As someone who supports small businesses in their quest to make better use of social media within their business, I was most interested to read an article at Business 2 Community "The Case For—And Against—Outsourcing Social Media Marketing" [Read full article here].
I wholeheartedly agree with the first 3 points in the case for outsourcing your social media activity. As a non-agency type who uses social media on a daily basis, the above article from Business 2 Community provides me with an ideal situation to add my perspective on the points in the case for not outsourcing.
Outsourcing is not as personal
At the outset I make it very clear to my client that the management of their account needs to be as personal as possible. I do this by asking questions up front about their business activity, where they network, who they talk to on and offline. I research their industry. Where and who do they subscribe to? I request clients to use a social media worksheet where they update me weekly or monthly on activity so that this can be shared across social media platforms. If there are questions that I am unable to respond to immediately, these are always emailed to client for their consideration before I respond on social media platforms.
It can get expensive
Most certainly with an agency type service provider. It is not necessarily so when working with a small service provider. It also depends on what you are looking to achieve. Small businesses are looking for consistent awareness and regular engagement with fans and followers, and should be in line with other activity within their business. Pricing needs to take into account the time and activity involved, but also be appropriate for your client, who quite often will work on a small budget.
Lack industry expertise
Having worked with a number of clients for some time now, my knowledge of a number of industries has grown considerably. Regular updates with clients, research and activity on social media platforms all help to strengthen the knowledge. Keeping a finger on the social media pulse for each industry is important as it allows me to keep clients informed of relevant hot topics that they may not be aware of, or do not have the time to investigate.
For example, I recently noticed that a client had not participated in Gas Safety Week in the UK [which is this week]. While it was on his to do list, he was lacking time to action it. I provided him with a bullet point action plan to include online and offline activity, which has been actioned. Press releases were sent to local journalists and targeted social media messages sent to identified target audiences. This activity will certainly increase his visibility over the coming week.
I can only speak of how I work with clients to make better use of social media within their business. I always advocate consistency across relevant social media platforms, and work closely with them to help their business shine online.
I wholeheartedly agree with the first 3 points in the case for outsourcing your social media activity. As a non-agency type who uses social media on a daily basis, the above article from Business 2 Community provides me with an ideal situation to add my perspective on the points in the case for not outsourcing.
Outsourcing is not as personal
At the outset I make it very clear to my client that the management of their account needs to be as personal as possible. I do this by asking questions up front about their business activity, where they network, who they talk to on and offline. I research their industry. Where and who do they subscribe to? I request clients to use a social media worksheet where they update me weekly or monthly on activity so that this can be shared across social media platforms. If there are questions that I am unable to respond to immediately, these are always emailed to client for their consideration before I respond on social media platforms.
It can get expensive
Most certainly with an agency type service provider. It is not necessarily so when working with a small service provider. It also depends on what you are looking to achieve. Small businesses are looking for consistent awareness and regular engagement with fans and followers, and should be in line with other activity within their business. Pricing needs to take into account the time and activity involved, but also be appropriate for your client, who quite often will work on a small budget.
Lack industry expertise
Having worked with a number of clients for some time now, my knowledge of a number of industries has grown considerably. Regular updates with clients, research and activity on social media platforms all help to strengthen the knowledge. Keeping a finger on the social media pulse for each industry is important as it allows me to keep clients informed of relevant hot topics that they may not be aware of, or do not have the time to investigate.
For example, I recently noticed that a client had not participated in Gas Safety Week in the UK [which is this week]. While it was on his to do list, he was lacking time to action it. I provided him with a bullet point action plan to include online and offline activity, which has been actioned. Press releases were sent to local journalists and targeted social media messages sent to identified target audiences. This activity will certainly increase his visibility over the coming week.
I can only speak of how I work with clients to make better use of social media within their business. I always advocate consistency across relevant social media platforms, and work closely with them to help their business shine online.
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