Social Media Management

When you talk about social media in the marketing sense, it pertains to more than just your typical posting, sharing, or commenting from an account. It becomes more complex in a sense that you must take into consideration who your target audience is, what kind of content works best for them, and even which type of content seems to garner the most engagement from the online community. Social media for marketing also goes beyond gaining popularity even if it shares the desire of increasing and strengthening one’s online presence with the likes of anyone who owns a social media account. Rather, it’s about continuously turning active engagements and increase of online relevancy into tangible profit.

And, in an age where social media is quite simply prevalent and inevitable not to go into especially when you’re running a business or brand, it’s vital to have a person or team assigned for social media management and make sure the brand’s social media platforms are actively and effectively relevant and well planned out. Hence why the decades long job titles of “manager” and “writer” have already branched out to “social media manager” and “social media copywriter” titles as well! 

But the big question is: who should execute your brand’s social media management — should you just go In-House or hire an Agency to do it for you? Well, the final choice is up to you but allow us to help map out your decision by listing down the pros and cons for both.

Photo by Csaba Balazs

In-House Social Media Management: The Pros

• Maximize your business’s employment 

Having your social media managed In-House can allow you to make an existing member of your team keep the brand’s online platforms updated. This can help save on cost and time since all you need is right in front of you. Additionally, going for the In-House option can provide you with the advantage of having someone handle your accounts with an already well-versed knowledge of the brand.

• Solely focus on your brand’s social media

Yet, another option is to hire another member for your team to focus on social media management. Though this would cost more, it would provide you with at least a person or two who can put all their time and energy into this specific responsibility. They’ll also be able to efficiently focus on learning and mastering the brand and the industry it falls under which would pose no issue especially if the person you end up hiring is truly experienced and passionate about the industry your brand is in. 

• Freedom to experiment without external business forces

Another pro of In-House social media management is the freedom to experiment on the brand’s online marketing contents without having to consult externally. This, too, saves time and can help the social media manager quickly learn and update the contents that work best for the brand’s dynamic growth.

 

In-House Social Media Management: The Cons

• Costly

The downside of going In-House, as mentioned, is the possibility of hiring people to handle this specific responsibility which can be costlier than just relaying the tasks to already existing members of the team. In a nutshell, that’s hiring a social media manager, writer, graphic designer, and more in which you will have to dutifully pay each individual their respective, agreed upon worth.

• Limiting

That said, relying on existing employees also has a negative consequence of not being able to focus on social media management alone since they’ll also have to balance their other daily work responsibilities. This can greatly limit the brand’s social media growth since the ones placed in charge may not have much time to fully explore the capacities of their online platforms and keep up with the trends. Not to mention, your In-House social media team may also eventually feel limited in what they’re doing especially if they prefer a career exposure in all sorts of industries rather than just one. 

 

Agency Social Media Management: The Pros

• Several for the price of one

Investing in an agency to manage your brand’s social media could be a more cost-efficient and effective solution since you’ll essentially be hiring several people for a package price. These are also people who are experts in particular areas of Digital Marketing and Business Management like content writing, graphic design, data analysis, trend researching, and more which can prove to be very beneficial for your brand’s ultimate growth. Also, handing over these responsibilities to an agency can allow you and your team to focus on other vital aspects of the business such as sales and operations.

Don’t forget that an agency will have access to advanced marketing software and tools given that this is their speciality plus they’re more than capable of handling different social media accounts, assessing each one for their maximum online potential. 

• Digital Marketing expertise all for your brand

As said, going for the digital marketing agency route can lead you to connect with several professionals in the field who can utilize their online social networking expertise for your brand’s betterment. All you have to do is to communicate with them what ideas or goals you have and provide them with the necessary information then they’ll do the rest when it comes to planning and strategizing the contents and campaigns that are most suitable for the brand. 

The agency will also take charge in managing the brand’s official platforms not just to conveniently organize the postings themselves but also to actively observe engagement rates and the kind of user engagements every post will generate as well as actively engage with the online community, efficiently run paid ads, incorporate search engine marketing, and even integrate email marketing for maximum brand boosting. This way, they’ll be able to strengthen your brand’s online popularity and relevance, provide accurate feedback, propose improvements, and prove with facts that these recommended changes will be profitable moves for the business. 

