Social media is one of those jobs that's easy to start and hard to keep up. Most small businesses begin doing it themselves, and most quietly let it slide when things get busy. So what's the right call?
Doing it yourself
It's free and it's authentic, which counts for a lot. The catch is consistency. When work picks up, posting is the first thing to drop, and an abandoned feed can do more harm than no feed at all.
Hiring in-house
A dedicated person gives you focus, but the cost of a salary is hard to justify for most small businesses, and one person rarely covers strategy, design, video and copy well.
Bringing in an agency
An agency gives you a team's worth of skills for less than a salary, and the consistency that's so hard to keep alone. The trade-off is you need one that takes the time to actually understand your business, not one that churns out generic posts.
- Choose DIY if you have the time and enjoy it
- Choose in-house if social is central and you post daily
- Choose an agency if you want consistency without the overhead
There's no single right answer. The wrong answer is doing it half-heartedly, because inconsistent beats absent by very little. Whatever you choose, commit to it.
Written by
The Guardians Digital team