What to Expect When Outsourcing your Social Media Marketing

Once you’ve made the decision to delegate your social media marketing to someone else — whether internally or externally — there are a few things you should keep in mind when you begin that transition. You’ve already acknowledged that your marketing is an important part of your business and your brand. You’ve picked a staffer, consultant, or agency that you feel good about. Still, handing over those reins to another person or outside source takes courage and patience. Learn what to expect when outsourcing your social media, and how to manage the process.

We accomplish all that we do through delegation — either to time or to other people.

Steven Covey

Outsourcing & Delegation Tips

Here’s what you should expect when outsourcing your social media marketing. Consider the following five guidelines. Some are mere logistics; others are more strategic. All will have a big impact on the future success of your marketing.

Administrative access

The new person/consultant/agency will need admin access to all of your social accounts. If you’re not already using Facebook Business Manager or Ads Manager, you’ll need to set that up. No need to share your personal Facebook login information; you can assign them access to your Business Manager and Ads Manager. For Instagram, Twitter, and other social media platforms, you will need to share your login information. Consider using secure password management apps; like LastPass, Dashlane, or Keeper. You might also need to grant admin access to your Google Analytics and Google My Business accounts.

Meet the team

You’ll need to develop a relationship with your new social media people. Get to know those individuals. If you’re working with a team or agency, you’ll need to establish a working rapport to make your marketing successful. Determine workflow processes (including approval process), file sharing and storage (we love Google Drive!), office hours, reporting schedule, and the best way to contact them. Be patient through this getting-to-know-you phase so you can learn how to work together.

Get to know the brand

Some consultants and agencies will have questionnaires or surveys to gather information about your brand, brand voice, audience, product, etc. They will need this information to establish goals and a strategy for your social media marketing, and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs, or how you will measure success). Be sure to communicate your vision for your business clearly, and your social will reflect that as well. Work with them to develop an ongoing content calendar of upcoming initiatives and promotional priorities. Update your team regularly with new, relevant information from within your organization.

Experimentation

The next six months will be a series of trials and errors, as your new social team learns your brand and your audience. They will develop new kinds of content, try new copy angles, and test out different post formats and ad campaigns. Not all experiments will be successful! They will make choices that you might not necessarily make. Know that this is intentional and to be expected. This is how good social media managers gather actionable, reliable data on your audiences. Allow them the space to get creative and innovate with new ideas. The point is to track social performance over time, so you can use that data to grow your audiences and garner more engagement more efficiently. Marketing happens over time, so don’t expect too much change too soon.

Communication

Approach this as a COLLABORATION. Talk to your social team frequently and honestly. They depend on your input and feedback, and they rely on you to deepen their understanding of your brand. You’ve also hired them for their expertise, so ask them what they would recommend. Ask questions and provide constructive feedback on their work. Tell them when things are going well, and when your expectations aren’t being met. If they ask you for information, content, logos, graphics, etc., make sure they’re getting it in a timely fashion. Assess their progress periodically, and look for new ways to streamline workflows, improve communications, and meet your business’ goals. If you find something that’s not working, find a solution that works for everyone.

TRUST is key to outsourcing.

In the end, successful outsourcing or delegating anything requires TRUST. You made that decision because your business needs the assist, and now you need to enable others to do this important job. You’ve selected that person or team because of their expertise and capabilities. Help them to take your marketing to the next level by clearing the path for them and setting them up for success. Remember that social media marketing is a long ball game, so build your team and trust them to go extra innings with you!

If this post was useful to you, and you’d still like some help, we are here for you! Schedule a Discovery Call or Contact Us to begin the conversation and discuss your business’ needs.