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5 reasons NOT to outsource social media management

By April 8, 2021 Stories
Media Mortar_Social media management

As a content marketing media agency, you’d think we’d be the first to say outsourcing your social media management is always a good idea, but truth is, for some people, it’s a disaster.

And while we could take your money and run, we’d rather be honest and save us both the headache if you’re not ready for outsourced social media management.

In our experience, the reason most businesses look to an outsourced social media solution has very little to do with social media as a skill, but rather the time it takes to manage a social media account.

And while social media is time-consuming, it’s not always the best time a business should outsource …  especially if you fall into one of these categories.

1. You don’t value social media management

We don’t mean to get all truth-bomby on the matter, but if you don’t value social media management, you’re never going to value the work your agency (whether it’s us or another) does for you.

In turn, you’re not going to be happy about the invoices that float across your desk for social media management if you didn’t value why you needed to do it in the first place.

We’re not saying you need to be a prolific social media user (after all, that’s why you’re outsourcing social media), but you do need to know why it’s important for your business.

While it’s your agency’s job to prove to you why social media works through their return on investment, it’s not their job to justify the craft you asked for in the first place.

2. You don’t let the reins go

The corollary to the client who doesn’t value social media management is the business owner who doesn’t want to give it up; they want to still tightly hold onto the social media reins as though they were still running the channels themselves.

Usually this is the person who’s been running the social media accounts forever and regrettably doesn’t want to hand it over. They spend their days nit-picking every picture, post and hashtag with their own preferences you’d have to be a mind reader to know.

While accuracy is always important and you’ll always have a round of review as a Media Mortar client, if it’s a constant game of tom-ay-to / tomato, you’re probably best to keep running your channels yourself. In fact, we’d rather you did.

A better option would be to outsource something else that you’re not so tightly connected to.

3. You don’t review your posts or read your reports, ever

Media Mortar_Review your social media postsThe flip side to the above, is the client who doesn’t check their social media or read their reports, ever.

While a silent client could be every agency’s favourite client, it’s very difficult to tell whether you like the work they’re delivering.

It’s important you keep an eye on the feed and provide constructive feedback of what you’d like to see more of. This way your agency can keep kicking goals for you.

4. You want everything go, go, go but can’t sign off things in a timely manner

Time is always of the essence on social media, you don’t need to tell your social media agency that.

We frequently have clients who want things turned around quickly (too easy!) but can’t sign off on said activity quickly enough for it to be relevant.

When it comes to social media, there are situations when you have to be timely. If you can’t clear your schedule for a single contact internally to green light the post, you can consider that social media post tomorrow’s digital fish and chips wrapper.

One clear line of approval and an escalation plan for any posts that require it is what your agency needs to manage social media effectively on your behalf.

5. You have unrealistic follower expectations

The amount of followers a business has is usually of interest only to the CEO.

Everyone with a marketing scroll knows it’s all about engagement and driving customers through the doors. That doesn’t mean every agency isn’t being assessed by vanity metrics by the person who ultimately pays the bills.

The CEO usually wants to know two things; how many followers do we have? How do we compare to our competitors?

All we’d say is if you want 1 million followers, you better have 4 million dollars to throw at the situation.

You don’t hire an agency and suddenly overturn the algorithm Facebook and Instagram have spent so long protecting. It doesn’t work like that. It never did and it never will.

Follower growth is slow and steady, and most brands with millions of followers should be commended for starting their channels eons before you did.

Looking for more social media tips and tricks?

By Hannah Statham

Hannah Statham is The Boss at Media Mortar. She’s a heavy weight wordsmith, punching with puns, analogies and metaphors that leave readers wanting more. When she’s not refreshing her Instagram feed, you’ll find Hannah searching for the best gnocchi in town.