Rosie, the Jetsons' robot, handled a lot of tasks (not always successfully).
I know we're all busy. I know we want to be more efficient and effective. And I know we want to do what we're best at, delegating and outsourcing the other stuff. And generally, I think that's good practice. But not if you're just doing it to clear your to-do list or because you're self-conscious.
I was in panel discussion last week when one of the experts suggested outsourcing your social media posts. She allowed that since most of us aren't good writers and are already too busy anyhow, we could just farm out this process. Not necessarily horrible advice, unless your social media identity is *you*. You wouldn't send someone to a conference to wear your name tag, would you? That's effectively what you're doing when you get someone else to tweet (or whatever) for you.
Now, I'm not saying you can't have someone create posts for you. If you're an enterprise and you have a designated social media poster, that's cool as long as you're transparent and smart about it. (More on that here). But authenticity is the coin of the realm in social media. So getting that wrong will cost you more than the time and effort you saved. And if you're going to use handy apps and tools to automate your social media, choose wisely and monitor closely (I've written about the perils of auto-tweeting before) to avoid further miscues.
Whatever you do to streamline the process should be strategic. It should serve your business goals, not just your needs for convenience or time-savings or even comfort.
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I will happily retain sole possession of my social media activities, but can you help me outsource my house chores? Hello, Rosie?
I think that many businesses are successful in outsourcing their social media marketing activities and it all boils down to having a clear social media policy, training your crew on the A-Z of your brand, and your team’s passion to your cause. I have been outsourcing social media works myself and I never had a problem for over three years now. I guess, what worked for me is trust and communication, which is quite tough when you’re working with people from various timezones and locations. Of course, outsourcing isn’t always a smooth sailing ride and there are cons as well. If you ever plan to get extra help, I’d say do your research well and trust your gut instincts. Cheers!