Importance of agency social media management VS in-house management

March 30, 2023

How hard is social media management, really? If you spent your free time scrolling through your personal Facebook or Instagram feeds, posting on LinkedIn or arguing on Twitter then surely you’re more than capable of managing your business’s social media accounts, aren’t you?

Well, maybe. But maybe not.

The difficulties of in-house social media management

If you and your team understand the true value of being active on social media, there’s a good chance you’ll have your social media accounts set up. These may include Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok and more.

Setting them up is one thing. Managing them well is another.

Your choices are to:

Do it yourself on top of your existing workload – if you’re like most healthcare professionals, you just don’t have the time for this because you’re already overworked
Conscript a team member to become your in-house social media manager, responsible for promoting your brand online on top of their ‘real’ job
Hire a dedicated in-house social media manager, paying their salary and associated costs.

This is where business priorities can become tricky to manage. As a healthcare professional, you and your team are already very busy. Your time needs to be spent effectively. Trying to post content regularly without a comprehensive strategy may mean you’re spending a lot of time on social media content that doesn’t have a strong impact on your business.

So, how does that compare to hiring a marketing agency for social media management?

What do you get when you engage a social media agency?

More for your money

In Australia, the average salary for a Social Media Manager alone is $62,250 – which typically equates to a total investment of around $80,000 per employee when considering the cost of bonuses, taxes and leave entitlements.

That same budget stretches further with an agency. You not only get social media marketing, but you’ll probably also get a range of other specialised marketing services depending on your needs.

A clear, well-researched content plan

Social media specialists use trends, keyword research, strategy, popular topics and other marketing techniques to craft our content plans.

If you’re creating your own professional content in-house, the most important aspects are still the topic and the messaging. You could have gorgeous, professional-looking content, but if the topic is irrelevant or confusing to your audience, you’re taking a step backwards.

That’s why, if you like content creation and are keen to do your own, we can support you by creating your content plan based on topics that will perform well and help you achieve your goals. You can then use this plan and execute the content as you wish. Or, if you recognise you don’t have time to generate your own content, we can create both the content plan and the content itself.

Greater connection with your audience

A social media specialist knows the industry, trends and how best to speak to your audience.

Let’s imagine you’ve shared a Reel. It’s reached your audience and is receiving lots of engagement. You trial a carousel post next – it too reaches your audience, is well received and generates a high level of engagement.

So far so good! But then you share another Reel, in a similar style, and it falls flat. It has only a very small reach and no engagement. Why?

That’s what we unpack.

Our marketing expertise and experience enable us to understand and advise on:

Goals – what’s a reasonable expectation for an increase in followers? What are the industry average engagement percentages?
Strategies – we ensure every piece of content serves a purpose
Plans – what will and may not work
Analytics – we know how to read, use and implement the data to deliver real results
Reports – what does data over 2-3 months suggest?

Relevant, professional, eye-catching content

Social media marketing involves far more than snapping a few nice pics with your iPhone and uploading them to your chosen channels.

Staying relevant and engaging involves trialling a mix of video content, graphics, animations, stories, carousels, paid vs organic content, community-building techniques (such as online events, virtual giveaways etc) and much more.

This is an agency’s bread and butter. We’re constantly monitoring trends and we employ professional graphic designers and photographers/videographers to create high-quality images and videos that give your business a fresh and relevant feel.

Marketing that keeps you on the right side of AHPRA

As a healthcare professional, it’s vital that anything you post on social media complies with the advertising guidelines set out by the Australian Healthcare Practitioner Regulation Agency (AHPRA).

Those rules are not always easy to navigate.

How Splice Marketing can help

Splice Marketing is an experienced healthcare marketing agency, with the skills and knowledge required to manage your social media marketing successfully.

We not only deliver a well-researched content plan and create content that resonates with your audience and builds your business. We also keep you on the right side of AHPRA while doing it.

That’s because we’re not just a marketing agency – we’re healthcare marketing specialists. We know that anything you post on social media must comply with AHPRA’s advertising guidelines. We’re adept at creating engaging content that meets those additional requirements.

If you’re ready to ramp up your social media marketing, please book a free 30-minute consultation with Splice Marketing’s CEO, Ellie Bakker. We’re looking forward to supporting your business.