How to Successfully Outsource Social Media (Without Losing Your Brand Voice or Mind)

Are you over trying to do it all on social? 😩 You’re not alone—and here’s the truth: handing off your social media won’t work unless you have a roadmap.

In this episode, Ruthie breaks down why so many founders feel more overwhelmed after hiring help—and how to avoid the common mistakes that make outsourcing fail. Whether you’ve tried hiring a VA, a freelancer, or even a content team, this is the episode to help you go from frustrated to fully supported.

You’ll learn:

• Why social media delegation often backfires
• The 3 things your team must have to succeed
• How to create a content process that works (even if you’re not a content person)
  
  

If you’re ready to hand off social media and feel good about it, get the full blueprint inside the Delegation Download 

Don't forget to subscribe to the podcast so you never miss an episode, and follow along over on Instagram!
@ruthie.sterrett
@theconsistencycorner

Transcript

Ruthie Sterrett (00:01.496)

Do you have a game plan for successfully outsourcing your social media? Because if you're a high achiever like me, you know that often delegation can feel harder than just doing it yourself. But doing it for yourself for much longer is not sustainable. You are done. You're over it. Social media is draining. It's distracting and you know it's time to hand off. But, and this is a big but my friend,

without a clear plan for how to delegate, you might actually end up more frustrated than you are right now. I hear about this all the time with women in my community, founders who hire a VA or a freelancer to take social media off their plate, only to find themselves rewriting captions, questioning the results, or feeling like managing the work is more effort than doing the

That's why in today's episode, I want to walk you through what has to be true for outsourcing to actually work so you're not second guessing your decision or stuck in the cycle of content creation burnout. Because outsourcing doesn't magically solve the overwhelm, the right process with the right partner does. So, let's talk about why outsourcing sometimes fails. The first big reason is if there's no roadmap. When you hand social,

over without a process, here's what happens. There are endless revisions. There is content that doesn't sound quite like you and might sound a little bit more like our friend ChatGPT. And most importantly, it's content that doesn't achieve your business goals. It's not moving the needle where you actually want to go. And the thing is, it's not enough for you to just like the posts. The question is, are the posts

supporting your business? Are they building awareness? Are they engaging the audience? Are they helping move your customers closer to buying? Without clarity on those business goals, the person you outsource to has no way of measuring success. And that's how outsourcing sometimes turns into spinning your wheels. Now, let's get real for a second. Moms, listen up. You're going to feel this one. Handing off social without a roadmap.

Ruthie Sterrett (02:24.17)

is kind of like trying to reduce your mental load at home. You might ask your spouse to take the kids to practice or unload the dishwasher, but you're still the one keeping the mental checklist of whether or not those tasks were actually done. Maybe your partner goes to the grocery store for you, but you're still the one planning the meals, making the list, remembering the schedule of who has practiced so we don't need to cook this night or get the meat out of the freezer. You're still carrying so much weight.

even though you delegated a task, you didn't delegate the mental load. And that's what happens sometimes when you delegate social media or outsource without a process in place. You're still the manager instead of being supported. And those two things are very different. So how do you fix it? Well, you create a roadmap and you set your team up for success so that you're not just handing off the task

but you're handing off a process. And here's a few key pieces that need to be in that roadmap. Number one, clarity on your voice and vision. If you haven't defined it and documented, no one else is going to be able to capture it. Number two, more documenting. Documenting what makes you different, stories, preferences, perspectives. Nobody lives inside your brain except you. So those things have to be communicated to whomever the person is.

that is taking over your content. Because if those unique value propositions for your brand, those unique selling positions, and just the nuance, the vibe that makes you you isn't communicated, you are going to get cookie cutter chat GPT garbage. so documenting gives whomever you delegate to the guardrails to create in your voice. Also, sharing upfront

what you like and what you hate. Because although, whomever you're outsourcing to is really trying to create for your audience, not just for you, but for your audience. In order to make sure everybody's on the same page, if there's certain types of content that you're like, that is not me, I do not feel comfortable posting that, you need to communicate that upfront. Or we're gonna be having a whole lot of revisions happening that just takes up everybody's time. Number three.

