I want to say something that might be a little uncomfortable, especially if you’re currently in the middle of interviewing social media managers.
Hiring one might not fix the problem you think it will fix.
I’m not saying don’t do it. Good social media managers are talented, hardworking professionals who can do incredible things for your business. But I’ve also seen entrepreneurs hand off their social media, wait for the results to roll in, and end up more frustrated six months later than they were before — wondering why the content looks great but nothing is actually working.
The problem wasn’t the social media manager. The problem was what happened before the hire. Or didn’t happen.
The thing most business owners skip
Here’s the scenario I see play out constantly: A business owner gets overwhelmed by their marketing. They’re tired of trying to figure out what to post, when to post it, and why none of it seems to be moving the needle. So they make a smart-sounding decision — they outsource it. They find a social media manager, hand over the login credentials, and exhale.
And then the SMM sends over an onboarding questionnaire.
Who is your target audience? What are your content pillars? What’s your brand voice? What are your marketing goals for this quarter?
And suddenly, the exhale turns into a cold sweat. Because the honest answer to most of those questions is… I’m not sure.
This is not a failure on your part. This is a gap that nobody warned you about. You went looking for help with the execution before you had clarity on the strategy. And execution without strategy is just busy work with a prettier aesthetic.
What a social media manager actually does — and doesn’t do
Here’s the truth about what you’re hiring when you bring on an SMM: you’re hiring someone to execute. To create, schedule, and manage content. To keep your platforms active and consistent. That is genuinely valuable work.
What they’re not hired to do — and what most of them aren’t equipped to do — is figure out why your business exists in the marketing landscape, who you’re really trying to reach, what makes you different from the ten other businesses doing something similar, and how all of your marketing channels should work together toward an actual goal.
That’s strategy. And strategy is yours to own.
An SMM is a driver. A skilled, professional driver. But someone has to know where you’re going before you get in the car.
Why you can’t fully outsource your marketing — and why that’s actually okay
I want to offer you a different way of thinking about this, because I think a lot of entrepreneurs get into trouble chasing the fantasy of “getting marketing off my plate entirely.”
That’s not the goal. The goal is to stop letting it run your life.
There’s a difference.
Your marketing works better when you’re in it — not doing all of it, but in it. Knowing the direction. Understanding the message. Recognizing when something is off. Because here’s what nobody tells you: the thing that makes your business stand out in a crowded market is you. Your perspective, your story, your values, your specific way of seeing your industry. That cannot be fully handed off to anyone. It can be supported, shaped, and amplified — but it starts with you.
The entrepreneurs I see market most effectively aren’t the ones who’ve removed themselves from the process. They’re the ones who’ve gotten clear on the strategy and then found the right people to help them execute it.
Strategy first, always
Before you hire anyone to help with your marketing — an SMM, a VA, a content creator, anyone — there are some fundamental questions your business needs to be able to answer:
→ Who are you talking to, specifically? Not “women 25–55 who love wellness.” A real human being with a real problem you solve.
→ What do you want people to think, feel, or do when they encounter your content? If you can’t answer this, your SMM can’t either.
→ What makes you different? And I mean actually different, not just “great customer service” different.
→ What are your marketing goals right now? Awareness? Leads? Conversions? Retention? These require different strategies, different content, different metrics.
→ What does your content stand for? What topics do you own? What’s your consistent point of view?
→ What does success look like — and how will you measure it?
These aren’t complicated questions. But most business owners have never been asked them in a focused, strategic way. And until they’re answered, no amount of posting, boosting, or outsourcing is going to get you where you want to go.
Where I come in — and what changes when strategy comes first
This is exactly the work I do with entrepreneurs: building the strategic foundation that makes every other marketing decision easier. Whether you eventually execute it yourself, hand it to an SMM, or some combination of both — the strategy is the thing that makes it work.
When we get clear on your positioning, your audience, your message, and your goals, something shifts. Your content gets easier to create because you actually know what you’re saying. Your SMM (if you have one or hire one) can do their best work because they have real direction to execute against. And you stop feeling like marketing is this chaotic, overwhelming thing you can never get a handle on.
Sometimes we figure out together that you’re actually ready to bring on an SMM right now. Sometimes we figure out that you need to build a stronger foundation first. Sometimes we figure out that you have more capacity than you thought, and with the right system, you can market your business effectively without outsourcing at all — at least for now.
The point isn’t to prescribe a solution before we understand the problem. The point is to help you make a smart decision for your business, at your stage, with your goals.
The best version of outsourcing
I’ll leave you with this: the entrepreneurs I’ve seen get the most out of working with a social media manager are the ones who came in with clarity. They knew their audience. They had defined content pillars. They could articulate their brand voice. They had goals they were working toward.
Their SMM wasn’t guessing. Their SMM was executing. There’s a massive difference in the results.
Strategy first doesn’t mean you have to figure it all out alone, or that it has to take months. Sometimes two focused hours of working through the right questions is all it takes to change the trajectory of everything that comes after.
That’s what I’m here for.
Leave a Reply