The ultimate guide to social media outsourcing

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Thinking about outsourcing your social media management?

It’s no secret that social media is one of the most important marketing channels for businesses these days. Social media channels now offer companies a way to reach millions of potential customers easily.  

In this article, we’ll cover the common pitfalls of social media management, and why social media outsourcing might be a better option for you. We’ll also highlight what you should do to start social media outsourcing.

This article contains:

(Click on the links below to jump to a specific section)

• Why You Should Consider Social Media Outsourcing
• How to Outsource Social Media Management 
• The Dos and Don’ts of Social Media Management

Why you should consider social media outsourcing

Social media is far more than just posting a quick Facebook ad.

If you have the time and know-how for comprehensive social media management, there’s no reason not to do it yourself and save some money. 

However, if you choose to outsource the task, you’ll benefit from tons of cost savings.  

And besides that, here are some other reasons why you may want to outsource social media marketing: 

1. You get expert help

A social media specialist will know who to target and how to go about it. And as social media is their specialized domain, outsourcing social media marketing will get you expert help.

Most outsourced social media professionals often have experience in marketing or public relations. An outsourced social media manager will also know to utilize social media to improve your business reach.

And if you decide to go with a social media marketing agency, you’re going to gain the benefit of expertise from many people working together. More heads collaborating often results in better social media content!

2. You benefit from platform-specific knowledge

Do you know which platforms you should use for your social media marketing? 

Sure, both Facebook and LinkedIn may be networking platforms. However, their focus and users are different. And if you use the wrong platform, you won’t reach your target audience effectively. 

When you outsource to a social media expert, they’ll know which platforms are suited for your digital marketing needs — be it Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, or Instagram.

You’ll have the benefit of consistent brand messaging, no matter the platform used. 

A dedicated social media service will also know the latest platform algorithms, helping you maximize the impact of social media marketing. And as they’ll perform all the necessary testing on these platforms, you won’t have to do it yourself.

3. Social media experts know which tools to use

Knowledge about a social media platform isn’t the only thing needed for effective social media marketing. Before you post content on social media, you first have to create that content and then focus on boosting outreach.

Here’s where outsourced experts can help here:

A. Tools for content creation

Social media consultants will have access to all the necessary social media marketing tools – from writing to designing to publishing. They might even know how to optimize SEO in blogging and other web content to improve your rankings on Google. 

Ask yourself if you already have access to these specialized tools.

If the answer is no, it likely won’t make sense for you to invest in them, unless you’re going to start a dedicated social media department for your business.

B. Tools for content performance

Social media specialists often have access to social marketing tools audience engagement monitoring. These tools let them analyze how well your social media posts are doing on a social platform and reveal opportunities to improve.

After all, you can’t spend every hour checking how many likes your posts are getting, right?

When you outsource social media marketing, you’ll get access to insights that you’d otherwise not know of!

C. Tools for social media management

Social media mavericks know the need to manage social media accounts on multiple channels, which is not an easy feat. They use social media management tools to post content when your target audience is most active on their feeds. 

But what if they are in a different time zone? You surely don’t want to miss out on them! 

Well, these tools can also schedule content to any time zone. They ensure that your posts get exposure of leads globally at their local time for better engagement.

4. Making your content look good is their business

Do you know what you should post or what hashtags to use on Twitter? 

Sounds like an easy question to answer, until you get down to actually creating that post.

Think about it. 

Just talking about your brand and your product on social media might not be a good marketing ploy. After all, no one’s interested in a very obvious self-promotional post. .  

Here’s why outsourcing to social media marketing services could help you out:

A. Lets someone else deal with your strategy

Understand that social media is more than just highlighting your brand. 

Your social media post may only have a fraction of a second to get hold of your audience, so a pretty logo by itself isn’t going to work.

These days, advertising goes hand-in-hand with many social platforms. If you don’t have advertising know-how, you could be wasting lots of time and money. 

When you outsource social media marketing, your outsourcing partner figures out your content and advertising strategy. They’ll naturally do a better job because they’ll understand social media marketing better than you. 

They’ll also know the current social media landscape better – giving you a more effective plan.

B. Gain an outside perspective

Since you run the business, you can be too close to it, and may not see things from an outsider’s perspective. 

An outsourced social media consultant can view your brand with the eye of a customer and add a fresh take to your marketing strategy.

5. Round-the-clock coverage

Social media doesn’t sleep, it doesn’t stick to office hours, and it doesn’t take weekends off. 

So how often do you think you should post?  

Let’s think about people scrolling through Facebook and Twitter. 

If you post only once a week, it won’t take long for your post to disappear below the hundreds of other posts people make each day. 

You need to have consistent, well-timed social media activity so that your brand doesn’t get hidden among the sea of other posts. 

An outsourced social media expert will be working around-the-clock, so your brand stays relevant. A social media marketer can also help you manage your social media account, social media profile and will know the best intervals for posting. 

By outsourcing social media marketing, the time you’d have to spend on social media management can be used to focus on your core business instead.

6. Saves yourself from social media mistakes

Knowing what to post and when to post is one thing. 

But what about how to behave on social media? 

Even on social media, there’s a specific acceptable code of conduct, applying to both what you post and how you respond to feedback.  

Social media marketing often begins with establishing ground rules on how to behave online. You need to be aware of certain sensitivities as you’ll be dealing with an open, diverse community through various social networks.

But no matter how careful you are, there’s always the potential for an odd comment to wreck your social media efforts. 

With outsourcing, your social media experts will be responsible for social media etiquette. You can discuss what you want your business to represent and they’ll handle the rest. 

