Should you outsource your social media?

Hey you! It’s good to meet you here, no matter how you landed on this page. Perhaps you’re looking for someone to take over your social media. Or maybe you have no clue what social media is, and only started googling because some guy was appalled your brand wasn’t doing anything on Clubhouse.

In any case, let’s get acquainted first. I’m Karen, the founder of Styli Collective, a boutique social media studio in Hong Kong. I started my career in digital editorial, and organically leaned into digital marketing and social media as friends and referred clients began to request copywriting and content planning for their brands. I’m rather proudly self-taught, beginning as a green self-proclaimed fashion blogger and climbing every step of the career ladder as an editor, in-house marketer and beyond. My media days gave me insider’s knowledge of the workings of the lifestyle industry, but as an avid consumer, I can intuitively advise on what sells and attracts. Perhaps knowing some graphic design and website building helps with the whole package too. I’ve pretty much touched every aspect of marketing in a business, and I am truly glad that I get to exercise what I’ve learnt for other brands. And yes, although I’m self-taught, if you’re old school I will still have a diploma to prove I’ve done my share of post-graduate studying on digital and social media marketing.

Enough about me though. If you’ve reached this far, you’re probably wondering if you should outsource your socials, and to whom. Here are a couple of things to think about before you hand over the keys:

1) Why do you want to be on social media?

This is honestly the number one question I ask any client. What do you think social media does for you as a brand? Are you looking for brand maintenance, are you looking to increase sales, or are you trying to build and engage with your community? Social media as a tool can be many things, but it is not a quick sales boost. Paid social ads can help you do that (sometimes even quickly), and you don’t necessarily need to hire a social media manager to get that started.

I can’t stress this enough — not every brand is ready to outsource their social media. Simply because community engagement and content creation when outsourced can quickly get expensive if you’re not very specific about your action plan and goals. Do not expect someone to come in, take over your account and start to tell your story, boost your sales and magically build you a brand. This brings me to my next point.

2) Do you have a complete brand strategy in place?

OK. So you’ve thought about it. And you’re still pretty sure you want to outsource your socials. Great! Now, time to hand over the reins so someone else can tell your story. Compared to hiring someone in-house, like an intern, outsourcing requires you to brief and actively communicate what message you want to amplify, so that someone can execute it. Whether it is a strategist, a content creator, a copywriter, they will all ask for foundational information such as your brand strategy (story, positioning, target audience), your assets, or your marketing plans both long- and short-term, in order to create on-brand content.

Hold up, you say. Aren’t I hiring someone so I don’t have to do all this thinking? Correct - even though you are hiring someone to do the leg work, you are still obligated to own your story. We don’t spend nearly enough time in your company to become someone who can autonomously take up this role, especially when the collaboration is just beginning. A strategist’s job is to give you direction as to how the story should be told so that it’s engaging; content creators merely execute that strategy, but you, you alone hold the key to start the vehicle.

Essentially it’s like hiring actors to play your role as a brand owner, they must at least be given some sort of script and context, otherwise, it will start to feel like some amateur improv.

3) How’s your marketing plan looking?

Alright. You’ve gotten this far! You wisely invested into creating a brand that’s more than just five colours and a logo made on Canva. Now you’re ready to activate social media as a key marketing channel. Now that’s when a strategist can help you kick things off — but only if you have a marketing plan in place. Take a look at your seasonal launches for the year or the soft launch to launch timeline. What can social media be woven into as part of activation or conversion? Every industry may use social media differently, but the goal has to be clear.

For example, a restaurant may only use social media for social proof and brand maintenance so the workflow is simple — use social to amplify seasonal promotions, engage with customers and raise awareness through consistent updates. Notice how the content is driven by how active the restaurant is with promotions and built upon people already going to the restaurant. This is not solely a tool to get people to a restaurant that’s getting a bit quiet. If your business is feeling a bit slow, it’s time to think about paying for amazing photography, a marketing consultant, get some influencers, and most importantly, ADS.

Another example could be a sustainable womenswear brand owned by one amazing entrepreneur. The founder is getting a bit tired of Instagram, so she wants to hire “a social media person” to handle it for her. There’s no plan for seasonal promotions, long-term game plans, or conversion goals. She just wants more followers, and “maybe posting the right copy will get some more sales”. But without an overarching brand and marketing strategy which drive creative directions (e.g. brand collaborations, seasonal/topical launches), a proper funnel to direct potential customers (e.g. plans to set-up and launch IG shop with 10% discount for first orders), the outsourced content will soon start to feel diluted and irrelevant. Organic engagement lowers due to a high number of posts not being interesting to the audience, and thousands of dollars are wasted because social media was not properly utilized — amazing photography and copywriting will not save a brand.

4) Are you hiring a strategist or a content creator?

I’ve posted a semi-rant about this on my personal Instagram before, but I would like to highlight the different roles and capabilities of strategists and other creatives for those who are not familiar.

Brand strategist/designer: Step one to any brand. This person will hold your hand through the brand design process, questioning your product, your positioning, your target audience, your visual directions, so that when you’re ready to launch, your brand and business model is well designed and thought out.

Marketing consultant: Someone to advise on your marketing road map and how to maximize brand awareness and conversion. Their vision touches online/offline strategy, collaborations, annual plans and more. Usually, for smaller brands this is all done by the owner, but the key is not to forget about these considerations.

Social media consultant/strategist: Once you have some kind of marketing strategy and calendar in place, a social media strategist can come in and work with you on how social media can be a part of your marketing toolkit. From picking which channels to be on, to industry and market research, as well as giving you strategic advice, a strategist will help you understand social media as a powerful tool, and not just something to post your lunch on.

Creative director: Someone to create the brief for creators so that they can create beautiful content for your brand. For smaller brands this is usually the brand owner.

Photographer/copywriter: Someone who can help you execute your plans by creating beautiful content. You must have a brief and clear direction for them to execute.

Social media manager: Someone to help manage your accounts and oversee community engagement. From drafting and publishing your content, to responding to /escalating messages and reporting back on analytics. Not all social media managers are strategists. They are not always responsible for coming up with content ideas, especially if you don’t have that much going on.

5) Will you consider doing it in-house?

As you can see from the previous point if you’re wanting to outsource there are a lot of people queuing up to invoice you. There are so many offerings that could ultimately contribute to reaching your goals, but it’s ultimately your decision as to where you need someone to come in. If you’re a smaller brand or on a budget, having a full-time or someone in-house who can live and breathe your brand will help you save a lot of money and brain cells.

For example, a marketing intern can fully take over your social media execution as you oversee the strategy. They can also use their spare time to help on building your website, your email campaigns, and take some photos on the side. But if you outsource to a freelancer or an agency, they work on an hourly basis on multiple clients and you can’t expect a third party to baby your account around the clock.

On the other hand, hiring an expert in their work for any of the role above saves you time in training and usually gives you much higher standards of work (given the correct set-up). So it is really important for you to consider which basket to place your eggs in before impulsively engaging in someone who can “help with your social media”. Ultimately, my point is that it is a fallacy to think you can hire external experts to tell your story expertly if you don't already have the goods in place.

I could go on and on about this, but I would also love to hear your thoughts! Don’t forget, if you are still on the fence and would like to know what service your business currently needs, you can book in for a free, no-strings-attached, consultation with me. I hope to hear from some of you, even if it’s just to dish the dirt on social media and marketing!