This subject may be a bit controversial and, truth be told, there is some gray area when it comes to social media marketing. I talked a couple weeks ago about the benefits of outsourcing website and blog content. However, social media is a different beast. Some things may be best outsourced while others should be kept in-house for the best results.
Hiring an Outside Provider
Many small businesses choose to hire an outside social media provider, which is fine and recommended. They keep posts frequent, organized and on time. It’s important to have regular, consistent activity on all your social media accounts. Outside social media providers will be especially good about providing general content, running contests, doing promotional posts and marketing your products and services. Their experience in target marketing and budgeting will also be vital if you are running any sort of online ad campaign or boosted posts on Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, etc.
Those are all very good reasons why you might want to hire an outside social media specialist to run the marketing side of your social media campaign. An expert will generate more exposure for your business and create more click-through opportunities with eye-catching posts.
Keeping Some Things In-House
On the other hand, however, there are advantages to keeping certain social media activities in-house. Beyond just exposure, social media should be about engagement. You want to start conversations while also getting shares and likes. You want to show what your company is all about. The marketing side of social media can convey a strong brand message, but the social side of social media needs to display your company’s personality.
This can be difficult for an outside provider to truly achieve because they are not at your place of business day in and day out. They aren’t directly interacting with customers and employees the way that someone who works in-house will. There is a lot to be said about these kinds of firsthand experiences.
Daily Activity
Perhaps the best example of this when it comes to social media is Instagram. Obviously, engaging photography is the key to success on this platform. Interesting photos posted every day will generate likes and spark comments that can lead to full-blown conversations. Someone working at the business every day will be much more in tune with daily activities that can inspire good Instagram photos. An outside provider posting stock photos or old photos you provided just won’t be able to accomplish the same kind of engagement.
Perhaps you are having a birthday celebration for an employee or you encounter a really cool success story with a customer. Perhaps you get in new products that you want to feature or maybe there is something interesting happening on a particular day (unusual weather, funny situations, holiday sales, etc.). Having someone there interacting daily and posting on social media can really show your company’s personality and that will help create stronger engagements on social media.
The Right Social Media Mix
As social media becomes more advanced and diverse, so too does the need for social media marketing. If you have the means to hire a full-time social media expert to work in-house, that is the ideal solution. Unfortunately, this is not in the budget for most small businesses. In these situations, the best approach is often a blend of outside expertise and in-house activity. This will give you the right combination of marketing exposure and social engagement.
To learn more about social media marketing and content management, contact NextGear Marketing today.
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