A local business owner’s Guide to Social Media Management: How to Choose the Right Partner for Your Business
How to Approach Finding a Social Media Marketing Manager
There is no one-size-fits-all approach to social media management (and if anyone tries to tell you there is, they are most likely trying to sell you an e-course or templated approach). That being said, there are best practices to consider when you’re hiring a social media management company. This guide will walk you through everything to consider when seeking a social media management agency, regardless of if you’re looking for a local social media management company or a remote support team. The Boutique COO takes a customized approach to social media strategy, channel mix, content, caption writing, and engagement. So, we’re building that same level of customization into this guide to help ensure you find the best fit for your business.
What Social Media Management Really Is (Beyond Posting Content)
We’re constantly moving further away from Instagram being a place to share life’s aesthetic highlights and TikTok being the home of trending dance moves. Social media platforms are consistently evolving as a place to not only promote business, but to do business. This means your approach as a business owner must shift from checking the “post on social media” box, to developing a strategy that leverages social media marketing as multichannel promotional tools for your business. From cold outreach to re-engaging your existing audience, once social channel can serve many purposes. So, it’s important to cover your bases when starting a conversation with a potential social media marketing company.
Here are the main things you want to ask about when interviewing a social media marketing agency:
Brand Messaging & Positioning for Social Media
Think of your brand’s messaging and positioning as your pre-social strategy work. If this is something that you already have in place for your brand, you’re a head of the game. If not, spend some time assessing your target audience, how your service or product serves your audience, and how you communicate that. Often this is challenging as a founder, since you’re so close to your brand. If that’s the case, you can work with a marketing strategist to help you get your brand messaging and positioning on lock before diving into social media strategy.
Social Media Strategy
Before you dive in with a new social media management company, ask them about how they approach creating a customized social media strategy for your business– this will help ensure the company’s approach supports your business goals. Be sure to ask about what success looks like in 30, 60, 90 days, and beyond. A social strategy should include (at the least) an audience analysis, content pillars, posting plan, engagement strategy, and KPIs (key performance indicators).
Social Media content creation & brand curation
One of the biggest challenges with social media content creation is standing out amongst a sea of templates and AI generated content. So, be sure to ask the social media company what their approach is to content creation. It’s important to understand what your role is in the content creation, caption writing, and content review process. Before moving forward, confirm that the level of engagement required of you matches what you’re able to commit to.
Scheduling & Consistency on social instagram, facebook, Tiktok, youtube & more
Get a clear understanding of when and how your content will be scheduled for posting. There are a few reasons this matters: 1) So you know when and where you need to review & approve content, 2) Confirm that you and the company are on the same page in terms of how many posts are expected to be posted each week, 3) Ensure everyone is on the same page when it comes to content creation, review, and posting cadence
audience engagement & community building across your social channels
Oftentimes it’s assumed that social media management consists of content creation and posting, but the engagement and community building piece of social media is one of the biggest missed opportunities for companies looking to build social as a lead generator. Audience engagement and community building should be a part of your holistic social strategy, not an after thought. There are usually two routes to go here: 1) The social media management company takes care of everything end-to-end, including the engagement and community building, 2) The social media company only handles content creation and posting, while you retain the engagement and community building piece. Don’t forget to ask about this to ensure you’re on the same page.
Paid advertising campaigns on social media
If you’re looking to leverage social media as a lead generation tool, you need to explore both organic and paid options. Even if you don’t have the budget to immediately implement paid ads on social media, it’s important to ask about how paid ads fit into your overarching strategy so you have a plan in place when and if you plan to go that route.
Analytics & Performance Tracking
Ultimately a successful social media manager aligns your social media strategy and content with your business goals, not vanity metrics. Ultimately, 3 months is the minimum amount of time needed to get a strategy in place, start content creation, and start analyzing wins and opportunities (month over month), before adjusting the strategy as needed based on initial results. Staying nimble is the name of the game when it comes to social media success!
Benefits of Outsourcing Social Media Management vs. Hiring In-House
Hiring a full-time social media manager in-house
A full-time in-house social media manager is a great option for a business that has scaled past the point of leveraging freelancers or fractional support. However, this often comes once a business has grown from an SMB to a large company. Oftentimes businesses will start with freelance, fractional, or agency support and then move into an in-house role once they’ve maxed out the capacity of existing support.
Pros:
The person will be fully immersed in your brand
Quick feedback loops
Regular cross functional team integration opportunities, such as attending daily meetings
Ability to capture content in real time (assuming this is an in-person role)
Cons:
High cost (salary + benefits, training, retention)
Single individual’s skin across design, copywriting, strategy, ads, etc.
