Outsourcing social media? Is this a good or a bad idea? Today we will be looking to answer this question.

For anyone who has ever managed a business social accounts, it can be very time-consuming. Between the posts and interactions with interested parties, you can run the risk of spending all of your time performing these activities. So, the question remains, should you outsource social media managers or train them within the organization? For many businesses, they tend to outsource almost all social media activities to agencies specializing in that field. So in this post, we shall look at the pros and cons of outsourcing and help you gauge if it is suitable for your situation.

Outsourcing social media, should you consider this? Yes, but not all functions!

Services such as research content, content formatting & editing, audio & video editing and even content uploads can be handled by external entities. These are tedious tasks that can waste time, so looking to professionals for such tasks will improve your throughput.

Pros

1. Boosts output speed.

When a Digital Calendar is set, the agency abides by this, always producing the content beforehand for review by the client. Also, they usually place multiple persons on a project to increase output when it comes to research and improve the pool of ideas.

2. The business benefits from the outsourcer’s connections.

Outsourcers tend to have connections with some social media influencers. Through these connections, your business can gain serious traction online.

3. Support services are readily available.

For various social media questions, the agencies have answers. From perfect timings of posts to content research and content formatting and editing.

4. Better marketing strategy and social media integration.

Through constant practice, social media management agencies have become experts at tieing marketing strategies with social media integration.

Cons

1. Difficult to gauge the authority of the information.

Unfortunately, the agencies are not experts in all fields. They might not have the correct facts when it comes to relaying information to the audience. Even when it comes to replying to comments from the public, they might be wrong in the replies they offer, especially if it is a technical field.

2. Connections fostered may not be authentic.

Due to the influence, the agencies garner, once you cut off association, you might be left out in the dry. The influencers you are introduced to might sway towards the agencies, remaining loyal and cutting off all ties.

3. Internal employees, generally have greater motivation.

Probably the greatest downside. The culture and motivation shown by company employees pale in comparison with an external worker. They are not fully invested in the betterment of the organization, their’s is just a 9-5 job, so they do not show as much enthusiasm.

In conclusion, outsourcing social media management can be a very good idea, especially for a small business. Just make sure when doing it, only outsource functions that are not considered core to your strategy. The best solution for small businesses is to allocate an internal manager who works with the agency. This allows them to learn from the experts, while still maintaining the connections acquired during this period. A win-win situation. It also allows the business to focus on the main functions of marketing and saves on time and energy expended.

Some examples of these outsourcing agencies include LYFE and Scarlet Media.

Let this post encourage a dialogue down in the Comments section below. All thoughts are welcome.

Until next time, goodbye from the Mark & Ryse team.