Agency, AI, or In-House: Which Is Best for Your Social Media Marketing?
The Short Answer
There are three main ways to manage social media: in-house,AI, or an agency, each with trade-offs in cost, control, and results.
In-house teams offer full control and deep brand knowledge, but are expensive and hard to scale. AI is affordable and efficient, but often lacks creativityand strategic depth.
Agencies strike the balance, giving you expert strategy, scalability, and a full team at a lower cost than hiring internally, making them the most practical option for most growing businesses.
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When Duolingo recently advertised a Director of Social Media role with a salary range of $158k-$237k USD, the internet let out a collective gasp. Although it was a little more than most companies want to spend on a single role, it did solidify one thing: we can’t ignore the importance of social media anymore.
If your business is ready to get serious about social media, you want to know you’re doing it right. But what are your options for implementing it? In this article, we compare the pros and cons of hiring a social team, utilising AI to manage your socials, and working with a social media marketing agency to find the best solution for you.
Option 1: Hiring an in-house social media marketing team
Building an entire team to manage your social media requires a lot: additional headcount, training and retention, subscriptions, tools, and the budget to match. These teams cover all aspects of social media management, including strategy and engagement, and generally exist within a broader marketing team.
The pros
Experience and specialisation
Having an in-house team of social media marketers who work solely for your business and have deep industry knowledge can be a wonderful thing. A complete team might include a Social Media Manager, Content Creator, Paid Media Specialist, and Community Manager, among others, with years of combined experience.
Brand control
Nobody understands your brand better than your people. When you’ve got a social team, your brand voice and social strategy is 100% within your control. Plus, they’re ready to act on any sudden news or strategy shifts as they happen.
The cons
Costly
Not every business can afford to hire an entire social media team, let alone one member. In today’s market, a two-person team consisting of just a Social Media Manager and a Content Creator can cost between $150k to $200k a year.
Not scalable
Scaling your team up and down to suit your business growth isn't a solid plan. When things inevitably change, you may need to make people redundant or quickly increase your team to handle busy periods, which isn’t always possible.
Option 2: Using AI for social media
AI has made its way into most workplaces, with the Australian Government reporting AI adoption across every industry, including marketing. Today, an AI social media platform can do everything from interacting with customers and writing content, to scheduling posts and analysing performance. With free and paid options available, it can seem appealing if you’re seeking a cheap alternative.
The pros
Affordability
Compare the cost of an AI platform subscription with an in-house team or outsourced marketers, and you can see the appeal. For smaller businesses and those with limited marketing budgets, the lower cost of AI social media might look like an advantage.
Outsourcing work
When AI does your marketing, you get more time to do your work. But contrary to popular belief, it still requires a hands-on approach to social media. AI can be helpful for repetitive, data-driven content or general marketing tasks, but it requires a lot of direction and polishing.
The cons
Generic strategy
Australians spend more than five hours a week scrolling social media, so you need a strategy that’ll differentiate yourself from your competitors. While AI can help with administrative tasks, it takes a human touch to connect with audiences and understand the nuances of social media.
Lack of creativity
Without emotional intelligence or the ability to think outside the box, your AI social media marketing agency can only take you so far. As a result, you’ll end up with a boring, unimaginative social persona and a bland voice that’s instantly recognisable as AI.
Option 3: Partnering with a social media management agency
When you want the expertise of a skilled social media team without building it in-house, you can hire a third-party team to act as an extension of your business or brand. As digital marketing professionals, you can entrust them to know the latest marketing trends, understand how to connect with people, create a strategy that suits your goals, and ultimately, deliver results.
The pros
Full service at a fraction of the cost
Most social media marketing companies offer a full suite of expertise for a fraction of the price. In addition to gaining access to social media marketers, you’ll also get copywriters, content creators, graphic designers, and strategists, all in a complete package.
Scalability
Every business grows and changes over time, and your social media marketing strategy needs to keep pace. An agency can quickly scale up or down with you, so you never waste a second or a cent.
Strategy
A good social media marketing company gets to know you and your goals, and tailors an approach that connects with your audiences, conveys your brand identity, and turns data into strategy. They also keep up with the latest in social media marketing and apply that to your business.
The cons
Cost
Social Media services from an agency cost between $1000 and $6000 per month, on average. Although it’s an investment, working with a social media agency is still more affordable than hiring, training, and retaining just one team member, let alone an entire team. When done right, its ROI will make the upfront cost worth it.
Lack of specialist understanding
When you operate in a specialised industry, you need a marketing team that understands it as deeply as you do. So, it’s normal to feel uncertain about using a third-party Social Media Manager. However, when you partner with a professional agency like Dive Media, we get to know your business as if it were our own.
Put your social media marketing in good hands
To achieve the most from outsourcing your social media marketing, you need a partner that genuinely understands what they’re doing—and has the results to prove it.
As a trusted social media agency in Sydney, we work with clients across all industries in Australia. Delivering tangible results and connecting you with your audience, we can support your social strategy as much (or as little) as you need.
Get in touch with Dive Media and find out what we can do for you.
