Friday 15 June 2012

Social Media and Content Marketing: In-house or Outsource?

There are lots of different opinions on whether you should use in-house resources to quarterback your social media and content marketing presence or whether it’s better to use an outside company.  At Fering Communications, we humbly submit that using an external company gives you the best advantage.  Here are five good reasons why:


  1. You’ve Got Better Things to Do:  Honestly, you do.  If you’re like most people I know, you’ve got a million things to do and that’s when you’re not busy.  Setting up and implementing a social media strategy is seldom going to make it to the top of your to-do list.  Luckily, if you work with an external company they’ll give you a content calendar with 30, 60 or 90 days of content activity and all you have to do is make sure that they do as they say they will.

  2. You’re So Close You Might Miss the Obvious:  Sometimes, people are so passionate about their businesses that they suffer from tunnel vision and only focus on what is most near and dear to them.  In the meantime, all sorts of good and marketable stuff can be going on that you might not notice or might neglect to recognize the significance of.  By keeping in reasonably close contact with your social media and content marketing company they will pick up on things that should be spun into new content and broadcast across the social media spectrum.

  3. Don't Overwork Yourself:  One of the first things an outside company will establish is your content marketing and social media strategy and activity calendar.  This will contain a schedule for when you can expect premium content pieces, blog posts, Facebook posts and tweets.  But what happens if something unexpected happens in your company that should be shouted from the rooftops?  If you’re managing your own content in-house you have to find time to incorporate this on top of everything else that you’re working on.  If we’re doing it we can reorganize our resources and priorities to fit you in.

  4. Benefit From A Fresh Perspective:  We spend a considerable amount of my day talking about, thinking about and doing social media and content marketing.  On any given day we can touch any number of people who have different ideas and perspectives and where appropriate we can bring apply these ideas and perspectives to work for you.  Your internal resource is so tied to one strategy (yours) and is going to see the same set of faces (your team) day in and day out that the chances of fresh ideas or new perspectives creeping into the picture is smaller.

  5. This Writing Thing Isn't As Easy As It Looks:  Sure, we all learned how to write when we were young, but I learned to swing a hammer when I was little and as my wonderful wife can attest, being able to swing a hammer doesn't mean I know how to finish a basement.  You rock at what you do and that’s why your customers buy from you but unless you’re into social media and content marketing (and I’m puzzled by why you would hire us if you are) then we’re probably better.  When I want a computer I buy a Dell laptop running Windows 7 because those are the best tools available for my needs.  When we’re hungry we head out to the local Pita Pit and grab a pita.  You could probably do a decent job yourself, but who shoots for decent when great is just a phone call away?


Social media and content marketing is a low-cost-high-return way to market your business.  Like anything else, doing it poorly can do more damage than good and can be worse than doing nothing at all.  Involving an outside company to create a consistent stream of content and social media activity will help establish you as an expert in your field, engage your customers and keep them coming back for more, and boost your lead generation.  Fering Communications provides social media and content marketing services so if you are convinced that an outside company might be right for you give us a call, we’d love to talk to you.


Got something to say? Leave a comment below, we’d love to hear from you! Got a question that we can address in our blog? Contact us through our website or email me directly and we’ll put our crack team to work and let you know when we post a reply.

Steve Hartley, Managing Partner
Fering Communications Inc.

No comments:

Post a Comment