Most businesses seem to want in on the fast paced world known as social media. Many owners run the accounts themselves until work duties prevail or they realize the importance of bringing in a professional to manage the strategy, content and publishing of social. If you find yourself at one of these points and are planning to bring in an outsider, here are five crucial tips.

Be able to explain what you do.

One of my favorite agencies Matchstic recently did a post on the importance of communicating what you do. Especially when hiring a social media manager from outside the company walls, you want to explain, very specifically, what exactly your company does. What do you tell people when you go to parties? Can you explain what your company does in plain English or do you find yourself using jargon and complicated language? If you can’t get people to understand what it is your companies does in 140 characters or less, neither will your social media manager.

Facebook does not replace your website.

I’ve seen it a million times — a small brand uses Facebook as its website because Facebook is free. Your website is your digital home base. You own it. You’re not subject to another company telling you how it looks and works. Facebook is an extremely powerful tool to build relationships with you fans. But when people are looking for information, you need a well-organized website to house everything. Facebook’s timeline just won’t cut it. In today’s digital world, your website is one of your most important assets.

The name of the game is pay-to-play.

Yes, Facebook and Twitter are free for any man, woman or company to use. Your company can make a page, invite people to follow and send messages out for those followers to see. And this is a great way for small companies to start. But eventually you’re going to want your message to reach a larger audience that might not be following your brand page. Facebook and Twitter are for-profit companies; Facebook and Twitter soon-to-be have to report to shareholders. Therefore, all brands on social media are not the same. If you want your posts to be seen and generate greater ROI, you have to be willing to pay to promote your posts and/or tweets. Wisely invested dollars can go a long way toward making your brand’s social media messages rise above competitors.

Give advance notice.

Give your social media manager as much notice as possible when you want something specific posted. Although social media is very focused on real-time interaction, all professionals schedule out most tweets, posts and pictures at least week in advance. This helps ensure that each post has great content that is inline with the social media strategy and allows the manager to focus on furthering engagement with brand followers for the remainder of the week. Since social is “always on”, allowing them to focus on engaging consumer is imperative. I understand that frequently an immediate need arrives, and flexibility is important, but the earlier you give a heads-up, the better.

Find ways make ideas work.

When your social media manager comes to you with an idea, have a “how can we make this happen” mindset. Social media is not an exact science; some things work better than other for different brands. Obviously, there are best practices, but don’t solely rely on what others have done. You have to be willing to experiment to find the right combination of content and frequency for your specific audience. Be bold! And don’t let an idea that flops prevent you from trying something else.