A Guide to Effective Social Media Outsourcing

Social media is an integral part of modern-day marketing. Businesses use it to build brand awareness and community and bring in leads. 

Choosing which platforms to use, posting, responding to comments, and more—social media can quickly turn into a big job, especially for a small business. 

One viable option is to outsource your social media tasks to a freelancer or agency that specializes in this marketing channel. Not sure if it’s the right choice for your business? Here we lay out everything you need to consider before making such an investment.

Social media outsourcing is simply when a business hires a freelancer or an agency that specializes in social media marketing to carry out its social media marketing.

Social media agencies are businesses that help support other businesses in all things social media.

Depending on the agency, the services they offer can include:

• Social media strategy
• Competitor research
• Creating a social media content calendar
• Composing and design social media posts
• Managing social accounts
• Reporting and results

Investing in an external agency is no small decision. You’re entrusting your online image to another company. Before finding a social media agency to work with, make sure you’ve outlined or discussed with your team the following:

• Goals: What do you want to achieve with your social media marketing. Do you want to bring in leads? Grow brand awareness in your niche? Flesh out some goals to discuss with any potential social media partners. 
• Needs: Are you looking to have someone manage your accounts? Do you want to invest in social advertising? Knowing what your needs are ahead of time will help you find an agency that offers these services.
• Internal capacity: Do you have the staff and the time to focus your efforts on social media? Or does outsourcing this make more sense for your business? 
• Budget: If you don’t have the budget for a full-time or in-house social media manager, how much are you willing to spend on an external agency? Agency pricing can vary quite a bit depending on your needs, so it’s good to have a number in mind as you’re discussing your options.

Like any major business decision, there are pros and cons for both keeping social media functions in-house and outsourcing to an agency. Let’s take a look at both the advantages and disadvantages of each option. 

In-House Social Media Marketing

Pros:

• You’ll have complete control over the entire process and be able to keep a close eye on things.
• You know your brand best. When you do your own social media, you’ll avoid any learning curve or confusion with an outsider over how you want to be represented online. 

Cons:

• It’s time-consuming and can take your focus away from other business functions. 
• It’s more expensive if you need to hire any in-house staff to run social media.

Outsourcing Social Media Marketing to an Agency

Pros:

• Agencies often employ experts in social media marketing who will be on top of the latest trends and best practices. 
• You could see more immediate results.
• It’s less expensive than hiring internal staff to run social media.
• You’ll save time so you can focus on other business needs.

Cons:

• You’ll be letting go of some control and will need to be comfortable with the agency taking over this function of marketing.
• There is a cost involved, even though it’s less expensive than in-house staff. 
• It does take time to find and on-board the right agency to partner with your business. 

Make your own pros and cons list specific to your business. Consider your available resources, including time you and your in-house employees have to dedicate t social and available budget. 

You’ll also want to take another look at your goals. Can you meet those keeping social media in-house? Or is outsourcing the right option? Carefully weigh the benefits of each option before making your decision. 

Are you thinking you’re ready to take the next step and hire an agency? Make sure you’ve considered everything. Here are some other things you’ll want to think about:

• Location: Do you want a local agency that’s familiar with your physical locale and in your time zone? Or are you OK with branching out for a potential further reach?
• Industry or niche: Do you want to work with an agency that specializes in your market? Or are you looking for an agency that can help you move into a new market?
• Services offered: Make sure the agency you choose can provide all facets of the social media marketing that are a part of your strategy.
• Communication: How do you want an agency to communicate with you and how often? Do you want weekly or monthly reports and meetings? Think about the frequency and manner of communication that you’re comfortable with.
• Technology used: Do you want to work with an agency that uses a posting platform that you can also access? Do you want live info regarding engagement rates and other stats?

It’s crucial that you find the right agency that can help you promote your business online. The wrong match could set you back months. That’s why we’ve come up with steps that help ease the process of finding the right partner. 

1. Begin your research. Ask other businesses for recommendations and read reviews on sites like G2. Consider the reputation of any agency you’re looking at read their customer success stories and testimonials. 
2. Once you have a short list, reach out to those agencies to begin the interview process. Be sure to discuss things like their familiarity with your niche, how often you’ll communicate, and how they’ll measure results. 
3. Often, agencies will prepare a proposal for you to review. It could include things like recommendations for your social strategy and ideas for content. Look through thoroughly and go back with any questions and get clarification where needed.
4. Make your decision. When you’ve found the right fit, you’ll draw up a contract outline all the details. 

Outsourcing social media marketing can vary greatly in price, ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars per month. It will largely depend on the services you need, how reputable and experienced the agency is, and your location. 

Before drawing up your contract, you should also discuss if you’ll pay the agency hourly, monthly, or by project.

Let’s say you found the right outsourced SMM agency, but wondering how exactly to know if the match was successful.

Remember the goals you discussed when you hired the agency.

The agency should provide you with all the stats and results necessary to know if the work was successful. You’ll want to review any results any time your contract with the agency is up for renewal. 

Find the Right Match on Semrush’s Agency Partner’s Platform

With Semrush Agency Partners, look through the profiles of hundreds of agencies that specialize in social media marketing. You can filter by services, location, price, and budget to help you find the right match.

Take a look and find the right match today.