Should You Hire a Social Media Manager or a Marketing Agency?
by: Jenn Hurless + Kayla Miller
You know your business needs help with social media. Now comes the question of who should actually manage it?
For many businesses, the decision comes down to hiring an in-house social media manager or partnering with a social media agency.
Both can be great choices. An in-house social media manager becomes deeply embedded in your company and brand, while an agency can bring an entire team of specialists, resources, and perspectives to the table. The right choice depends on your goals, budget, workload, and what you actually need from your social media strategy.
And that last part is important. Because managing social media today involves a lot more than posting a photo on Instagram a few times a week.
There’s strategy, copywriting, graphic design, short-form video, community management, analytics, trend research, platform updates, content planning, and more. Before deciding who should manage your social media, you need to understand what the job actually requires.
Here’s what to consider when choosing between an in-house social media manager and a social media agency.
Consider How Much Support You Actually Need
Start by looking at the scope of your social media strategy.
Do you need someone to manage one Instagram account? Or do you need content created and managed across Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, and other platforms?
The larger your social media presence becomes, the more skills and time it can require. One person may be responsible for brainstorming content, writing captions, creating graphics, editing videos, scheduling posts, responding to comments, tracking analytics, and keeping up with trends.
That doesn’t mean one talented social media manager can’t handle a lot. They absolutely can. But every person has limits, and the needs of your brand may eventually require expertise across multiple areas.
An agency typically gives you access to a broader team, which can be especially valuable if your strategy requires a mix of creative, strategic, and analytical skills.
An easy way to help make your decision is by writing down everything you expect your social media partner or employee to handle. Seeing the full scope on paper can make it much easier to determine whether the role is realistic for one person or better suited for a team.
Think About How Close They Need to Be to Your Day-to-Day Business
One of the biggest advantages of hiring an in-house social media manager is proximity.
They’re part of your team. They’re there for the everyday moments, internal conversations, company updates, and spontaneous opportunities that can make great social media content.
For businesses where things are constantly happening in person, having someone embedded in the day-to-day operations can be incredibly valuable.
An agency works differently, but that doesn’t mean the content has to feel disconnected.
A strong social media agency takes the time to learn your business, understand your brand voice, communicate regularly with your team, and build processes for capturing the information and content they need. The relationship works best when the business and agency treat each other like partners rather than two completely separate teams.
The question to ask is how important constant physical access is to your content strategy and whether you have systems in place to keep an outside partner connected to what’s happening within your business.
Look at the Range of Expertise You Need
Social media managers wear a lot of hats, but sometimes, your strategy needs more hats than one person can realistically wear.
You may need someone who understands social media strategy, someone who can create strong graphics, someone comfortable editing video, someone who can write, and someone who knows how to interpret performance data.
Finding one person who is equally strong in every area can be difficult.
This is one of the biggest differences between hiring in-house and working with an agency. With an agency, you’re often gaining access to people with different strengths and specialties rather than relying on one person to handle every part of your social media presence.
For a smaller business with straightforward needs, one strong in-house hire may be exactly what you need. For a growing brand with a more complex strategy, having access to multiple areas of expertise can make a significant difference.
Compare the True Cost of Each Option
Budget is naturally going to be part of the conversation, and for many businesses, partnering with a social media agency can be significantly more cost-effective than hiring a full-time salaried employee.
When you hire an in-house social media manager, the investment goes beyond their salary. There are also costs like benefits, payroll taxes, equipment, software subscriptions, training, and professional development. And if one person can’t cover everything your strategy requires, you may still need to hire freelancers or additional support for photography, videography, graphic design, or other specialized work.
With an agency, you’re typically paying one monthly fee for access to a broader team and many of the tools and resources needed to manage your social media presence. Instead of paying the salary and associated costs of one full-time employee, your investment can give you access to multiple people with different areas of expertise.
Agency pricing and services vary, of course, but for businesses that need comprehensive social media support, an agency can offer more expertise and resources at a lower overall cost than building the same capabilities in-house.
Consider What Happens When Someone Is Out
Social media doesn’t stop because someone goes on vacation.
