Outsourcing Your Social Media

Brand Tips

Outsourcing Your Social Media

If you are anything like us then you have probably spent such a long time building a brand and obsessing over every detail that hiring someone else to help with your social media accounts probably feels overwhelming. We know it is scary, but if you are ready to take back your time and spend more time ON your business than IN your business then it may be just what you need to increase your productivity at work.

We are going to be honest, our tip for farming out your social media is always- DO IT. It will give you so much more freedom, but you really have to be willing to let the reigns go a little. Which we know is VERY hard to do as a business owner.

Things to Consider Before Hiring:

  • You need to find the right fit for your business! Find a company or bring on an employee or freelancer that fits your aesthetic and understands your brand voice + tone (or who you know is eager to learn).
  • We recommend asking for a three month trial term to be added to the contract. We’ve found that there is always a learning curve during the first few weeks of a takeover and you will want time to figure out what works for everyone. 
  • Is your content organized and ready to go? The first step in having someone take over your account will be giving them the resources they need. It is a great idea to organize your brand colors, logos, and photos to make the transfer process easier!

How much is reasonable to pay someone to take it over? 

We don’t have a one size fits all answer for this question since there are so many variable to consider.

  • This would depend on your posting schedule and expectations. 
  • We recommend sitting down and figuring out how much time it takes you/month to do it, and then tacking on a few more hours because someone has to learn your business + voice .
  • Based on those numbers decide  what’s reasonably in your budget to pay someone hourly.

Notes:

Hiring a company that specializes in social media management would have a higher price point than a freelancer. When you are hiring a social media management company you are paying for their experience and their attention to detail. It is safe to assume they are very plugged into what is happening on the internet and will be putting more thought into strategy. Most social media management companies employee a copywriter + graphic designer. Which guarantees your feed will look polished and be professionally edited. We recommend this option if you are established in your business and are ready to let someone else take over!

If you want to be more hands on or aren’t quite ready for the expense of professional social media management then another option that may work for you is a virtual assistant with copywriting experience. You could always spend a couple hours a week designing your feed and putting it into a scheduling app like Planoly and then have them come in and write your captions!

DO NOT just hire a college student because they are young and have an instagram account. If you are looking to cut corners in cost then social media is NOT the place to do it. In most cases your social media account is your first impression. Did you know that people are more likely to view your social media account than your website? Your visual representation matters and you want to make sure that whoever you hire cares about representing your business well. If you want to go the college student route then we recommend picking a business or communications major that is looking to go into the field after college.

Will they do it like I would?

The short answer is “no” and that’s a GOOD thing. You want to hire someone who is solely focused on creating intentional content for you and showing off your business. If you hired someone that would do it like you would we have a feeling that it would look like someone who is trying to get a post out in between sending proposals to potential clients and feeling guilty that it wasn’t more thought out.

The number one way to avoid disappointment with a social media manager is to set expectations and express yourself clearly.

It is more beneficial to let your social media manager know what success looks like to you rather than assuming that they will instantly know. 

We recommend creating a list of realistic goals and discussing them with your new social media manager so that you can start your working relationship out on the right track. We guarantee you that your social media manager wants to do a good job for you and will be thankful that you set clear guidelines of what that means.

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