As an entrepreneur, are you team LOVE or team HATE when it comes to doing your own social media marketing?
We’ve met a ton of business owners and the answer can go either way! There are those who love to do it themselves because of the creativity, connection, and playfulness it can bring (our Tidy Wizards agree!). Then there are those who despise it and view it as a nerve-racking item on their already long to-do list.
Regardless of which side you stand on, social media is one marketing avenue that you can’t pass on nowadays. This is especially true given the last two years when customers relied on social media profiles to know if a business was still operating, if there were any changes to note, and whether there were delays in global supply chains.
For most of you, it’s not new information when we say that it’s important to keep an updated presence on your social media platforms. Social media is now one of the best avenues for connecting with customers, developing relationships, showing off your products, and showcasing your team. And whilst there are many benefits to doing this, we also understand how time-consuming this can be!
When it comes to social media marketing it can be difficult to correlate a direct return on investment, and is therefore one of those tasks (like organizing) that’s often pushed down on the to-do list. Instead, more direct revenue items are prioritized and before you know it, you haven't posted on any social platform in two weeks. Sounds relatable, right?
But don’t worry! There are many options to consider that can free up your time as a business owner while making sure your social media presence stays consistent and effectively connects your audience to your brand. This includes outsourcing your marketing efforts, hiring a marketing professional specifically for your team, or training a current and interested employee.
Let’s break down each of these options! We’ll go through their benefits, things to consider, and tips for each avenue to help you make the best decision for your business.
Outsource Your Marketing
Outsourcing your marketing means allowing a third party to take care of your marketing endeavours.
Benefits
- If you choose the correct team, you can leave it up to their expertise to help you produce effective results with minimal management from you
- You can have a team of experts who may have experience in social media, graphic design, video creation, email marketing, content creation, SEO, project management, and more
- You can utilize their various backgrounds and experiences, depending on your business’ specific needs, to grow your business
- You’ll gain an outside perspective on your brand who may spot gaps or areas that could be improved that you didn’t
- There will be dedicated time set aside for your brand, business, and marketing that should be less time-consuming for you
- They can help you understand the impact of the marketing efforts, breakdown analytics, and explain concepts
- It’s possible that you’ll achieve better return on investment in comparison to hiring an employee as you have access to multiple people
Things To Consider
- They are outside of your brand so training and time is required in the beginning
- Their team will require more feedback and involvement in the initial stages of your project to ensure they are on the right track
- Limited by a service contract or hours in a marketing package
- Marketing takes time - it typically takes at least six months for you to see the full results of your marketing efforts
Tips From Our Tidy Wizards
- Clearly communicate your needs and expectations with your marketing agency
- If you aren’t sure about your brand, schedule more time with your agency to complete a brainstorming and branding session
- Ask questions! The more questions you ask, the better you can understand the agency’s focus, process, and timelines
- You should know what your marketing agency is doing while also trusting their expertise
- Remember that a relationship with a marketing agency works best when you work together, and this means from both sides!
Hire A Marketing Professional
Hiring a marketing professional means bringing on a new employee into your team that specializes in marketing.
Benefits
- You have flexibility to decide if you want to increase or decrease the time spent on different areas of your marketing (vs. outsourcing which may include time-framed packages)
- You will have easy access to communication with your own marketing employee
- Your marketing professional will be dedicated to your brand and will devote their efforts to your business (This will likely mean they have the time to get to know your brand better than an outsourced agency would)
- You can invest time into training your marketing employee through taking courses, based on your business’ specific needs
Things To Consider
- You may spend time training your marketing professional to realize later on that you wanted something different
- It is more difficult to fire an employee than it is to end your contract with an agency that is not the right fit for you and your business
- All your eggs are in one basket (it’s expensive to hire an entire team!)
- You don’t have the flexibility to “take a break” from spending on marketing as your employee will likely rely on their position to be constant
- It may take some time for your employee to understand your brand, especially if they are new to your industry
Train an Employee
Training an employee means bringing someone that’s already on your team into the marketing part of the business.
Benefits
- You can choose someone who shows interest in marketing, and you’ll already have an idea of their work style and ability to learn new information
- Your employee will already have a good idea of your brand or business, which might allow them to create content or market in ways that align well with your brand (especially at the beginning!)
- You can have more trust in their long-term relationship with your business
- You have more flexibility to “take a break” from marketing, as your employee would have been trained for another role in your business too
- You’ll have easy access to communication with your employee
- You could improve employee relationships within your team as you’ll show employees that you trust them to expand their role in your business
Things To Consider
- Marketing may not be your employee’s specialty, so you will have to invest in training
- You may take the time to train your employee, only to realize that they aren’t best suited for the role
- You may risk affecting employee relationships if the marketing position doesn’t work out
- You lose out on gaining an outside perspective on your brand
- You will have to decide which areas of marketing you’d like to prioritize when it comes to training your employee
Tips from our Tidy Wizards
- Before you decide to offer a current employee a marketing position, make sure you plan for the future
- Proper training for your employee is essential! Just because they’re already capable on your team, doesn’t mean you can be lazy with training for a new department
- Give your employee time at the beginning to get into their groove. Don’t expect amazing results right from the very beginning (remember, marketing takes time)
- As an owner or manager, remind yourself that marketing was not their initial position and it might not be their specialty so have patience
Consider the option that best suits your business
So, now that we’ve broken down a few of the options for marketing your business, think about the benefits and areas to consider, and make a decision on which avenue best suits your business! And if you’re still struggling to decide, The Tidy Biz is always here to help.