great question and a question I get a lot! 7 Reasons Why You Shouldn't Outsource Your Social Media & What To Do Instead: http://buff.ly/1T2sRRt
Aug 20, 2014
Social Media is the best option for business popularity.In my opinion,hire a Social Media Expert who can handle your all social media responsibilities.
Jul 26, 2014
The answer is basically to choose the option that will get it done regularly. If you have the time and you do not have anything better like getting new clients, managing your business or being with friends and family, do it yourself, otherwise hire someone.
Jul 23, 2014
Hi there, in my own opinion regarding social media, I hire an expert that can maximize time in managing my social media profiles and also they are the one who is knowledgeable in doing that thing. Also they are the one who know everything about social media. After hiring an expert, I can see the progress in my business.
Jul 23, 2014
I believe the real question is are you an "expert" in social media?
You position yourself as an expert in film production... What would your answer be if a Social Media "expert" asked the question, I'm doing a video for my webste, should I do it myself or hire a video/production expert?
One of the keys to running a successful business is to know your own strengths and weaknesses. If the budget is there, you always want to hire the best person possible for the position. Are you the best person? Is your time better spent managing the process and spending time on new business or even doing the job you have set up your business for, film production.
If your issues is will this person understand your business as well as you the true answer is no... but they don't have to. They need to be able to spend there time based on your input and guidance. I've worked with a number of freelancers and after one well planned input session, they were off and running. I would provide them with additional topics and some input and off they go...
To grow your business you have to be a good manager. Taking off a hat or two will help you grow as a person and increase your business potential.
Good luck!
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