Hiring a Social Media Manager? Do This First

Before you hire a social media manager, let’s get one thing clear—content creation and social media management are not the same. In this episode, Ruthie breaks down the essential materials you need before outsourcing your marketing. From professional photos to B-roll and behind-the-scenes updates, she shares exactly what your marketing partner needs from you to succeed. Learn how to delegate without disappearing and set your social media strategy up for success.

If you're ready to take social off your plate without sacrificing authenticity, this episode is your starting line.

🎧 Tune in to learn:

• Why your input still matters (even with a team)
• The critical content assets most CEOs overlook
• How to prepare for a seamless, strategic social media partnership
  
  

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode, and follow along over on Instagram!
@ruthie.sterrett
@theconsistencycorner

Transcript

Ruthie Sterrett (00:00)

Before you hire a social media manager, you need to understand this. Listen, content creation and social media management are not the same thing. So when you hire a social media manager, social media marketing partner, an agency, they are going to be asking you for photos, videos, and information. And you might be thinking like, wait, didn't I hire you to do this? And that might feel confusing or frustrating.

It's a common misconception. So today we're going to clear all of that up. The difference between delegation and disappearance is that when you delegate, there is partnership, there is a follow up, there is direction. Disappearing, handing something off completely often means that it has nothing to do with you, which means it might not be right. So.

Let's talk about why content creation and social media management are not the same thing, but that they depend upon each other. So as a social media agency, my team manages strategy, content curation, graphic design, copywriting, scheduling, engagement, analytics. But we still need raw materials, meaning photos, video, information.

your thoughts, your opinions, updates on your business. So here's a list of things you want to make sure you have or are willing to invest time and or money to get before you hire a social media marketing agency so that you can set them up for success. The first one is professional photos. Yes, you absolutely can get by with iPhone photos, but

For your website, for some of your social media content, it is very, very important to have some professional photos. And I don't just mean like one headshot of you looking at the camera and smiling, but I mean some lifestyle working photos. Working at your desk, working with your clients, working in the space that you work in. Lots of different poses. I mean, you can go to Pinterest and like Google brand lifestyle photos and get a whole mess of pictures.

And don't think that this is just for people who are like influencers. Like this is for anybody. We need that professional mix of photos along with the iPhone photos. iPhone photos or whatever phone you have also necessary because we do want to show the real you, the real life, the vacation clips, the working at your desk, the coffee cup that you love, the

view from your window. I mean, there's like 10,000 examples I could give you and they're going to be different depending upon what your business is. But providing some of those photos from your day to day life and business to the team is going to be how they can actually create content for you. The next one is B-roll. Now B-roll is like short form video that is not talking to the camera.

So it could be putting on your lip gloss. It could be sipping your coffee. It could be typing at your computer. It could be doing yoga. It could be working in the kitchen. I mean, it could be 10,000 things. And like I said, it's going to be different for each brand or business. But a social media strategist agency can help you determine what types of B-roll you're going to need. We also need behind the scenes information.

Audiences love sneak peeks of behind the scenes, whether that's you working with a client, answering a question that a client had, you prepping for a launch, you packing products if you're a product based business, even things that don't involve your face that are behind the scenes clips can help connect you as a real human with your audience. Also,

your perspective. And I love this because this can be delivered in so many different ways. You can deliver voice memos. Like you're just thinking about something and you've got an idea.

This is gold because it's coming straight from your brain and it's your unique opinion or point of view that you're sharing because your team can't make that kind of stuff up because if they do, it's not authentically you. And then also business updates, letting your team know what are you launching, what's selling well.

Where are you shifting in terms of your offers or your messaging? What are the questions that your clients are asking or your audience is asking you right now? Those are the types of things that content curation teams need to know so that they can curate content around those topics. And remember, you might feel like your business, your life is boring, but that's because you live it every single day.

Showing your audience or your customers little snippets of that is what makes you human. It's what makes you authentic. And the content should feel like you. It should not feel like stock. Absolutely, we can use stock images and we do for some of our clients in certain instances. But if every single image we use is a stock photo, it's not authentic to you. It's not original and it's not truly your brand.

And even the best strategists cannot create custom content from nothing. So professional photos once in a while, b-roll ready to provide iPhone photos and then updates in your business and your points of view. And then what a strategist can do and a social media marketing agency can do, we can take that content that has been captured and curate it.

into content that works for the strategy we build that is supporting your business goals. And then we can reuse some of those assets way more often than you think. We can use a photo several times. We can use a clip of b-roll several times. We have ways of freshening it up and making it new. Now, not forever. You do need to continue to provide, but maybe not as often as you think.

People hire you because of your specific experience and energy. And even again, as a product-based business or a service-based business where your face isn't like the main thing, humanness absolutely matters. And that doesn't come from canvographics alone or stock photos. So before you hire a social media manager, know that they are not a photographer, a videographer, or a magician.

Many agencies can provide content creation, but it's usually an added cost because it's actually a separate scope of work. So just be prepared for that when you're having conversations about whether, who you're going to hire and who you're going to bring on board to support you. Because you don't have to do everything yourself, but you do need a plan to get your voice and vision into the hands of the people that are supporting you. And that's exactly what we help our clients do. We help build a content system

that actually reflects them and moves them towards their business goals and connects them with their audience. If you're interested in having us in your corner, head to the show notes to learn more about ways that we can work together. And my DMs are always open. So head over to Instagram if you've got specific questions. I'm happy to chat through with them. Thanks so much for being here, and we will see you on the next episode.