Direct Answer
If your business earns under $500K per year and your primary need is consistent posting, use an AI tool ($99 per month). If you earn over $500K and need active community management, influencer outreach, or ad campaign management, hire a part-time social media manager ($300-$800 per month).
Why This Matters
The decision framework is simpler than most people make it. Your social media needs fall into two buckets: production (creating and publishing posts) and interaction (responding to comments, managing DMs, handling PR situations). If your bottleneck is production, an AI tool solves it at a fraction of the cost of a human hire. If your bottleneck is interaction, you need a person. Most small businesses under 1,000 followers have a production bottleneck, not an interaction bottleneck. They don't need someone managing a community that doesn't exist yet. They need posts going out consistently so a community can form.
Real-World Example
A solo mortgage broker spent 3 months interviewing freelance social media managers. He wanted someone who understood financial services, could write compliance-friendly content, and charged under $500 per month. He found nobody who fit all three criteria. He tried Glow Social instead, generated 12 mortgage-specific posts per month covering rate updates, first-time buyer tips, and refinancing education, and spent 10 minutes per month reviewing them. Problem solved in 10 minutes instead of 3 months.
What Most People Get Wrong
"Doing it myself" is not actually the alternative to hiring. The real alternative to hiring is doing nothing, because "I'll do it myself" almost always means "I'll do it for 2 weeks, get busy, and stop." If you're honest about your bandwidth, the choice is between paying for help (human or AI) or having an inactive social media presence.
Related reading:
- How to Hire a Social Media Manager
- Glow Social vs. Freelance Social Media Manager
- How Much Should Social Media Management Cost?
- Can AI Replace a Social Media Manager?
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