Should I hire a designer? This is one of the most commons questions many small business owners will face. It’s hard to learn(if you don’t know how to design) and design stuff while managing the business at the same time.
So, of course, you should hire a designer for your social media so that you can spend a bit more time on your business. No, I am not saying this because I am a freelance designer if that is what you are thinking. I have other reasons to justify that why it’s better to hire a designer (in 90% of cases).
But firstly almost all businesses are on social media. And design matters so much on social media to get through the clutter (social media platforms one of the crowdiest places on the internet) and grab the attention of your ideal prospects and customers.
Fiverr, 99designs, UpWork, and other freelance sites have been growing more rapidly than ever. Why? Considering the rise in the number of startups and businesses, the need for multiple services is on the surge, including social media services.
Basically what I’m saying is that more businesses are considering “Outsourcing” by hiring agencies or freelancers.
Yes, more people are running businesses and not everyone will have the budget and time to maintain a good social media presence. But that doesn’t mean they won’t. And that’s when they go to agencies and freelancers to outsource social media works.
Outsourcing basically means to get things done that you don’t know how to do or that you don’t want to work on.
I’ve worked with a few business owners and marketing agencies and I’ve design social media content for them. So why did they hire me? That’s because they don’t know how to design. Some of the clients know how to design but they don’t want to put their time into designing content, because they have a business to run.
Now you must be thinking, why hire a designer instead of social media manager? Why not hire an agency? Of course, you can. It all depends on how you are thinking to run your business and it’s basically a Time vs Money vs Skill thing. Read on. You’ll get a clear idea by the end of this article.
Designing for social media isn’t easy. But we have tools like Canva, Desygner, Crello, and other free and easy-to-use design tools. With these tools, anyone can design, although there are some disadvantages with these tools.
But are these tools enough to achieve the type of aesthetic that you have in your mind? If yes, then not hiring a designer will save some money, but not the time. If you don’t want to design or don’t know how to design then hire one, you’ll abviously save time in this case. That’s the best possible simple answer I could give on when you should hire a designer for your social media.
If you don’t want to put your time on social media at all, then hire a social media manager. She/he will handle all the social media stuff. You can even find social media agencies that can meet all your management needs.
But if you want to manage (because you want to save some money and you already know a bit about social media) and don’t want to design, then hire a designer. It’s that simple.
Almost all small businesses and startups are after freelancers. Because,
1. Low Cost
Low cost doesn’t mean they are cheap. It means the costs will be low when compared to an in-house designer or an agency. Remember that when hiring an agency you are paying for the agency to make money on top of their employees. And it’s not a good idea to hire someone in-house and pay him/her per hour (we’ll talk more about this in the “How” section).
2. Replacable
No matter how talented a designer is, what if the one you have hired doesn’t deliver the designs on time or as per your content calendar. Well, in the case of a freelancer you can replace him/her easily. Hiring a freelancer will avoid the burden of “you paying for more than what you really need”. You’ll have the freedom to keep him or fire him immediately. Freelance contracts are not that complicated (Trust me on this. I am a freelancer).
3. Quality
Do you know? 40% of full-time freelancers are more educated than the average US worker (Source: Truelist.co). But the thing is getting work isn’t easy for freelancers. So without good knowledge and skills, it’s hard to survive.
And, Referrals and word of mouth are how 91% of freelancers find jobs. And that’s the main reason why they value their work so much. They have to do the work and do it well to really get more clients(in other words to really get paid in the long term). So, the are more chances that the quality of the work will match your expectations.
Yes, there are certian rules and regulations that can help you find the best freealncer for your social media.
The worst thing you can do while hiring a designer for your social media is to hire on an hourly based.
You never know how much time it takes for a freelance designer to design one single post. It depends on the expertise, complexity of graphics, etc.
So, hire on a project-based. Tell them that you’ll pay a particular amount of money for a particular number of designs, with conditions.
What conditions?
You might not get the same design that you have expected from a designer that you have hired in the first go. So inform the designer before that you want him to make changes when needed. And if it’s not any minor change ask them how much they charge for major design changes. And how long does it take him to deliver the work? And how you are gonna communicate with him(Whatsapp, Email, etc.)?
Just have a call with the freelancer and ask all the questions clearly. And then decide. Ok, but how do i find one in the first place?
There are platforms like Freelancer.com, Up Work, Fiverr, etc. But I am not a big fan of these sites because it’s really hard to find the right ones there. If you want to find designers solely based on the platforms, try Dribbble and Behance.
The best way to find a freelance designer is to ask your friends, colleagues, or any other professional contacts. Post on Linkedin that you need a freelancer designer and ask your Linkedin fam to suggest one if possible. You’ll get a lot of applications, I bet.
Now, it’s up to you to decide whom you should hire. Judge their portfolios and choose the perfect fit for your social media.
Before thinking of hiring one, just think: “What is it that I can save to grow my business? Time or Money?” This framework will help you in deciding whether to hire a designer or not. If yes, you already know how to hire the best possible one for your social media. Thanks for reading.
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