Social Media Marketing: Do It Yourself or Outsource?

There is no doubt that social media marketing is a must today. Unless one has been living under a rock, everybody knows the whys and hows related to social media. Even the local gyms and restaurants are creating their pages and business accounts to reach to the target costumers.

However one of the main concerns of small to medium size businesses is to decide whether they want to outsource it or do they want to do it on their own.

If you are also under the same dilemma then this article can help you weigh both these options on different grounds. Let’s find out what’s right for your business DIY (Do-it-Yourself) or Outsourcing.

Budget

Starting with the most important thing, you have to design a funding structure for social media marketing. Whether you do it on your own or want to outsource it to a professional, ascertain how much do you want to spend comfortably on the campaign.

Now weigh both the options, DIY is certainly more economical than outsourcing. However you can call some companies and ask how much they charge.

If they fit in your budget it’s better to utilize specialized services, else look for free courses online to teach you the how-tos of social media. Also do a bit of research on social media channels of your competitors.

Time

Like all other business activities, social media marketing too needs time investment if you want to reap rewards in the future.

Time would be a factor here in two ways, firstly you will need time to learn more about DIY methods and then you will have to dedicate a few hours daily to the program. Professional marketers take lesser time in launching campaigns with the availability of necessary resources and expertise.

They also have executives to handle your account/pages on daily basis. If time is a problem for you then it is better you outsource it.

Technicalities

Although social media marketing is deemed to be easier than search engine optimization, believe it, it’s not. Marketing on virtual networks requires careful planning and implementation.

You can do research on your target audience, their preference, networks they use, average time on these networks, visitor patterns on page and posts, engagement graphs and so on.

If you already don’t know about these things then try to learn them or you can take a little help from someone with knowledge in this field. However if you are not a tech or internet savvy person then it’s better you leave it to the professionals.

Individual Response

It is also important to analyse the type of business you are into. For businesses that are closely tied to individuals, DIY is the best option. For example, if your social media page requires you to interact on business details and plans frequently then it is better to handle the page on your own.

On the other hand if there is little task for you in the campaign then hiring a professional marketer would be apt. A careful combination of both would be suitable too where you can interact and update page leaving technical aspects for the professionals.

Progress Measurement

Certainly, number of followers or fans is a criterion for marketing success on social networks but it’s not the only one. There are other things like your reach, growth and weekly user engagement. If you understand these things then measuring progress becomes easier.

If not, it will be a difficult task. On the other hand, your social media marketer can trick you into believing that your page is a hit when truth is something else.  So it’s always better to take a second opinion on results.

Feature Image:Ktow