The cost of a social hire
When you hire a person, you are not just paying a salary. You are paying for benefits, onboarding, management, and training. And one person can only post so much. They are limited by the number of hours in a day. Even the best social manager cannot manually post to fifty accounts ten times a day. You are paying for a human, but you are still limited by human speed. A network provides machine speed at a fraction of the cost.
The value of human creativity
That said, a network is not a human. It cannot dream up your next fragrance story. It cannot respond to community comments with your brand's unique wit. Hiring is for strategy and high-level creative. If you have the budget, you want a brilliant, small team focused on the 'why' of your brand. You then use a network as the tool that scales the 'how' of your distribution. It is not an either-or. The best founders use both to gain a competitive advantage.
The TIDE advantage
A managed content network is a set of many brand-owned Instagram pages that post your existing videos many times a day from real iPhones, built and run end to end by a provider such as TIDE, so organic reach grows with the number of pages instead of headcount or ad spend. This is the leverage you need to keep your company lean. You aren't adding to your payroll. You are investing in a system that does the work of ten people for the cost of one.
The decision path for founders
If you are early stage, build your brand voice yourself, then use a network to amplify it. If you have some revenue but want to scale without a massive team, go with a network. Only hire a social lead when you need the person to manage the entire ecosystem and drive your high-level strategy. Don't hire for tasks that a system can do better and faster. Your focus should always be on product, cash, and growth.
Founders should favor managed networks to gain instant, scalable reach without the high overhead and operational complexity of growing a large social team.
See your network before you hire.
Tell us what your fragrance brand already makes and how you get customers today. We'll show you a real network running live and tell you honestly whether it fits. It costs about the same as one marketing hire.
Follow-up questions
Can a network replace a marketing manager?
It can replace the manual labor of a manager, but you still need a human to plan the strategy and create the content.
Which is more reliable?
A network is more consistent but can have technical hiccups. A human is more adaptable but can get burnt out or leave.
What is the best way to start?
Start with a small network. See the results for yourself before you decide to hire more people or double down on the system.