Real talk time: juggling multiple social media accounts is exhausting.
Cross-promoting content without too much duplication, answering questions and responding to comments, talking to each audience in distinctive ways, creating and posting strategic imagery … it’s a LOT to manage!
Which is why many entrepreneurs choose to hire a social media manager. As long as you’ve got input on strategy and content, entrusting the oversight of your accounts to a skilled VA or contractor is a smart move that frees up precious time and energy.
Of course, you can’t assign this work to just anyone!
Social media management is often dismissed as easy work that any intern can handle, but if you have growth goals and sales benchmarks to hit, you’ll need someone with experience and insight.
Not only that, you shouldn’t even consider outsourcing your social media management until you’ve set some parameters and made a solid plan.
Ready to make that plan? Let’s go!
Create Parameters BEFORE You Hire & Outsource to a Social Media Manager
If you’ve just started to ponder hiring a social media manager, you might be getting giddy at the prospect of delegating that work to someone else. Slow your roll, lovely!
Before you can hire a new team member or assign this workload out, you’ve gotta define your terms.
Are you outsourcing just the day-to-day interaction?
Or do you want to promote community growth?
Will your team be acting as you when they post, or as a team member?
Will you handle any accounts yourself?
Will the person in charge handle both copy and images?
Carve out some time to make a plan that includes tasks, best practices, guidelines, goals, examples, and resources your social media manager can use if she gets stuck.
Doing this ahead of time will save you a world of pain in the future!
Outsource Social Media Management to a Pro
When you’re drowning in social tasks, it can be tempting to hire someone who can just churn out posts and keep things on schedule. But why outsource social media management at all if you’re going to stick to the status quo?
Might as well hire a platform specialist for growth, and entrust your social media to someone who can boost your follows and likes. Bear in mind, though, that a Pinterest VA won’t be able to grow your Instagram followers, and an Instagram expert will do a shoddy job of managing your Facebook community.
If you’re eager to grow your social footprint, pick one or two platforms where you want to make some real headway and entrust them to specialists. A generalist can manage the rest.
Don’t Outsource Social Media Management with Skewed Expectations
Along the same lines, remember that different media have different needs. For Instagram and Pinterest the focus will be on graphics, but hashtag research is relevant across multiple media, and great copy writing is essential for Facebook, Twitter, and others.
Ideally, you want to hire a social media manager with skills in graphics, content, and strategy, but VAs and contractors with experience in all three can be in high demand!
If you can only find someone with two out of the three, consider having them collaborate with a current team member to fill the gap. For instance, if your VA is a fantastic writer, she can partner with your social media manager on content while the manager focuses her time on graphics and strategy.
Automate Social Media Management When You Can
Some social tasks can be automated! There are loads of tools available that can make outsourcing social media management easier and more affordable.
Automation can all take some of the social media management workload off your plate without the need to hire another team member. Or even if you end up hiring, employing one of these tools can make your social media manager’s life SO much easier!
My team uses these tools for my business:
- We use this tool to schedule Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest Posts
- We use this site for awesome canva templates for Instagram Reels and Feed Posts
Gearing up to outsource your social media management takes some foresight and planning, but the payoff is huge.
Social platforms are a crucial part of modern entrepreneurship, but also a giant time-suck. When you’ve got a talented social media manager handling your accounts, you know your communities will continue to thrive while YOU focus on new initiatives, product launches, and other high-level strategic priorities.
