I often get asked if I manage social media for businesses and if you’ve been reading along here, you would know that I don’t. I work with businesses and give them tips and tools so that they feel confident managing their own social media and marketing channels.

The old Chinese proverb comes to mind…

“Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.”

I feel strongly about businesses learning how to manage social media themselves before engaging in the services of a social media manager or hiring staff to look after social media for them.

My lessons come from personal experience, from working as a social media manager for a small business.

Here are the reasons why I believe businesses should manage social media themselves before outsourcing it:

1. Setting your goals

Setting goals is the most important part of your social media plan. Your goals are the foundations on which you build your empire. I believe that nobody knows their vision and path better than the actual business owner. As a business owner YOU need to determine what you want to achieve with social media rather than asking someone who doesn’t share your passions, or the same interest in the business, to come up with the goals. If you do want to outsource this, you have to be VERY good at sharing your story, at explaining your vision, dreams and outcome for your business.

2. Learning how much time/resources it takes

As a business owner it’s important to know what it takes to do the job. If you have no idea how long it takes to create a monthly content calendar, schedule the posts, source the content, write the content, engage online etc. then how do you know what to ask for in a social media manager? It’s good to know and understand how long this person will be spending on your social media efforts and what you’re getting in return for it, especially if you’re paying them for it.

3. How to read your reports and know your successes

Learning how to read the reports is an important task if you’re paying someone to do your social media for you. The fancy graphs and numbers are great, but you need to know exactly what they mean for your business and if they translate to sales. Again, doing the work yourself first will give you valuable insights that will help you down the track if you want to invest in a social media manager.

4. Knowing what to instruct and ask for

I’m of the opinion that it’s hard to give someone instructions if you’re not entirely sure what you’re asking for. Giving someone instructions on what to do on social media without fully understanding what it is, what it takes and what results it could have, is a difficult thing to do. As a business owner it’s important to have knowledge of different areas so that you can instruct your staff appropriately and guide them in their daily work and help them with their personal growth.

5. Be the voice of your biz

Social media is about engagement, about building relationships and being the ‘voice’ of your business. I’ll probably sound like a broken record by now, but nobody does this better than you! You are your business, you are the voice of your business. The internet and social media gives you an opportunity to have a conversation with your customers and potential customers and they’re looking for the real you… not an imposter.

I hope this information was valuable for you. Let me know below what you think of it 🙂
P.s. If you need help with your social media channels, check out The Marketing Vault. I’m sure I can help you.