At some point every growing coaching business hits the same question. Content matters, you can’t keep doing it yourself, so do you hire a social media manager or pay a done-for-you service?
Both can work. They fail in different ways, and they cost you different things. Here’s how to tell which one fits where your business is right now.
The short answer: hire a social media manager when you have enough work to keep one person busy, someone to manage them, and time to train them on your voice. Choose a done-for-you service when you want the whole system running in weeks, without becoming a manager yourself.
Disclosure: we run HustleGrowthz, a done-for-you service. I’ve tried to give the hiring route a fair hearing, because for some coaches it really is the better call.
What each option really is
A social media manager is one person, employee or contractor, who runs your accounts. Depending on their skills they might plan content, write captions, schedule posts, reply to comments and report numbers. Very few people are also strong at scripting, filming direction and video editing.
A done-for-you service is a team and a process you rent. A good one covers positioning, scripts, editing, publishing and follow-up, with each job done by someone who specialises in it. You record; they run the rest.
Side by side
| Social media manager | Done-for-you service | |
|---|---|---|
| Cost | US average base salary about $61,000 a year (Payscale); freelancers often $400–$2,000 a month for two channels (Upwork) | Fixed monthly fee; see our cost guide for published ranges |
| Time to get going | Hiring plus onboarding, often weeks to months | Usually a short onboarding, then production starts |
| Skills covered | Whatever one person is good at | Strategy, scripting, editing, publishing, follow-up |
| Your management time | Ongoing: briefs, feedback, reviews | Mostly approvals and recording |
| If they leave | You start again | The team and process stay |
| Knowledge of your business | Grows deep over time | Depends on the provider’s onboarding |
| Control | Highest | Shared, set by the agreement |
When hiring is the better choice
- You already have a marketing lead who can brief and manage a new hire.
- Content is one part of a bigger role, like community management, events, email and support, that needs someone inside the business.
- You publish a lot across many channels, enough to keep one person busy full time.
- You want the knowledge to stay in-house and you’re willing to invest months in it.
Hiring well is a skill. Ask for real accounts they’ve run, test them with a paid trial task, and be honest with yourself about who will manage them day to day.
When done-for-you is the better choice
- You’re the bottleneck. Every piece of content waits for you to have ideas, write, review and post.
- You need short-form video, not just posts. Scripting and editing video well are specialist jobs.
- You don’t want to manage anyone. You’d rather approve and record than run a person.
- You want results to show up before a hire would even be ramped.
The hidden costs people forget
For a hire: recruiting time, tools and software, management hours, sick days and holidays, and the real risk that they leave just as they’ve learned your voice.
For a service: the time it takes them to learn your offer, any minimum term, and the cost of switching if the fit is wrong. Good providers make this easy by putting terms in writing and starting with a proper positioning phase.
For a coach, the cleanest comparison is this: what does each option cost per month, including your own hours, and how many new clients does it need to bring in to pay for itself?
A middle path
You don’t have to pick one forever. Many coaches start with a done-for-you service to get a working system and real data on what converts. Once content clearly drives revenue and the volume justifies it, they bring parts in-house and keep the specialist work outside. That way you hire against a proven system instead of hoping a new person invents one.
Where we fit
Our Authority Flywheel is a done-for-you service for coaches, consultants and founders selling $3,000+ offers: positioning, 30 scripts and 30 edited videos a month, publishing on four platforms, and comment-to-DM follow-up. It’s $999 a month or $5,999 a year, and you record about an hour a week. If you’d rather build in-house, the checklist in how to choose a social media agency works just as well for interviewing candidates.
Related reading: how to get high-ticket coaching clients from Instagram.
Frequently asked questions
Is it cheaper to hire a social media manager than an agency?
Per month, a part-time freelancer is often cheaper. A full-time US hire usually isn’t once you add salary, tools and management time. Compare the total monthly cost including your own hours, and what each option actually covers.
Can a social media manager do short-form video?
Some can, but scripting, directing and editing video well are specialist skills. Ask any candidate for videos they scripted and edited themselves, not just accounts they scheduled posts for.
How much of my time does each option take?
A hire needs regular briefing, feedback and reviews, especially early on. A good done-for-you service should mostly need your approvals and about an hour a week of recording.
Should a new coach hire anyone for social media?
If you’re still working out your offer and voice, doing it yourself for a while can be valuable. Bring in help once content is something you know you need and time is what’s stopping you.