Dear Heather - Flustered Facebooker

 Dear Heather,
 
Recently our management said we could try social media - Facebook and Twitter.  I am 22 and I already know how to use this stuff.  Some of my coworkers didn't really understand a lot of it, so now my company is thinking about outsourcing our stuff to another company.  They won't tell us who, but I think it's the big one that everyone else is using.
Heather I don't think this is right.  I read your blog every day and I know you believe in social media as a resident retention tool, but I don't see any point in doing this if it's just going to be outsourced.  It's expensive and I can run this stuff just as well as some other company can.  How can I convince my Asset Managers that they're making a stupid mistake?

-Flustered Facebooker
 

 
Dear Flustered,
First off, never tell your asset manager, regional manager or any other manager above you that they're making a "stupid mistake."  In my experience, they do not take kindly to that particular phrase when it's aimed at them.  Try approaching them with, "I think there might be a more cost effective solution ..." or, "I was looking at the problem and I wondered if you had considered..."  These are phrases that do not get you fired. 
 
I also advise you that if you're going to poke holes in the plans of a superior manager, you need to have some ideas of how to fix what you're poking at.  You can't just go in there and complain.  You need to develop at least the skeleton of a plan or two.  THEN you're ready to meet with the boss.
 
This one's a doozy.  If there's one thing I'm usually pretty careful of, it's expressing a directed negative opinion against a supplier,  (They've got it hard enough without me "helping")  and since you asked, I'll be honest, but please realize that I do not know anything about the particular company that your management is looking at, so I am speaking in general terms, and general terms ONLY.
 
So, what do I honestly think about staffing out your social media efforts?  I think that for people who don't either understand the platforms or have the time to effectively manage them, it can be a decent alternative to having a Facebook page that just looks like a big ad and never has any activity on it.  That's the upside, but you know what goes up must always come down.
 
Social media is about genuine conversation.  Multifamily minds that speak say that kind of thing a lot, but we rarely ever come straight out and tell you what we mean, so here's what I mean:  When someone twitters me, they expect to talk to ME.  When someone Fans me or Friends me on Facebook, they expect ME to be on the other end.  People would be pretty pissed off if I wasn't and I just staffed all this out to a ghost writer.  In fact, people might feel like I didn't really want to deal with the people side of things, but that I just wanted to look like I cared.
 
I think staffing out your social media when you are perfectly capable of running it yourself is much the same thing.  For your residents, it's the a lot like sending them to a call center via Facebook.  They aren't connecting, so you're not going to retain.
 
Also, social media does NOT work for every property.  It depends on what your demographics are and if your residents will buy into it.  You will not ever be able to convince me that social media is some kind of an industry Snuggie that everyone can wear, because it's just not true, so if you've had a problem with this in the past, then it might be prudent to really examine whether or not it's the best choice on a community by community basis.
 
Now, I'm one of MANY industry voices, so by no means am I completely right or the only opinion you should get on this topic.  I suggest you talk to a property near you that has been staffing out their efforts for a while and see what the outcome for them has been.  That's real, reliable, measurable data that can help support your case to your asset manager, not just the opinion of a blogger/consultant who doesn't know anything about your particular property or demographics.  And remember, use those phrases that don't tend to get you fired!
 
Good Luck,