Your outsourced social media agency or consultant can then ensure there aren’t grammatical errors or off-message posts that could mess up your brand reputation.

How to outsource social media management

Ready to outsource your social media management? 

With all the potential benefits, there’s no reason not to — unless you plan to hire an in-house social media manager to handle your own social media marketing.

However, here are a couple of things you need to keep in mind before you decide to outsource:

1. Choose a trustworthy social media consultant

Outsourced social media consultants come in many forms. 

You could work with a freelancer who is a qualified social media consultant, or you could hire a social media company for larger social media campaigns. 

Regardless of who you choose for outsourcing, make sure they’re trustworthy. They’ll be responsible for your brand name and sustaining brand awareness, acting as your “face” on social media. 

How do you go about finding someone trustworthy? 

Look up their profiles on sites like LinkedIn and check out their reviews on Google. 

See if they have testimonials on their business website, and also check with industry peers for any outsourcing referrals. 

2. Consider hiring for setup and content strategy only

You don’t have to outsource social media marketing for the long term. 

Outsourcing to a marketing consultant for a short period is also a viable option. They can help you set up your social media strategy and develop a social media calendar.

They can show you the ropes so you’ll know how to maneuver all elements of social media marketing. And once you’re comfortable, you can handle the business of marketing by yourself. 

Note: You can consider this if you’re uncomfortable with a third-party representing you on social media.

3. Work closely when you engage them full-time

If you decide to engage an outsource specialist or social media management agency full-time, make sure to work closely with them. 

Why? 

You want your business represented in the correct light. So when outsourcing, ensure that you always let your consultant know what you want and don’t want.

4. Keep up with your consultant’s work

When you outsource social media management, make a point to stay updated on your consultant’s work. 

Consultants are experts on social media, but they won’t have the insight into your business that an in-house employee does. 

It can take a lot of time for an outsourced marketing agency to get up to speed with your business, determine your audience and your social media needs. 

Monitor what your consultant is doing for your business. Not only will this help you identify if they’re helping your business, but it’ll also help them understand your needs better.

The dos and don’ts of social media management

Irrespective of if you choose to outsource or not, social media management can be a tricky subject to navigate. For startups and small business owners, marketing on social media could be a sales goldmine – only if done correctly. 

So here’s what you should and shouldn’t do when managing social media for your business. You can use these tips to guide you if you’re managing your own social media accounts or use them as guidelines to ensure that your outsourced professional is doing a good job:

A. Common mistakes in social media management (the don’ts)

Some common mistakes business owners make in their approach to social media marketing include:

1. Irregular posting

“We’ll post when we have time.”  

Has that thought crossed your mind? 

This line of thinking is mainly based on the thought that social media marketing doesn’t rely on consistency — which is the basis of a terrible social media strategy.

Sure, you’re probably not going to always find the time to post on social media, as it’s not your priority. After all, running your business is your top priority, not marketing on Facebook.

However, you need to maintain a regular social media presence for your social media efforts to affect an audience — so posting only when you can just won’t cut it. 

2. Assigning it to an inexperienced in-house employee

“Does anyone here know about Facebook or Twitter? Let them handle it.”

This is another common thought that a business owner might have when it comes to social media marketing. 

Assuming that just anybody can deal with your social media campaign is another incorrect assumption. Just because your employee knows how to tweet, doesn’t mean they’ll know what to post on Twitter, or how to handle feedback from followers. 

What’s worse is, when you put them in charge of social media marketing, you’ll be taking time away from their primary responsibilities.

3. Only posting about your product

Social media marketing isn’t just about generating sales. 

Social media is where people share information, entertainment, and random pieces from their lives. If you only post about sales and offer a 10% coupon occasionally, no one will really care. 

Your social media strategy needs to generate interest in your business. For example, if you sell running shoes, you could post about great places to jog or the health benefits of running. The key is understanding that posting on a social channel is more than just about marketing.

B. What you should do in social media marketing (the dos)

Before you launch your social media marketing campaign, think of what you want to achieve with digital marketing. Then create a marketing plan to achieve those goals.

Here are a few things you should follow during social media marketing:

1. Develop a unique brand impression

If you want to stand out, your brand has to be unique. And this isn’t just about creating an eye-catching logo — it involves developing a strong brand voice on social media. 

Will followers know you for funny YouTube videos?

Or will they recognize you as an expert on capitalizing on the latest marketing trends? 

Find a way to establish an identity that can stand out from the crowd and use social media to drive that identity home.

2. Keep your brand current

You want your brand to extend as far as possible, right?

Social media postings need to reflect what your audience is interested in – so being in the loop about current social media trends is essential.

Your posts should make your target audience want to share what you’re saying. This is how social media marketing helps you reach new customers quickly.

3. Focus on a broader audience

Should you focus your marketing activities only on your product?

Nope, that’ll just make it harder to draw in new customers. 

That’s why, instead of just product postings, focus on posting about things that relate to your product too. 

For example, let’s say you sell laptops and phones. You can post on social media channels about new products and trends in consumer electronics and computer tech. You could then make a small mention of your laptops and phones. 

This post might interest an audience of technology buffs. But now they’ll have your products in mind too. This is how you can generate interest through marketing and gain followers easily.

Wrapping up

Social media marketing may seem like a side project to boost sales, but it shouldn’t be treated as one. 

And while you could handle social media marketing yourself, it can be a time-consuming task that requires specific know-how and insight. 

Outsourcing social media management allows you to focus more on your core business and your outsourced marketing agency will do what they do best — boosting your social media outreach exponentially.