There is ONE exercise you need to do before you hire anyone — especially a social media manager.

We often hear “I don’t have the bandwidth ” or “I’m too busy to delegate” when discussing strategy work with small business leaders. And I get it, you’re moving in a million different directions, but this is a mindset issue and it’s standing in the way of building a company that’s set up for long-term success — both financially and personally.

Not having time is simply NOT an option when it comes to foundational strategic work, and carving out time from your busy schedule to create a content playbook is hands-down the most impactful use of your time and energy to level up your business AND empower your team.

More important still, hiring someone without the playbook in place will lead to waste.

⚡️ Studies show that on average, it costs 150% of an employee’s salary to replace them.

⚡️ So if you’re paying $60,000/year for a social media manager and things don’t work out, now we’re talking $90,000/year you can waste on hiring and firing.

⚡️ Not to mention all the time you spend recruiting, interviewing, hiring, onboarding, and trying to manage them.

When you take all of that into account, spending a month focused on building a solid foundation sounds like a drop in the bucket, no?

So let’s agree to set aside the busywork and put this ONE thing at the very top of our to-do list.

We just onboarded our first full-time social media manager after years of Frankenstein roles, working with freelance creators — and inevitably spending WAY too much time in the weeds.

I first sent her the playbook when she started late 2023 as a freelance content creator, and let me tell you, being able to receive amazing work before we even onboarded her as a full-time employee was confirmation that all the right pieces were in place. 

This was one of the first times I've been able to experience the benefits and value of this core component of the work we do with our clients first-hand. When you give the right person a strong vision and direction with a detailed playbook, you’re setting everyone up for success. 

Playbooks aren't a 'set it and forget it' however. Onboarding Mariah was also the perfect opportunity to make sure our strategy was still aligned with our goals. We sat down with an outline of the playbook, reviewed our 2024 goals, and brainstormed the most efficient and effective ways to reach them. And through this exercise — which I’d argue was just as helpful for me as for her — we were able to leave with a clear vision and confidence in our plan. 

We focused on making sure she was set up with the tools and systems she needs to feel empowered in her role from the start, and it shows.

In her words, “The playbook has been the game changer starting at a new company… so much pressure is put on you as a social media manager to get it right but you don’t know what ‘it’ is because no one has told you.

I know who I'm talking to, and if I need a gut check, I can reference it. I love that.”

But this isn’t just about the team feeling supported — the business impact is already significant two months in.

• Our content is the highest performing it has EVER been.
• Our community is growing.
• Team morale is up.
• AND I’m getting at least 5 hours/week back to work on product and client experience strategy.

It’s not a coincidence that we’re up 77% YOY as a business — it’s a ripple effect. THIS is the impact of thinking more strategically about your role in social, especially if you don’t want to do it all yourself. 

So instead of falling prey to a “If I don’t do it myself, it won’t be good enough” mindset, commit to investing your own personal bandwidth to create your content strategy and go-to-market playbook with our support, and you will have business-changing impacts all around — because no one knows your business, market, product, and customer better than you. 

A month’s work is infinitely worth the ROI. You can get started at our most popular workshop F* The Algorithm! 

Click Here to Join Us for Our Next Live Workshop!

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