Outsourcing social media: Not awesome
An article by Kermit Pattison in the Small Business section of New York Times last week got us thinking. It’s about the trend in small businesses toward outsourcing data entry, writing, Web design, accounting, HR and payroll to remote, “virtual teams”. That all seems moderately reasonable. This sentence, though, stopped us in our tracks: “Some businesses even are hiring freelancers to set up and manage their corporate profiles on social networking sites like Facebook or Twitter.”
Hold it right there. 
“Outsourcing traditional media is a great cost-saving idea (in fact, I am a freelance radio buyer if you need one) but having an outsider do your social networking is a big mistake.” says Stacey Kane of Washington D.C.-based Mexican restaurant chain California Tortilla.
Entrusting your brand’s voice to a bunch of strangers-– or anyone not directly integrated and passionate about your brand-– is risky business. The idea behind social media is to be authentic– for it to really BE YOU. (Faux celeb Tweeters anyone?) Your own voice is what wins cred with your customers.
We understand the time sink social media presents and the significant issue of scalability. The trick is to figure out which channels are the most productive for you and to focus on those.
If your customers have opted in to receive e-mails from you, work on that. If you have a brand people know, Facebook is a great place to be. If you’re trying to establish your brand as a leader, blogging might be the way to go. If you’re trying to drive foot traffic, Twitter is proving to be a great way of doing that.
Keeping your social media activities in-house is worth the investment. “ Our co-founder Pam spends hours writing our monthly newsletter, ‘Taco Talk,’” continues Stacey Kane, “and I concentrate on Twitter and Facebook. Our customers feel like they are part of the brand, we aren’t talking at them but with them. This has created a super-engaged customer base that translates into a lot of burrito sales.”
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Tags: california tortilla, marketing, outsourcing
Categories: Ideas in Action
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Posted by Web Media Daily – Monday June 29, 2009 | Reinventing Yourself... on June 29th, 2009 at 11:04 am
[...] Outsourcing social media: Not awesome …Smart Blog On Social Media [...]
Posted by Michael Kauffman on June 29th, 2009 at 11:51 am
Definitely agree that an authentic and engaged voice are top priority. But I know that there are third party sources that can be found to help supplement and complement this voice and engagement while being “directly integrated and passionate about your brand.”
Each company needs to determine how best to build, talk and listen to their community. One solution may be to enlist a support team… as long as each is being clear when they communicate (i.e. initials at end of tweet or other methods).
We work within the entertainment industry and are currently helping a range of artists/labels. We also work hard to be integrated into the vision and voice of those we work with to ensure transparency and truthfulness. It is possible that this might be an effective strategy for some (but not all) bands/brands.
Posted by Bill Malpas on June 30th, 2009 at 11:17 am
If time is a factor then using a service to help channel aggregate feeds, blogs and headlines will help allow people to engage in topical conversations from time to time
Posted by tom ferry on June 30th, 2009 at 3:38 pm
I 100% agree and practice at my own company what this blog suggests! It’s all about being authentic and you know your audience best!!!
Posted by SmartBlog On Social Media » Blog Archive » Outsourcing social … BEC Development Blog on June 30th, 2009 at 9:08 pm
[...] more: SmartBlog On Social Media » Blog Archive » Outsourcing social … Posted in Object, Outsource, Web Design, business. Tags: brains-on-fire, business, events, [...]
Posted by Webidiotz on June 30th, 2009 at 10:40 pm
Its a smart post, one can manage their small social networks but when it comes to multiple products one should not hasitate to take little help, a good interactive can plan a better social media
Posted by Twitted by oth11 on July 1st, 2009 at 4:04 am
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Posted by Julie Coln on July 1st, 2009 at 2:12 pm
I believe outsourcing to professionals who are passionate about your brand may be more beneficial than throwing someone out into cyber-space who may not feel comfortable with the medium. The trick is taking the time to find a local company who can stay up to date with your brand. The time should also be taken to monitor the campaign’s effectiveness.
Posted by Twitter Trackbacks for SmartBlog On Social Media » Outsourcing social media: Not awesome [smartblogs.com] on Topsy.com on August 30th, 2009 at 5:14 am
[...] SmartBlog On Social Media » Outsourcing social media: Not awesome smartblogs.com/socialmedia/2009/06/29/outsourcing-social-media-not-awesome – view page – cached An article by Kermit Pattison in the Small Business section of New York Times last week got us thinking. It’s about the trend in small businesses toward outsourcing data entry, writing, Web design, accounting, HR and payroll to remote, “virtual teams”. That all seems moderately reasonable. — From the page [...]
Posted by Social Media: Should you outsource? « The Company Line: BLOG on September 17th, 2009 at 5:50 pm
[...] pride in your business and the solutions it offers to your customers. If this is the case, then entrusting your brand’s voice to a bunch of strangers, or anyone not directly integrated and passionate about your brand, could be risky [...]
Posted by How to Build Your Social Media Strategy on November 9th, 2009 at 8:14 am
[...] an even more important reason is this (and I’m going to quote from this very thorough article on SmartBlogs: Entrusting your brand’s voice to a bunch of strangers-– or anyone not directly [...]
Posted by Does social media change your agency relationships? | SmartBlog On Social Media on March 29th, 2010 at 6:24 am
[...] are strong opinions on this topic, ranging from those who believe firmly in DIY social media, to those who use agencies [...]