To hire an agency or not to hire an agency? That is the question. More and more people join online social networks, so you can’t afford not to be out there, but how should you go about managing your social accounts? Here’s 7 reasons why you should outsource social media management rather than do it yourself.

1. Knowledge and expertise

One of the best advantages of outsourcing your social media activities is the individual and collective knowledge of the managers and executives. Agencies use thorough recruitment processes to ensure they employ the best people in the field. That means people with extensive knowledge gained through experience and qualifications not only in social media, but in other areas of business that clients are active in.

Of course, nobody knows your business better than you, but being an insider sometimes stops you from seeing the forest for the trees.  Agencies take their time to find out everything about their clients and their markets and won’t be biased. For example, at Shake Social we have experts that know the ins and outs of social media for the non-for-profit sector.

An agency can give you maturity in the form of an eye for design, market trends, best practices in your particular industry and intuition to smell a good story. Seasoned professionals know exactly what platforms and tactics will help you reach your goals and how to integrate your social media strategy within your business strategy. This way, they will make sure that social media is not just an accessory but a business-driving tool.

What is more, through continuous personal development, they stay up to date with all the changes in the online marketing realm in order to make use of the latest developments for your advantage. And believe me, there are plenty of changes taking place all the time! Speaking of which…

2. Time

Achieving success on social media is time-consuming, especially for small companies. Posts need to be regular and engaging, the message needs to be clear and consistent. Tweeting may look easy at a first glimpse, but all these attributes make it a lot more difficult to compose a 140-character long message that triggers action from the audience.

By having an external social media account manager you won’t have to worry about any of these and focus on what you do best. If you managed your social media in-house, you would also need to offer initial training and subsequent sessions to keep your staff informed on the latest improvements, which will distract you from focusing on your core job. Agencies have the time to perform extensive research on your business and industry and know where to find sources for high-quality content.

3. Cost

This is usually what puts most organisations off outsourcing, but it shouldn’t. Why? Because agencies will do their best to get you the results you want. Afterall, they want you as a partner. Your goals become their goals and they will demonstrate your ROI for the package that you’ve chosen. Agencies can cut down on wasted spend and get more results for your investment.

The in-house alternative would be costlier and riskier. You would either have to change somebody’s job or employ somebody new. Either way, you have to organise a recruitment process, training sessions and pay an annual salary at least. Not to mention that lack of expertise in hiring social media staff can make you hire the wrong person which is very risky, especially if you are a small business.

4. Defined systems and processes

In order to be very efficient in managing social media accounts, you need to have in place a series of tools and mechanisms. An agency has consultants that have spent years developing their skills and identifying what works and what doesn’t on different social networks.

Account managers specialise in certain platforms and know exactly how to monitor them, what to measure, how to tweak tactics and test campaigns in order to get the best results for your company. They tailor proven strategies and procedures to your needs. They know how to use social media management tools such as Hootsuite and Buffer to keep publishing content on a planned schedule.

5. Consistency

This aspect is vital for your brand image and nobody can do it better than an agency. Consistency is ensured by always having somebody to supervise the client’s accounts. Say, if your social media person gets sick for a few days, can you replace them with somebody knowledgeable? What if you need some advice on an issue that you haven’t encountered before?

An agency can draw from a pool of employees that eat social media etiquette for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Your brand voice won’t be silenced and will continue to inform, entertain and draw in more engagement.

6. Strategy

One of the most crucial mistakes organisations make when they use social media is the fact that they do not integrate it within the wider marketing and business strategies. That may be largely because they have just started using it and don’t know exactly how to do it.

An agency comes in handy because it knows how to make social media work for your company and help you achieve your business goals. Consultants will conduct business analysis, audits of your online presence and align your social media objectives with your business ones.

For example, increasing brand awareness can translate into gaining more followers on Twitter. They will exploit your UPS to the maximum and use advanced analytics to make sure you’re still on track to reaching your target or adjust tactics to increase performance.

7. Passion        

Consultants, managers and executives in an agency do what they do because they love it and that makes them excel. Just as you may be a florist because you love flowers and want to share your passion by creating beautiful flower arrangements and offering excellent delivery services, social media marketers will create great campaigns and content for you.

Their passion will determine them to overcome any obstacles and keep on improving themselves and their work. Being around like-minded individuals boosts their motivation even more.

Have we convinced you? Check out our full range of services here.