So what happens when a business brings their social media inhouse from the agency?
It’s something that does happen and 9 out of 10 times it’s not because the Social Media Company is not performing, but if often simply down to reasons such as
– The business is too busy to take on any more business / clients
– The business can’t provide enough content for the social media company
– A New Business Owner
– A New Full Time Marketing Role (encompassing social media)
– A New Manager (of which part of their duties will be social media)
Here are 6 Scenarios That Often Play Out When Businesses Bring Social Media Inhouse
And we’re featuring the good, the bad and the ugly
1. They Take Shortcuts
When social media is a part of your role, rather than the only role it can be easy to look for shortcuts
On Social Media this can take the form of the below
– Sharing from Instagram to Twitter / Facebook rather than natively posting
– Scheduling all updates at the start of the month (and then stepping away)
– Using Automation for fake / inauthentic engagement
– Buying followers
Shortcuts don’t work and can take your marketing several steps backwards
Lesson: If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
2. They Let Personal Preferences Blinker and Marketing Objectives Are Ignored
I totally understand how this happens and see this happen often
On a personal level you use on platform because you love and adore it and there other platforms you stepped away from years ago
For instance, I don’t personally use Snapchat and for my clients it offers no ROi as their audience aren’t there – but if they were I’d get over the pain barrier and learn to love it
But you have to remember personal social media is VERY different from business social media and you have to leave your personal preferences at the door
Is it good for the business? Yes, Do it
Will it deliver ROI for the business? Yes, Do it
Do your customers care that you don’t like that platform? No, do it
Lesson: Ask yourself – does this improve the business
3. Less Content & Engagement
Content and Engagement – two core areas of great social
Often when Social Media goes back inhouse the 1st thing that drops 100% is engagement
Relationships aren’t kept warm and Social Media turns into a broadcast platform rather than a social platform
And that broadcast platform is reduced to 25% of what happened before as they don’t have a social media company reminding them of the content calendar and the need to keep on top of things
Less content and less engagement = Less results
Lesson: To win on social you need to dominate on content and dominate on engagement
4. Silence
When this happens – it’s heartbreaking
I spiral into despair when this happens
As a social media manager you’ve spend months or years working hard on and delivering the results and then you just look back months later and you see nothing
All industries can relate to this
The PT that works hard on a client and they get the results the client wanted and more … and then give up the very thing that’s working (and end up out of shape)
The company that cancels the IT contract … and then loses 6 years worth of data due to a virus as they didn’t keep up the protection
The accountant who inspired 10 years of growth …. for the company to stunt growth when they moved on
The SEO company that gets them to the top slot on google … only for a year later to see them on page 3
There’s nothing we can do as experts except say – don’t be afraid to come back if you can’t cope or need help
Lesson: Don’t be afraid to step back to the social media company and say “We need you”
5. They Mirror The Previous Agency Output (but don’t innovate)
You can mirror, but you can’t innovate
A social media agency will leave behind a trail of great content
And sure you could copy exactly what has been done in the past and repeat ad infinitum
And that will work for a time, because best practice works
But what you lack with this is innovation and the content will soon become stale
A social media agency has the gut feeling (and analytical skills) for when it’s time to move on and do something new
And the good social media agencies will think so far out of the box that you’d never go there on your own
Lesson: Try something new and be prepared to fail at times
6. They action all the things that Social Media Agency Pushed For (And Didn’t Get)
This is as heartbreaking as number 4
As an agency you’ve worked with a business putting in 100% whilst the business puts in 10% (and despite this you’ve delivered results on social media)
And the moment it’s brought back in house – the staff suddenly start taking photos, producing short videos and actioning all the ideas you suggested over the past 12-18 months
There are often 2 reasons for the block
– The team has never been briefed on social media and why it’s important for the business
or
– A staff member who harboured a desire to run the social media in the 1st place and through a grudge sabotaged all efforts from the agency until they got their moment on “the socials”
It’s great that the ideas finally come to fruition, but ultimately the business could have been driving more profits 18 months earlier
The staff member you’re now patting on the back, actually lost you years of profits
Lesson: Brief staff fully at the start and include in their performance review
REMEMBER
If you take your social media inhouse – get Social Media Training on the handover period so that there’s a smooth transition and the results still keep coming in
NEED HELP WITH YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA?
Chat to us about Social Media Marketing for YOUR organisation , so we can better understand YOU and what will grow your organisation
We can only find out what is unique to your business by chatting with you
Look at our Social Media Training and Social Media Management services
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Or Please call Alex on 07806774279 or email alex@altrinchamhq.co.uk
Alex McCann is owner of Altrincham HQ – a social media management and training company based in Altrincham, Cheshire that has worked with 100s of local business developing their social media strategy. Alex has 400+ LinkedIn testimonials and is ranked number 1 for Social Media Marketing in the UK via independent customer reviews on Freeindex.
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