Is there a good way to outsource social media or best to keep it in-house?

[Greg Schueler]

I don't consider Social Media Marketing to be super difficult, but it is something I don't have the time to do in our business (or our client's business), but I am weighing the options of hiring a full-time dedicated social media manager or outsourcing to a reliable company/person.

I will also state, that I am typically against outsourcing anything that requires "thought" and "common business sense", but try to keep an open mind.

On that note, has anyone had good results from outsourcing this task/position for themselves or for their clients? Any recommendations?

I know there are a lot of tools to help manage this and make life easier, we even have many of these tools already, just needing someone to "manage" them. We do currently have some one that does basic social media functions for us and our seo team does some of the tasks, but I really need someone that can do it all and well, not just pieces here and there.

Any additional pros/cons for outsourcing or hiring someone in-house?

Any tips or suggestions would be a great help.

Thanks!

 

[Linda Buquet]

This is a great question Greg and if I were still seeing clients this is def something I'd outsource. But I don't have any leads for you and don't know who is good, so am anxious to hear what the community has to say.

I'll tweet this now and see if I can get any play. But my AM Tweets pull better, so if we don't get feedback, bump this thread in the AM and remind me to Tweet again.

 

[MikelZaremba]

Try to keep it in house if you can. Nobody understands your business like someone from the inside. This is coming from a guy that offers outsource services. My catch is that I only do social media with local clients so I can be in the business and understand the voice and culture. Plus as an owner you want someone on hand when you want to shoot something off spur of the moment.

 

[JoyHawkins]

Hey Greg,

My company just hired a social media manager who has years of experience managing small business profiles on Facebook, Twitter, G+ etc. We just launched a social media product last week for our clients (who are all SMBs) and have whitelabel options for all our products. Feel free to contact me if you're interested - joy AT imprezziomarketing DOT com or 1-866-430-0457 x 301

 

[Greg Schueler]

Thanks Mike and Joy for the input.

I am still leaning on in-house for many of the reasons Mike mentioned, but if I do find the perfect white-label opportunity, I am still keeping an open mind.

I just got a local lead for an in-house person today, so will see how that goes.

 

[Linda Buquet]

Those into social should be sure to read the post I just made today.

<a href="http://localsearchforum.catalystemarketing.com/mobile-social/17240-61-best-social-media-tools-small-business.html">61 Best Social Media Tools for Small Business</a>

 

[MarkW]

For a business of your size I would promote someone to full time that understands your brand already and your clients brands already and is interested in doing this if possible. Someone from the SEO team is genetically ideal if you ask me. Utilizing social media for SEO purposes is a great area to have strength in and blending those two worlds can be a great direction to go in.

If I read your post right, you have clients outsourcing some of this work to you and so you are thinking about doing the ol' re-triple social media outsource? I haven't seen that since back in '78 and it almost crashed the stock market. I wouldn't recommend it for social media.