• Exposure to different industries 

The people behind the agency will also have encountered and will constantly be encountering all sorts of businesses or brands which can increase their knowledge on multiple industries. Therefore, it’s possible that they’ll easily adjust, more so than the usual, with your brand especially if they’ve experienced handling a similar one prior. This can save time when it comes to getting to know all about the brand and further allow their expertise to shine. 

• Teamwork

Unlike with In-House which can be a burdensome, added responsibility to place on existing employees, hiring an agency means the responsibilities in managing the brand's social media will be, more or less, equally handed out to several experts. Not only will this be more efficient, work balance-wise, but also more encouraging for these people since they’re working in a specific field of their particular expertise alongside like-minded individuals. As long as there’s cooperation, they’ll also have no trouble adapting to a dynamic environment so they’ll always be on their toes when it comes to trends, viral posts, and in determining the latest and best marketing strategies that may work for your brand. 

 

Agency Social Media Management: The Cons

• Big vs. small agencies

This varies per agency but some can actually be very costly especially the bigger and more established ones. Although, should your budget fit their bill then this wouldn’t be a con at all. In fact, if your brand is an already well-known one then it will be best to go for an equally well-known, big agency to handle your brand’s accounts. 

On the other hand, smaller agencies can face a struggle in balancing their focus among their multiple clients unlike with a specifically hired In-House team where total focus can be given for social media management. Which is exactly why it’s important to really do research on the agency you’re planning on investing in for the sake of both you and the agency beforehand.

• Binded by contract

Generally, all agencies are also limited to whatever inclusions both parties agreed on in the contract signed. Therefore, expect that there’s additional payment to any request outside the service inclusions. At the same time, if you wish to continue working with the agency then it’s simply a matter of keeping up with the payments. Simply put: no payment = no work.

A Summary of the Pros and Cons

In-house Pros

• Management can maximize their employment by assigning social media management tasks to existing team members
• Management has the control
• Full focus on the brand’s social media management
• Opportunity to master the brand and what works best for it
• Freedom to experiment on the brand's marketing approaches
• No external consultations required

In-house Cons

• Absolute management liability
• No work no output
• May require supervision
• Scarce handling different platform
• Limited in action and capability especially given a single industry exposure
• Costly to hire a whole new team 
• Burdensome to place additional tasks on exiting team members
• No focus

Agency Pros

• Team is dedicated and expert in each fields 
• Content writing and development,
• Visual communication design
• Marketing management
• Technical Support and etc
• Cost effective and efficient
• Can manage multiple platforms and assess each implementation
• Diverse  on different marketing approaches
• Capable of feedback gathering and analysis
• Proposes improvements for the business
• More up to date on trends and viral posts
• Can provide more to what is expected
• Can easily adapt in a dynamic environment
• Can work with no supervision required
• Knowledgeable on multiple industries
• Can provide ideas on not just digital marketing approaches but also business management strategies

Agency Cons

• Binded by contract
• Tasks are limited by contract inclusion
• May require additional fees for value added service
• Bigger agencies can be costly
• Smaller agencies may face the challenge of balancing multiple client needs

Conclusion

As mentioned earlier, the decision on whether to hire an In-House social media manager or a social media marketing Agency for your brand is ultimately up to you and your preferences. The choice that you believe will be the best move for your brand, at the moment, should be the one you should pursue instead of sticking to a choice that’s purely out of staying in line with the popular marketing trends of today. 

Do extensive research, check your budget, and talk to your team in order to truly know which will be the most suitable option for the brand! Either way, it’s important to remember that the best kind of marketing management is when there’s an active communication and collaboration between the people handling it — whether that’s In-House or Agency. 

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Sevensharp Creatives elevates businesses from different industries to a whole new level! Our team offers 360 digital marketing solutions that includes the current online vital social media platforms, website design and development, software development, search engine marketing, search engine optimization, email and SMS marketing, photo and video shoot and more for small, medium, corporate businesses, and public entities. Get your free consultation with us to jumpstart your digital marketing journey! Contact us at +63 917 146 2603 (Viber, Whatsapp) or email us at hello@sevensharpcreatives.com.