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Social media is a powerful tool for engaging your customers and prospects. But as any company that has taken the plunge and grown their followers knows, managing multiple social media accounts can quickly get unwieldy. While countless tools exist to help you automate and maintain your social media presence, there’s still a learning curve, a time commitment, and a financial investment if you want to use these tools well.
If you’re feeling overwhelmed managing your social media marketing – or if you are just getting started and want to lean on an expert – outsourcing is a practical option that comes with more benefits than just saving your business time.
Here are the benefits of outsourcing your social media marketing.
Saves You Time
This is the most obvious! While small businesses may only spend an hour or so per day on social media, as you grow your followers, post more content, add more platforms, and have more people to respond to, your time commitment is going to grow as well. Fun fact: 40% of consumers expect brands to respond within the first hour of reaching out on social media, while 79% expect a response in the first 24 hours. Are you meeting their expectations?
If you find keeping up with your social accounts is taking away from other parts of your business, or if you’re considering hiring an in-house social media manager to take the load off, outsourcing can save you time that’s better spent on more important aspects of your business.
Gives You Access To Experts
Marketing agencies that offer social media management employ professionals with loads of experience. Many have degrees in marketing or communication, have completed training and certification programs, and they stay on top of industry trends. They do social media all day, every day, and they know how to use automation tools to effortlessly manage your accounts without skipping a beat.
Additionally, they have a wealth of knowledge about scheduling and timing, they know how to interpret data, tweak your strategy, and calculate the ROI and impact of social on the rest of your marketing strategy. They can also conduct an in-depth audience analysis, guide you in the best platforms to have a presence on, and they are adept at creating compelling content and imagery that gets noticed by your followers.
Saves You Money
You may only see dollar signs when you think of the word ‘outsourcing,’ but outsourcing social media marketing can actually SAVE your company money.
If you’re at the point where you’re considering hiring an in-house social media person, the starting salary is around $35,000, with a median salary of $51,000 for more experienced professionals.
If you’re trying to keep the job in-house, you may be considering investing in social media automation software. While there are free tools on the market, the features may not be robust enough to support your needs as your social presence grows. At some point, you’ll likely need to upgrade to a paid platform.
The upside of outsourcing is that the agency absorbs these costs and distributes them among their many clients. Because their social media managers handle multiple accounts, they can afford to charge clients less for the services. Likewise, they are already paying for automation software for their collective social clients, so adding new accounts is a nominal cost compared to you paying for the same software on your own.
Objections To Outsourcing
One of the most common objections we hear to outsourcing social media is that an outsider isn’t going to understand the company culture or brand – that they won’t respond the same to followers as someone within the company would.
Rest assured, when you outsource social media, the agency and social media manager will work closely with you to understand your brand identity, create guidelines for responding to followers, and ensure they perfectly match the tone of your company.
A stellar social media manager will be able to seamlessly take over your accounts, and your followers will be none the wiser. It’s the best of both worlds: you save time and money and have an industry expert managing (and growing!) your social media presence, and your followers continue to engage with your awesome content and propel your business forward!
Interested In Outsourcing Your Social Media?
No surprise here, PixelPeople can help! Our full suite of digital marketing services includes social media management, and we’d love to talk shop and see if we’re a good fit for your business. Contact us today to learn more.
