Social Media: Inhouse or Outsource? Both.

During a speaking engagement about social media program management, someone stated “a consultant told us you should never use an outside group to manage your social media. You should always do it yourself. Why should anyone use an outside resource for something so fundamentally intimate as the connection between brand and consumer?”

A good question, and one I hear often enough to write about.

1. The people that should be doing it can’t

Meaningful social media discussions expose the soul of the organization. It’s personal. Real. Genuine. To be truly authentic, the CEO should be driving Facebook conversation, the COO blogging up a storm and the founder Twittering away. Right? Of course this is ridiculous – even if they had domain expertise they are busy growing the company. So then who should be its voice? The VPs? Directors? No. Ultimately, it ends up being one of many duties assigned to an overworked entry level resource. This does not work.

2. It’s not just commenting

The best social media strategies are multifaceted. They require some design, some light programming, integration of multiple platforms, internal team building and “constant” tool and best practices research. Well written, interesting and engaging discussion is huge, but that alone is a piece of the puzzle.

3. It’s all about the plan

Effective social media programs are all about coordination. What are your goals? How is traffic being generated? Where is that traffic going? What are your conversion points? Who are your internal subject matter experts? When should the moderator call them? How should the moderator respond to various questions/issues? I find internal resources are not well suited for this kind of top line planning. An experienced social media team should reference a wide array of past successes and failures, and leverage them for your benefit.

In short, unless your organization can afford a social media department, having some level of external social media support is a must.

However, I fully admit this can be problematic. Finding experienced teams with track records for success is always tough in any emerging market. Snake oil salesmen abound. Do your research and do not compromise. There are few channels more risky or more rewarding.