Marketing trends reveal themselves fairly quickly if you read more than 3 to 4 marketing related e-newsletters a day. The trend I've seen lately, that I find surprising, is the advice to keep social media in-house.
As social media has matured we've learned it is a marketing tool and belongs in the marketing department. Some companies have tried to have their in-house marketing departments develop daily content, respond to customers and be the easy to talk to voice of the company. The problem has been there isn't always a person in the department who can write both casually and professionally. It also requires a significant time investment and the learning of new tools. In response, companies have begun to hire social media professionals to assist them.
Outsourcing in marketing is nothing new. We do it all the time with designers, copy writers and research companies. We are comfortable relying on experts to help us best deliver our message. So why balk at outsourcing social media? It's being written that outsourcers aren't capable of producing content that fits your marketing brand, speaks to your customers as you would or that it comes across sounding like an ad. They don't understand your passion point so how can they convey it to your customers?
Bollocks I say.
If we can clearly communicate our brand to copy writers, designers, heck to our own customers, then we can communicate it to social media professionals. Why would you not hire a professional that can bring more value to your company? They will offer advice on setting up social media campaigns to meet your goals and then track the effectiveness of the campaigns. They are experts at generating content, identifying communities, putting a personal face on your company, listening to your customer base and letting you know what's being said.
Social media marketing requires a special skill set we may not have in our own marketing department. We may simply not even have the time. I see no reason why social media marketing can't be outsourced just like any other marketing activity. Take the time to find the right social media professional to meet your companies needs, whether it be in-house or out.
I would put a caveat on this one. I would say that this depends on the size of the company. As you so correctly point out in your previous post social media is important for developing relationships and creating a sense of community. Although there are aspects that can be outsourced in a smaller company I would think that the company leader would want to be pretty engaged to make sure that all of the juicy information being collected via this channel was utilized in an effective and timely manner. Another draw of a smaller company is the connection to the brand and customers really feel connected when they can speak to the source.
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