Ruthie Sterrett (04:51.842)

the definition of success. Now this is a tricky one and I could probably do a whole podcast episode about social media's job description inside of your business because it's different for every business. It's different depending upon your business model. It's different depending upon your offer suite. It's different dependent upon what you're focusing on in the marketing funnel, whether it's awareness, engagement, or leads. It's also different

depending upon what other marketing strategies you're using, podcasts, guest speaking, networking, PR, paid ads, email, so many things. How social media fits in to the organizational structure of your business is going to depend on so many things. so whomever you're outsourcing to needs to understand the role social media plays and the objectives.

of the platform. Everybody needs to be on the same page about that. And then finally, number four, simple systems for the workflow, the drafts, the feedback, the approvals, even a light system like a shared album in your iPhone or a voxer thread to chat through things can save hours of back and forth. Now, let's level set because creating this roadmap actually takes some time upfront.

But that investment pays dividends down the road. Because instead of outsourcing feeling like chaos or a huge chore, it starts actually freeing up your time. When you take the time to set your team up for success, you get your capacity back, your peace of mind and results that actually move your business forward. Now, here's the shift I want you to walk away with. Delegation isn't about letting go of control.

It's about creating clarity so everyone else can carry the vision forward. Too many times I see founders stuck in the role of manager, often a micromanager. They're still carrying the weight. They're still checking out everything. They're still stressed, even though they outsourced or delegated. But when you take the time to build the roadmap, something changes. Everybody's on the same page.

Ruthie Sterrett (07:15.276)

At the beginning, everybody knows where we're going together. So then you can stop managing and you can start to feel supported. And that's where the freedom comes in. When outsourcing finally gives you the results that you wanted in the first place, which is more time, more consistency, and more confidence in your marketing. Because outsourcing isn't just about getting the content done and putting up a post. It's about creating content that achieves your business goals.

while giving you the space to step back into your role as the visionary CEO. It protects your energy. The one thing I want to address, because I hear this a lot though when it comes to outsourcing social media, is people think, well, mean, social media isn't rocket science. Like, how hard can it be? And they're right. It's not rocket science, but it is a lot more complex than we give it credit for.

as a casual user, a consumer of social media. But to be a great social media marketer, you need to understand not just how to write captions or create graphics in Canva or click post or schedule. You need to understand the trends that are working right now. You need to understand what algorithms are rewarding. You need to understand the ever-changing platform updates. You need to understand how to adapt.

as the industry changes because it is constantly changing. And how to align all of that within your business goals. There's multiple platforms. There's multiple surfaces within the platform. There's understanding and conducting or coordinating how the social media content is integrated in the rest of the marketing ecosystem. It's not rocket science, but it is strategy and it's constant learning.

And this is where outsourcing to a pro actually makes the difference because you could hand it off to a fresh out of college junior team member or a brand new VA who does a lot of different things for you or even a seasoned team member that already has been with you and knows your business and knows your brand, but maybe has 10 other responsibilities and is already wearing a lot of hats. And the truth is,

Ruthie Sterrett (09:37.74)

they probably don't have the experience, the strategy, or the bandwidth to keep up with what's actually working on all of the platforms and in the space right now. And you as the business owner shouldn't have to carry that either because you have other things to do as well. So when you outsource to someone with experience, you're not just getting content off your plate, you're getting results. Content that not only looks good and sounds like you, but actually drives awareness, connection, and conversion.

and that's the power of delegating to a professional. But even when you delegate to a pro, we have to have a roadmap. We have to have a plan to set us up for success. And today, I gave you a preview of what a delegation roadmap to look like, but there's so much more. There's so much more nuance and detail that goes into being truly successful when handing things off. And that's why I created a new resource called the delegation download.

It's a private podcast that walks you through this entire process step by step. Think of it as your behind the scenes guide to outsourcing social media the right way so you can finally get it off your plate without losing your voice or your results. So if you're ready for the full roadmap, head to the consistencycorner.com slash delegation, pop in your email and you'll get instant access.

You can listen while you're in the car, can listen while you're doing dishes, while you're taking a walk, but it's seven short episodes that will give you the exact process you need to set yourself up for success when taking social media off your to-do list. Because outsourcing isn't about more managing, it's about more freedom. And you deserve that. You know I'm in your corner, I'm cheering you on, and I want you to feel the freedom that comes with delegation.

Because I know that your business is meant for so much more. You are meant to be doing so much more. You have a mission that needs to be amplified and your energy needs to be protected. And outsourcing with the right plan to the right partner can definitely help you get there. I'm cheering you on my friend. I can't wait to hear what you think about the delegation download. Don't hesitate to send me a DM if you have questions after listening and we'll see you in the next episode.