Can you afford to run your own social media marketing campaigns?

When you’re running your own business, it can be tempting to wear all the hats, ALL the time – because doing everything yourself will, inevitably, save you some money.

But your time is just as valuable as the cash flowing in and out of your bank account, you know. Do you want to spend it coming up with quarterly content calendars and pouring over social stats, or would you be happier putting more hours into finding new clients and delivering a better service to the people you’re already working with?

Bearing in mind how much time and commitment it takes to gain digital traction, can you afford not to bring a dedicated social media manager onboard?

Weighing up your options

If you’re thinking of running your business social media campaign in-house, ask yourself these five important questions before you make any final decisions.

1. Are you confident in what you’re doing?

If you baulk at the thought of starting a conversation on LinkedIn or get the shakes every time you go to set up a Facebook Live, you’re probably not a social media influencer in the making (at least not right now. So many of my clients start off this way and find they are so much more comfortable after a little training and support!).

To make sure your social media marketing campaign is a success right from the start, you should have a basic understanding of how social media works for business. Perhaps more importantly, you must have the belief that it’s the right promotional path for your company, and you need to have the self-drive to show up every day and make a difference within your online community.

If you don’t have 100% confidence in your own skills – or you don’t have the time or the energy to learn these new skills – then outsourcing this important work to a dedicated specialist is definitely the way forward!

2. Do you really have enough hours in the day to stay consistently active on all your targeted social networks?

All of us could find more time in our days, if we wanted to. But more work usually equals less time doing the things that light us up inside. Remember these wide words when you’re piling on the pressure to manage your social media accounts yourself!

If making a splash on socials is going to mean 16 hour days, or a tonne of extra hours at the weekend, this new routine is probably not going to be sustainable in the long term. To prevent burnout, you would be better off investing in a done-for-you social media maintenance service.

3. Can you access extra help, if you need it?

You can’t expect to know everything about social media – especially as the algorithms across the major platforms are changing by the day! If you’re serious about running your social campaigns yourself, you owe it to your business to brush up on your knowledge, get to grips with the best tactics, and stay up to date with all the latest trends.

This is where Jelly Bean’s DIY Social Media Marketing services come in really handy. We offer a series of set packages to help you navigate the world of social media on your own terms, at your own pace. Whether you’re finding it tricky to come up with content topics, you’re struggling stay on top of social interactions, or you just need a fresh pair of eyes to look over your performance data, you can tailor our support to suit your strengths and your setup.

4. Could somebody else in the business take ownership of your socials?

If you’re a one man (or woman) band, this won’t be an option, unfortunately. But if you have a team of employees, see if any of them might be willing to get stuck in to your socials, either instead of you, or alongside you. You can always set them up with access to our VIBeans subscription service, which delivers ongoing advice in a safe, friendly, welcoming digital space.

Sharing tasks and responsibilities makes it easier to cover particularly hectic periods. Turning your social media management into a joint effort will also allow each of you to take proper breaks without worrying about your strategy falling by the wayside.

5. Do you have an exit plan for when it all gets too much?

It might seem a long way off right now, but if you’re doing all the right things, there will come a point when you just won’t be able to manage your own social media accounts anymore. You’ll get too busy, and you’ll need to focus pretty much all your time on servicing your clients and exploring new opportunities for growth.

So, thinking ahead, do you know somebody who will be able to pick up where you left off in terms of posting quality content and engaging with your followers? Have you come across a social media manager you can trust to push your social efforts forward while you’re growing fast? Put together an outsourcing plan now, and you’ll save yourself the stress headaches later!

As well as considering all the points I’ve listed above, you also need to think about whether social media marketing is the right route for your business. If you’re convinced it is, you’ll need to consider which platforms are going to bring you the best results. One of our workshops might help you get clear on where your audience is, and what kind of content is going to work well for you.

Whatever you decide to do – good luck, and happy posting!