Social Media Management is huge business now with all the changes in Google and businesses realizing that even if they don’t want to have a presence on social media, they know they need to have one.
But Is Outsourcing All Your Social Media Management Right?
In all other instances I would say No. Social Media Marketing and management is a very time consuming job if done correctly and this can cost a lot of money. There are a large number of individuals and companies starting up just to manage social media and offering you services for as little as £100 per month. I will be honest and say I was one of them and although at the time I was classed as a guru from competitors as I knew a lot about social media marketing through research and marketing my own blogs and websites, I thought I needed to offer this at a low price to get started in the business of providing these services to others.If you are simply not interested in what your presence/company represents online or do not even want to think about it, but know that you need a presence of some kind then I Linkr Creator Store would say Yes outsourcing all of it is the answer.
This was a very bad decision. At this low price I could not spend more than 4 hours a week on their social media and believe me you really need more time than that to give customers what they really need. What I am saying is as with all things in life what you pay for is what you get.
With this you really need someone who will be on the ball and be able to not only use your content and post it to social media at the right times (when all of your fans are online) but someone who can also put together the correct content strategies for you target audience and emanate your personality through your channels. The latter is when it becomes difficult.
Whichever company you choose to run your social media they will never be able to handle your business exactly the way you do and when it comes to dealing with people this is where your company is unique.
There may be a number of companies out there who sell similar services or products to you, but it is you and what you stand for who makes your services and products different. Whichever company you choose will not be able to replicate this 100%. Yes, I do agree that they will be able to do a great job but they will never be you.
So What Am I Saying? Be A Social Butterfly
What makes your company unique is you, your beliefs and the way you work with your clients or customers. No generic company will ever be able to do this like you or one of your team members.
So What Do I Recommend?
In an ideal world you would run all your social media, but this is impossible if you want to get any other work done. Therefore second best would be a person who is either already within your team who knows your company inside out and who believes in what you are all about or employ someone who can come in for this purpose only. I would however highly recommend that your person goes through all the regular inductions, spends time with your team and does extensive research on regulations regarding social media in your industry before starting on your marketing.
You do not need someone who is a complete guru just someone who takes an interest in this and who likes to be creative. Once you have this person you can work with a Consultant who will train and advise your staff on the best strategies specific to your company. Your consultant can also keep your employee up to date with all the changes happening (which can happen daily)
What I would see as the last option would be to work WITH a company who can handle your social media, but who will also work with you very closely to ensure that they are emanating your brand/business as closely as possible. They would work with a dedicated member of your team who would be responsible for networking within the social media channels and responding to interaction on your profiles. There is a big plus side to working with a company and that is if you choose the correct one they will be up to date with all the changes and regulations regarding the social media sphere so you don’t need to spend the time.
I would say the last option is not about just handing everything over to a company but also having one of your team work very closely with your social media company.