In this article, we are going to show you how to outsource social media management and more importantly, why you should be doing it.
Creating and managing social media content is now a staple of any business’s marketing strategy. Those who choose to outsource social media management are at a distinct advantage over their competitors.
With billions of social media users around the globe, there is every chance your next customer could come from one of these channels.
In the daily grind of running your business, how can you leverage the opportunity social media offers, with the least impact on your time, your team’s time and social marketing budget? There are so many social channels out there these days, it is impossible to do it all yourself, let alone do it well.
The answer – make the decision to outsource social media management activities to professionals.
Here are 4 of the top reasons why you should outsource your social media management tasks;
1. You can leverage the creative skills of professionals. You already have enough to think about as a business owner and coming up with social media content ideas takes a lot of energy.
2. You will save time that can be used in other areas of your business where you are needed. If you found an extra 5-10 hours a week as a result of outsourcing your social media management, what other areas of your business would benefit?
3. It will be more efficient as you are outsourcing social media management to experts in the field and you instantly get to leverage that skillset in your business. This increased efficiency and expertise opens up the door to scale your efforts.
4. It will be cheaper overall not just because of improved efficiency, but you won’t need to pay to have access to all the latest social media tools to effectively manage your social media accounts.
There are a number of options available to businesses that want to outsource their social media management effectively. You need to determine which is the right one for you based on what your needs and budget are.
So, let’s take a look at the 3 main options you have to outsource social media management in more detail.
1. Outsource Through Freelancer Platforms
A very popular option for outsourcing social media management, especially for start-ups, is to head to Freelancer sites like Upwork and Freelancer.com
On these platforms, you can post the social media job or task you want to be done and then receive applications from freelancers from all over the globe. It can be a one-off job like creating a cover photo for your Facebook page, or an ongoing contract to create a number of social media posts every month.
You set the price and budget and those who are interested will apply. At the lower end of the scale, you will get a lot of applicants from countries like Pakistan, Bangladesh, India and the Philippines. As your budget increases, you will start to see freelancers from countries like the USA, UK and Australia apply.
When applicants apply for your job, you will often see their portfolio of work, work history and any reviews they have been given. This can help you filter to find someone you feel comfortable working with and more importantly, potentially give access to your social media accounts.
Our advice would be to start with outsourcing small tasks if you are going to choose this option to test out a few freelancers and build trust and a relationship. It may take a few goes, but there are definitely a lot of good quality freelancers out there who can become valuable partners to your business.
Just be prepared, using Freelancers to outsource social media management will require you to be quite hands-on in giving direction and feedback. Freelancers, especially at the lower end of the price range are great for executing specific tasks, but not so strong when it comes to formulating a plan and being proactive to your business needs. You may also need to provide them access to tools like Canva if they do not have their own account.
2. Outsource Social Media Management Using a Social Media Management Agency
If you have a lot of social media accounts and you need a large volume of work done, but not enough to support a full-time staff member, you may want to consider outsourcing the work to a social media management agency.
Social media management agencies are professional businesses that can take care of all your social media management needs. Social media outsourcing companies are a great option when it comes to outsourcing social media management tasks. You will get instant access to a team of social media specialists who will be working for you and can handle a large volume of tasks efficiently.
While it will generally be slightly more expensive that the freelancer path, you get the added comfort of working with an established and reputable business whom you can trust with access to your social media accounts. In addition, a social media management agency will have access to a lot of tools that you would have to pay for yourself. For example, social media post scheduling software or social media influencer platforms like Heepsy.
One of the other benefits of outsourcing social media management to a social media management agency is that they can cater for everything from creating your social media accounts, designing, scheduling, and posting content, managing replies and providing you with analytics reports on engagement. Many may even offer to manage paid advertising campaigns as well.
There is no shortage of social media management agencies out there in the market, so do your research and decide what type of social media management services you need for your business.
For example, do you want a low-touch, fully digital approach like what Chatter Digital offer? Our social media packages give you more time to spend on other parts of your business as we make the process as simple and low-touch as possible.
Or do you want a more hands-on agency that will schedule video calls and workshop ideas each month? There is no right or wrong approach, only what is best for you and your business.
3. Outsource via Business Process Outsourcing or Offshoring.
Are you ready to have a full-time person manage all the social media activities for your business, but do not want to have to employ someone directly as an employee in your business?
Hiring direct means you need to advertise the job, recruit, create office space, buy new equipment and get them set up on your payroll. You also have to train and manage them in accordance with employment laws in your country. It is a lot of work and comes with a lot of expenses.
Why not outsource social media management functions via Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) – also known as Offshoring or Offshore Staffing. It could be the perfect solution for you.
When you use a BPO company, they will take note of your job requirements and then go to the market to find you the best possible applicants. They take care of the sourcing, screening, recruiting, onboarding and ongoing payroll requirements all for an agreed fee. It even includes the provision of office space, internet and equipment. All you need to do is approve the best applicant and assign them the tasks they need to do – the BPO provider will take care of the rest.
The best part about this – if you go with an offshore staffing option in countries like the Philippines to outsource social media management, you will not only get quality people working for you, the cost will be anywhere between 50-70% cheaper than a full-time person in your home country if you are from places like the USA, UK and Australia.
A good offshore staffing contract will have minimal break costs and you can implement KPIs, so if the person is not performing how you like, you can have them replaced with someone else or terminate the agreement. It is incredibly flexible and a great option if you need full-time staff members or a team of people to support your business.
Business Process Outsourcing is not exclusively to outsource social media management either. You can use Business Process Outsourcing for just about any task that doesn’t require face-to-face interaction – phone-based customer service, bookkeeping, accounting, collections, web design – all of these are examples of roles that can be outsourced using a BPO company.
With remote work or work from home (WFH) being so common these days due to the impacts of COVID, managing a remote team in another country is not longer a barrier many small businesses are worried about and offshoring is a strategy that a lot of small and large businesses are already leveraging.
Chatter Digital has extensive experience in Offshoring and would be happy to introduce you to some of the best operators in the business should you wish to explore this option. Simply email us with what roles you want to look at outsourcing.
Outsource Social Media Management and Improve Business Efficiency
In closing, there are a lot of options available to business owners to efficiently and effectively outsource social media management.
There is no longer a need for you to spend 10, 20 o 30 hours a week on social media activities on top of your other business responsibilities. In fact, if you do not outsource social media management to be more efficient, it could be holding your business back.
Chatter Digital is a wealth of business experience across a range of industries and geographic regions and is here to help with your social media, content writing and SEO needs. We would love to hear from you so we can help you on your business journey.
If you don’t want to outsource social media management and are happy to do it all in-house, why not check our some of our articles on social media content ideas to boost business engagement and our top 3 social media productivity hacks!
2 Comments
Comments are closed.