Investing in social media management for your business increases brand awareness, generates leads, and frees up your time to focus on other important aspects of business development.
While many small and even medium-sized business owners think that they need to retain control over their socials to keep their costs down, the reality is that in-house social media management is likely to be more expensive than you think.
Even the in-house marketing teams of larger businesses benefit from outsourcing social media services.
So, with that in mind, we lay out some of the costs associated with managing your socials and explain that, with the right help, you can outsource your social media management without breaking the bank.
In-house social marketing: Is it really free?
Many business owners opt to take charge of their own socials, which is understandable. After all, setting up accounts on Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn is free, and provided that you have some content ideas, you can regularly post on the platforms of your choice to grow your brand. But, of course, it’s not quite as simple as this.
While posting on social media yourself might seem cost-effective, you need to think about the following:
The cost of your time
It’s difficult to quantify the cost of your time as a business owner – but let’s be conservative and say £30 an hour. Creating content ideas and posting on your social media takes a lot of time – easily two or three hours a week if you want to do it well.
This time could undoubtedly be better spent elsewhere, perhaps on business development meetings with potential clients, for instance. While we’re not saying that in-house social media management wastes your time, we suggest you free up your time to focus on other aspects of your business.
And those two to three hours? They typically cost you £60 to £90 a week!
Speak to the social wizards
Contact Magic Word Media to discuss social media management for your business.
The cost of scheduling posts
If you’re serious about in-house social media management, it’s likely that you schedule your posts via a platform like Hootsuite. Hootsuite’s paid service starts at £40 per month for one user, and although it lets you schedule posts on all of your platforms at one time, it’s another cost associated with in-house social media management.
If several of your employees use a scheduling tool, it’s easy to see how this cost can add up.
The cost of engagement
Another indirect cost of in-house social media management is engaging with your audience. After all, it’s not enough to post on your socials and turn a blind eye to any responses from your followers. You need to check your posts regularly and respond to the comments promptly and professionally.
Again, this eats away at your time as a business owner, but it’s not something you can afford to neglect. Ignoring your customers on social media is a surefire way of losing them!
So, although it might seem that in-house social media marketing is free, it isn’t! Realistically, it’s likely to cost you many hundreds of pounds a month in terms of the cost of your time, the cost of scheduling, and the cost of engaging with your audience. But what’s the alternative?
Professional social media management for your business
Hiring an agency to take control of your social media channels is more affordable than you might think. The cost of the service depends on how many platforms you would like to post on and how many posts you would like to put out into the world every month.
In other words, you can decide on a social media plan aligned with your budget and your business growth aspirations. What’s more, you’re adding creative talent to your team and bringing fresh content ideas to your business.
But perhaps most importantly, the true value of professional social media management to your business lies in taking the burden away from you. You no longer need to worry about coming up with content ideas for your socials, and there’s no pressure on you to stick to a regular posting schedule.
Speak to the social wizards
Contact Magic Word Media to discuss social media management for your business.
A professional social media manager takes care of everything for you, letting you focus on the various other roles and responsibilities associated with running a successful business.
How Magic Word Media can help to enhance your socials
Based in Ipswich, the team at Magic Word Media manages the socials of many clients across East Anglia in numerous sectors, including finance, logistics, property and entertainment.
We completely understand business owners’ pressures and are here to help lighten your weekly task load with effective and affordable social media management that will grow your brand and increase your bottom line. We can also help with written content for your website, increasing your visibility on Google and improving how you update your clients.
Sound good? Just say the magic word, and we would be delighted to chat with you about your social media priorities and goals. Reach out to (Simon/Sophie/Jen/the team), and we can discuss your options.