Possible bottlenecks due to bandwidth limitations
Turnover risk, which could lead to having to rehiring and retraining
Hiring a social media marketing company
Social media marketing companies can range from small boutique studios to large agencies. The following pros and cons are generalized. It’s important to find a company that not only aligns with your social media goals, but also your business values to ensure an effective partnership. The right social media marketing company should take things off of your plate, allowing you to focus your time on efforts that help you continue to scale your business.
Pros:
Lower cost than in-house (you pay for a service and don’t have to manage an employee or a contractor)
Access to specialized expertise (copywriting, design, analytics, ads)
Flexible resources to scale up or down with business needs
Broader perspective from working across industries
Leverage industry specific knowledge based on clients within the same space
Cons:
Less ingrained in company culture, so your brand voice & messaging will be important to share for success
Potential for longer feedback loop - ask any potential partners about communication timelines
Variable quality - it’s important to vet out the quality of work before committing to an agency partner
Key Services a Social Media Management Partner Should Provide
Social Media Strategy development
Your strategy should include: audience research, competitor analysis, content pillar development, posting plan, engagement strategy, and KPI planning.
Social media strategy and social media content creation are a bit of a square and a rectangle situation. You may find a social media strategist who also creates content, but not all social media content creators are social media strategists. Be sure to ask your social media partner their approach to both strategy & content creation.
Content creation:
Content creation often includes creative direction or ideation, copywriting, graphic design, video editings, and leveraging user generated content. When it comes to content creation, ask what tools your social media manager uses to ensure you have access and ownership to any content being created for your business.
Publishing & scheduling:
Your social media manager may use native scheduling within the respective platforms or use a scheduling tool. If you have a preference, make sure that is communicated upfront. If a tool is being used, ask if that is covered under the rate you’re paying the partner or if you’re expected to pay for the tool subscription.
Engagement & community management:
Engagement & community management includes monitoring comments and DMs. It also may include organic follower building through engaging with other account’s content through liking, commenting, and sharing other’s content. If your social media partner provides this service, ask about how often they are engaging.
Analytics & reporting:
Your social media manager should help you establish and track KPIs (key performance indicators) and report on metrics monthly.
Paid advertising:
Your social media manager may or may not be the same person that manages your paid advertising. It’s important to ask about this when you begin an engagement with a social media management company. If you run paid ads on other channels (Google, Bing, display, etc.), we suggest working with a paid ads specialist who can bring a holistic approach to your entire paid ad strategy.
Other services:
Other services that may be included in social media management include managing influencer outreach & partnerships, email + social alignment, and developing lead funnels. It’s important to ask your potential social media management company about what is and is not included in your scope of work.
How to Evaluate Agencies vs. Freelancers vs. Fractional Support
Social Media Agencies
Strengths: full-service, large teams, diverse industry experience
Weaknesses: higher cost (often retainer based), less personalization, long contracts
Freelance Social Media Managers
Strengths: affordable, flexible
Weaknesses: bandwidth limits, lack of structure, risk of inconsistency, various skill levels
Fractional Social Media Support (like The Boutique COO):
Strengths: full-service, no long term contracts, customizable scopes, strictly vetted U.S.-based hourly team, diverse industry experience
Weaknesses: not an ideal option for businesses with less than $10k/mo in revenue
| If Your Business Is... | Then you should consider... |
|---|---|
|
Scaling & needs nimble support
|
Fractional Support |
| On a tight budget | Freelancers |
| An enterprise level business looking for full service support | Agency or Fractional Support |
| Lacking Bandwidth, which is preventing you from scaling | Fractional Support |
| In need of strategy support | Fractional Support |
| Seeking a design or campaign sprint | Agency |
Social Media Marketing Service Cost Ranges and Pricing Models Explained
Pricing for social media services range dramatically. However, these are ranges that we’ve seen across different types of social media support services.
| Type of Support | Common Pricing Model | Estimated Price Range |
|---|---|---|
|
Large Marketing Agency
|
Retainer | $3,000-$10,000/month |
| Fractional Marketing Support | Flexible Hourly | $750-$5,000/month |
| Freelance Marketer | Flexible Hourly or Flat Rate Monthly | $350-$2,500/month |
| Subscription Social Media Services | Flat Monthly Fee | $49-$200/month |
It’s Time to Level Up Your Social Media Marketing Support
If you’re considering going down the agency or fractional marketing support path, our team of social media marketing experts would love to chat with you and give you more information so you can make an informed decision that best supports your business needs.
Ready to chat social media support? Let’s talk.
