It usually happens like this. Somebody of relative
importance within your organization says, “We should incorporate social media
into our marketing plan.” Usually this statement is made without regard to how
and why you’ll integrate social media. That is your problem.
So regardless of how you got here, you’re committed to
social media and one of the first questions you’ll have is, “where will the
money come from?” Ah, yes, the age old question. Again, that is your problem.
But here are a few things to consider.
First, plan. Be strategic. Create a social media marketing
plan. Determine your goals and objectives. Determine what success looks like
and how you’ll measure it.
Then, work backwards from the plan and consider:
- What social networks make sense?
- Where will the content come from?
- Who will supervise the activities?
- What internal resources are at your disposal?
Social media is fueled by content. The most successful
social media marketers create original content for specific social networks. This
content has to come from somewhere. Somebody has to generate the tweets, the
posts, the videos, blogs, info graphics, the whatever it is you want to share –
it all has to come from somewhere. And that takes resources and money.
The best social marketers either, A. Do it themselves and
dedicate a staff to executing the social plan. Or, B. They pay someone to do it
for them. If you work for a small to mid-size organization and don’t have the
people to bring it in-house or the financial resources to outsource it, you may
have to do a combination of both. But how much do you dedicate to the process?
Only you can determine what is appropriate. But consider
your needs, specifically, with regard to content. Who can write blogs, tweet
and Facebook posts? How frequently? Many small to midsize organizations will
find that they need to spend $3,000 - $10,000 per month to outsource content.
There are many variables in that range, but it’s not uncommon. This budget can
be reduced by bringing more of the content creation in-house, but that is often
met with difficulty as most businesses are operating lean to begin with. Adding
more work to the pile is generally received with less than stellar enthusiasm.
So what’s the short answer? The short answer to the budget
question is that there is no short answer. It takes work. But if you work from
objectives and apply a sound strategy, then at least you working from a plan
and not shooting from the hip. So do this: plan, deploy slowly, monitor,
measure, adjust. You can always ramp up, right?