When one person manages your entire social media presence, it’s important to have a plan for what happens when they’re sick, take time off, or eventually leave the company.
Scheduled content can help, but comments still come in. Messages still need responses. Trends still happen. And occasionally, something needs to be posted or addressed quickly.
An agency often has built-in coverage because multiple people understand the account and its strategy. If one team member is unavailable, someone else can help keep things moving.
If you choose to hire in-house, this doesn’t have to be a dealbreaker. It simply means creating clear processes, documenting your strategy, and making sure important information doesn’t live with only one person.
Whichever option you choose, your social media presence should have enough structure to keep running when life inevitably happens.
Think About Outside Perspective Versus Internal Knowledge
An in-house social media manager has the value of deep knowledge of your business.
They understand your team, products, services, customers, and company culture from the inside. Over time, that knowledge can help them identify stories and content opportunities that someone outside the organization might not immediately see.
An agency brings a different advantage of outside perspective.
Because agencies work across different accounts, industries, and strategies, they’re constantly exposed to new ideas, trends, and approaches. They may be able to spot opportunities your internal team has overlooked simply because they’re looking at your brand through a different lens.
Neither perspective is automatically better.
In fact, some of the strongest social media strategies happen when deep internal knowledge and outside expertise work together. Whether you hire in-house or partner with an agency, you want people who are willing to learn your business while still bringing fresh ideas to the table.
Ask How Quickly Your Social Media Needs May Change
Think about where your business is today, but also where it could be a year from now.
Maybe you currently need help managing two platforms, but you’re planning to expand into short-form video. Maybe you’re launching a new location, adding a service, increasing your paid social strategy, or building a larger content operation.
An in-house social media manager can grow alongside your company, but as your needs expand, you may eventually need to build a larger internal marketing team around them.
An agency can often scale services as your needs change, giving you access to additional support without having to hire a new employee every time your strategy grows.
There’s no right or wrong path here. The important thing is choosing an option that works for the business you have now while considering what support you may need next.
Why Go Be Social Media Might Be the Right Fit
If you’ve read through all of this and realized your business needs more than one person can realistically manage, that’s where working with a social media agency can make a difference.
At Go Be Social Media, you’re not just hiring someone to post on your accounts. You’re gaining a team that can look at your social media presence from multiple angles, combining strategy, content creation, copywriting, design, community management, and performance insights to help your brand show up consistently online.
We also know that handing your social media over to an outside team can feel like a big step. Your brand has its own voice, personality, audience, and goals, and your content should reflect that. That’s why a strong agency partnership starts with getting to know your business rather than forcing your brand into a one-size-fits-all social media strategy.
The goal is to feel like an extension of your team. You bring the knowledge and passion behind your business, and we bring the social media expertise to help translate that into content your audience actually wants to see.
For businesses that want a stronger social media presence without having to hire and build an entire in-house marketing team, partnering with Go Be Social Media can give you access to the strategy, creativity, and support you need to keep moving forward.
So, Which One Is Right for Your Business?
Hiring an in-house social media manager and partnering with a social media agency can both lead to a strong online presence. The right choice comes down to the kind of support your business needs today and where you want your marketing to go next.
If you need someone fully immersed in your daily operations and have enough ongoing work for a dedicated employee, an in-house social media manager could be the right fit. If you want access to a broader range of expertise, more creative resources, and a team that can grow alongside your business without the cost of building an entire in-house department, an agency may make more sense.
And for some businesses, the answer might even be both. An internal marketing team can bring valuable day-to-day brand knowledge while an agency adds strategy, creative support, and specialized expertise.
At the end of the day, the goal isn’t simply to find someone who can keep your social media accounts active but to find the right people to understand your brand, build a strategy around your goals, and create content that gives your audience a reason to pay attention.
That’s exactly how we approach social media at Go Be Social Media. We work alongside our clients as an extension of their team, combining their knowledge of their business with our expertise in social media strategy and content creation.
Because the right social media partner shouldn’t just post for your brand. They should help your brand move forward.
And ultimately, the best choice is the one that gives your business the right people, expertise, and support to turn social media into something more than just another item on your to-do list.
