At some point, most of us have taken on a DIY job that was just a little too much to manage. Fixing a toilet, assembling a complex piece of furniture, tackling a car problem... Our home-made fix held for a little while. But then it all fell apart, and we had to pay the experts even more to sort it out.
The same applies with social media, although the stakes may seem lower (spoiler alert: they aren’t!). With so many free tools on the market, it’s easy to dodge investing in a proper social media strategy and go for a do-it-yourself approach instead. Often, social media is treated as a “nice to have” extra, or delegated to more junior staff with little marketing experience. When companies do this, they miss out on the real and powerful capacity of social platforms to attract and retain clients.
The truth is that social media, and especially LinkedIn, is a key marketing channel for your business. Trying to handle it in-house, with no strategy, content plan or metrics, is the surest way to end up working hard for no reward.
DIY socials: a time and energy suck
When people set out to manage their business’s social media, they often do so with the best of intentions but no clear plan. With plenty of other urgent things on their plate, they usually fall into the trap of posting as and when they find the time. This results in sporadic, inconsistent posting: long periods of silence, with occasional periods of frantic activity.
Short on time and focus, they rarely set and track metrics for their social media activity. This makes it impossible to tell what’s working and what isn’t, and there’s no sense of reward. Social media becomes a straightforward time and energy suck, with little to show for it in terms of actual results.
This kind of chaotic approach isn’t just frustrating and demotivating. It can also mean missing out on real, significant opportunities. Here’s an example: one of our clients had spent eighteen months trying, and failing, to establish a conversation with a leading UK brewer before giving us the challenge to reach them.
Our team used LinkedIn to identify key decision-makers at the brewer, engage with their content, and reach out directly. Initial responses were lukewarm, showing us we needed to escalate further. Ultimately, we contacted the Chief Executive, who was interested enough in our client’s information to pass it on within the company. This led to a discussion with the right person in the organisation, and then a meeting – all in the course of a few weeks!
DIY versus outsourcing social media
When companies keep social media in-house, it isn’t just about lack of awareness. There’s also an emotional element. Business owners are understandably attached to their social media content and want to keep control of their company’s online presence. This is especially true in small businesses, where the company and its reputation reflect personally on the owner.
In this situation, “vanity” metrics can also assume an outsized importance, causing hurt feelings when a given post or channel doesn’t perform as well as that of a rival business. It can be easier for larger organisations to trust the process, taking a bigger view of cumulative growth and long-term trends – the real measures of social media success.
This is why it’s important to rethink the “personal” nature of social media content. At BrandWorks Social, our done-for-you social media approach focuses on each individual client: who they are, who their audience is, what their pains are, and ultimately, their business objectives. We create and post custom content to a strategic plan, staying true to our client’s brand identity and vision without overthinking it or getting mired in short-term outcomes.
Let’s go back to the example we mentioned above. If our client had insisted on retaining personal control of the process, they would have continued with the same ineffective strategy, likely without any success. But they trusted us to act strategically with their values and aims in mind. The result: they got their desired outcome quickly, after many months of trying on their own.
It pays to trust the experts
Just like that broken pipe or faulty engine, it’s tempting to take a cheap shortcut by handling social media on your own. But this DIY approach can incur a high cost in missed opportunities – and worse, a tarnished reputation. Why risk it when you can call in the experts?
At BrandWorks Social, our ‘done for you’ social media management service is designed to help your business stand out and grow. To find out more, book your free consultation call today.
