The Pros and Cons of Outsourcing Your Social Media Engagement

You know if a customer takes the time to comment or send a DM, they’ll be expecting a timely, relevant response.   

Engagement is now an expectation from customers. But the good part?  It’s the perfect opportunity to connect with them, humanize your brand and build a relationship.

I know what you’re thinking … who has time to stay on top of it all?

What if you could outsource it? 

While it will depend on your goals, community and platforms if outsourcing is the right move for you.  Let’s look at the Pros, Cons, and Best Practices of outsourcing your engagement.

Here’s a few tips to get the best results from outsourcing and mitigate the risks.

1. Security Measures: Verify their credibility and reliability before you hire and consider a signed Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) to protect sensitive information.  You can also take further measures such as data encryption,  role-based access control and things like Two-Factor Authentication (2FA).  You might want to contact a computer technology specialist for that part. 

2. Define Engagement Frequency: Establish clear guidelines regarding the frequency and timing of engagement with the community. Determine optimal response times for queries, comments, and feedback, ensuring consistent and timely interactions.

3. Align Brand Voice: Communicate brand values, tone, and messaging guidelines to your outsourcing partner. Collaborate along the way and provide feedback to ensure the engagements resonate authentically with the brand identity.

4. Monitor Performance Metrics: Make sure you understand your analytics tools and track the efficiency of outsourced community management efforts. Evaluate your key performance indicators (KPIs) such as engagement rates, sentiment analysis, and customer satisfaction metrics regularly to gauge success.

5. Keep Open Lines of Communication: Schedule regular check-ins, progress reports, and collaborative brainstorming sessions to facilitate alignment and a sense of shared ownership.  Talk about what’s working well and what could be better to keep building on the momentum you have together.

6. Adapt:  Be open to change and embrace a culture of continuous improvement.  Act on insights from your performance metrics and evolve your strategy as needed. 

Whether you decide to outsource your social media engagement or keep it in-house will depend on your overall social media strategy.  If you’re not sure what that strategy should be, book a free consultation and we can help you weigh it out. 

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