This is one of the biggest questions dealerships are asking right now.
Should you manage social media yourself? Should you hire an agency? Or should you do a little of both?
Here’s my answer: There is no wrong choice. There is a wrong fit.
The best model is the one that gives your dealership a consistent strategy, the right expertise, and someone accountable for getting the work done.
That’s it.
In-House Social Media: You Own It
Managing social media in-house gives you something extremely valuable: you’re already there.
Your team sees the customer deliveries. They see the new inventory. They hear the funny conversations on the showroom floor. They know which salesperson is naturally great on camera, which service advisor customers love, and which technician can explain a repair better than anyone else.
That matters because the best dealership content isn’t sitting in a stock photo library. It’s happening inside your dealership every day.
An in-house social media program can capture those moments quickly and authentically. Your team knows the people, the market, and the culture. They can create content that actually feels like your dealership.
But here’s the part dealerships need to understand: in-house does not mean “just post something.”
Someone has to own the strategy. Someone has to know what content the dealership needs. Someone has to understand Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok. Someone has to get sales and service involved. Someone has to look at the results and make adjustments.
If you have that structure in place, in-house can be extremely powerful.
Social Media DIY Is Not a Bad Thing
I LOVE DIY social media!!
Why? Because it gets people moving.
You don’t need a production company to make a good video. You need a phone, something worth saying, and the willingness to hit record.
A salesperson can walk around a vehicle and answer a question. A service advisor can explain why brake pads wear out. A technician can show customers what they’re seeing during an inspection. A manager can introduce a new employee.
That’s social selling. It doesn’t have to be complicated.
The problem isn’t DIY. The problem is staying DIY forever without building a strategy around it.
As your dealership gets more serious about social media, you may need training, systems, accountability, or additional expertise. Which obviously that’s what we do best!!
That’s not failure.
That’s growth.
When Outsourcing Makes Sense
There are dealerships that simply want an experienced automotive partner handling their social media. That’s where outsourcing makes sense.
And I want to be very clear about something: you don’t need a general marketing agency. You need someone who understands the car business.
Automotive social media isn’t the same as social media for a restaurant or a clothing brand.
We have inventory. We have salespeople. We have service advisors. We have technicians. We have OEMs. We have customer retention. We have fixed operations. We have local markets. We have customers making some of the biggest purchases of their lives.
The strategy needs to reflect that.
A good automotive agency should understand how social media supports the entire dealership, not just how to make a Reel.
Don’t Buy Posts. Buy Strategy.
This is where I tell dealers to ask better questions.
Don’t ask an agency, “How many posts do we get?”
Ask, “What is the strategy?”
What are you trying to accomplish? Who are you trying to reach? What should your dealership be known for? Which employees should be visible? How are you incorporating service? How are you using video? How are you measuring performance? What happens when something isn’t working?
That’s what you’re paying for.
Not posts. Strategy. Experience. Execution. Accountability.
If an agency can’t explain the strategy behind the content, keep asking questions.
Your People Still Have to Be Involved
Here’s where some dealerships get outsourcing wrong.
They hand over the social media accounts and expect the agency to magically create everything.
That’s not how great dealership social media works.
Your agency doesn’t know your people better than you do. They don’t know your customers better than you do. They don’t know your community better than you do.
You have the stories.
The partner should help you turn those stories into a strategy that gets attention.
Your salesperson should still be on camera. Your service advisor should still be educating customers. Your technicians should still be showing what they know. Your managers should still be visible.
That’s how you keep the dealership authentic.
The Hybrid Model Can Be a Home Run
And then there’s the option I see working extremely well: do both.
Keep social media capabilities inside the dealership and bring in outside expertise when you need it.
Maybe you need training. Maybe you need a strategy. Maybe you need someone to look at your content and tell you what’s missing. Maybe you need help with paid social. Maybe you need accountability.
You don’t have to hand over everything to get outside expertise. And you don’t have to figure everything out yourself just because you want to keep social media in-house.
Use the resources that make your dealership better.
So Which One Should You Choose?
Here’s my simple test.
Choose in-house if you have someone who can truly own social media, you have access to your sales and service teams, your team has the time to create consistently, you’re willing to invest in training, and someone is responsible for reviewing performance.
Choose outsourcing if you want an experienced automotive partner, need strategy and execution, want someone else managing the day-to-day program, want access to specialized automotive social media expertise, and want accountability outside of the dealership.
Choose a hybrid approach if you have people inside the dealership who want to participate, want to keep your content close to the store, and also want outside strategy, training, or support.
And if you’re just getting started?
Start.
Don’t wait for the perfect setup.
Final Thought
I don’t care whether you do social media in-house or outsource it.
I care that you actually do it well.
Because social media is not going away. Your customers are there. Your competitors are there. Your employees are there. Your community is there.
The question is whether your dealership is going to show up strategically or just show up when someone remembers to post.
At Retail Resilient, we built our services around both sides of this equation.
Want to build the capability inside your dealership? Our In-House Services are designed to train and support dealerships that want to manage social media internally.
Want to have an automotive social media team do it for you? Our Outsource Services provide the strategy and execution for dealerships that want to outsource.
You don’t need to follow somebody else’s model. Build the one that works for your dealership.
Key Takeaways
- In-house works when you have the right people, time, training, and accountability.
- DIY is a great way to start. You don’t need expensive equipment or a production crew.
- Outsourcing brings expertise and execution without requiring you to build everything internally.
- Hybrid can be powerful. Keep your people involved while bringing in outside strategy and support.
- Don’t buy posts. Buy strategy. Ask what the partner is actually going to accomplish for your dealership.
- Keep your people at the center. Your agency should amplify your dealership, not replace its personality.
- The best model is the one you can execute consistently.
