The lifelong question that brand managers ask themselves is, "Should I hire a community manager or an agency?" Alright, that might not be the lifelong question they ask, but it is an important one. A community manager is the person who manages the social identity of a brand, from Instagram to YouTube to Tumblr. They are crucial because they set the tone of voice of the brand in the social space, deal with social customer service and interact with consumers on a daily basis (or at least they should). When companies launch (or decide to perfect) their social presence, the first major decision they need to make is whether or not they will manage their accounts internally or hire an agency to do so.
There are pros and cons to both options of course. According to a survey from Ragan and Go-Gulf, 42% of companies have one person who works on social media, 25% of companies use interns for their social presence and only 5% use both internal and outsourced teams. In another survey from Social Fresh, it was reported that in 2012, 66% of community manager work for a brand and only 33% are on the agency side. The most valuable statistic I found is that only 5% of companies are highly satisfied with their social media campaigns. I think that means something can be done better in the world of community managers. Let's step it up fellow CMs.
I have worked as both an internal and external CM and I have to say, from a community manager's perspective, I can't tell which one I like better. I'm sure every CM out there can tell you the numerous woes (did I say numerous? I meant MILLIONS) of being a CM from approval processes to fights with the legal team to platform trolls, but we do take immense amounts of pride in our work.
The major benefits of working as an internal community manager is knowledge of the company, access to multimedia, employees, brand managers and insight. Sometimes getting these things from an external team can be like pulling teeth from a gorilla. The major benefits of working as an external community manager is that you are removed (yes, this is also a negative) - but it allows you to take a step back, see the brand in a bigger picture without a clouded judgment. Also, external community managers manage multiple accounts and campaigns which allows them to use their knowledge of best practices from each one across the board. VERY helpful.
This is a major argument in the digital space and I have just skimmed the surface here. I'm sure you noticed, I labeled this "Part 1" - so expect a deeper dive into the specific pros and cons here. In the meantime, do you have a preference?