Your social media manager left: what to do next

Key takeaways

When your social media manager leaves, secure the accounts first, then protect consistency with scheduled and bank posts, then decide whether to rehire, outsource or restructure. The most common damage is lost access and a gap of several months while the business decides. Both are avoidable with a short plan.

• Day 1: confirm business-owned admin access on every account.
• Week 1: schedule 4 weeks of posts from the content bank and recent work.
• Week 1: name a temporary owner for replies.
• Within 4 weeks: decide rehire, outsource or hybrid.
• Next time: keep 2 admins and a written SOP from day one.

What should you do first?

Secure the accounts before anything else. Confirm that at least two current staff have admin access to every social media account and the business manager tools, that recovery emails and phone numbers belong to the business, and that the leaver's access is removed on their last day. The NCSC recommends two-step verification on business accounts.

• Why consistency matters more than going viral on social media

How do you keep posting consistent during the gap?

• Schedule any posts already prepared.
• Use the content bank for the first few weeks.
• Create simple posts from recent jobs, reviews and team news.
• Name one person to check replies daily.
• Lower the cadence temporarily rather than stopping.

• Build a social media content bank for quiet weeks

What should the handover include?

• Admin access and ownership details for every account and tool.
• The content calendar, templates and brand assets.
• Any scheduled posts, running ads and pending messages.
• Current series and what performed well.
• Contacts at partners, freelancers or agencies.

• A social media SOP that keeps posting consistent

Should you rehire, outsource or restructure?

Rehire if social media needs daily in-house knowledge and you can afford a suitable level of hire. UK social media manager salaries typically run £32,000–£42,000 at mid level. Outsource if production was the main job and continuity matters more than presence in the office. A hybrid, with an internal owner for replies and approvals and an external partner for production, suits many SMEs.

• Should you outsource social media to stay consistent?
• What a social media manager costs in the UK

What if you cannot access the accounts?

Use the platform's official business recovery routes, which usually require proof of business ownership. Ask the former employee to transfer access; most will. Avoid creating new accounts unless recovery is impossible, because you lose followers, reviews and history.

What does this look like in practice?

A UK hotel's marketing assistant left with little notice, and the Instagram account was registered to her personal email. Recovery took three weeks. During that time the hotel posted on Facebook only and used its content bank. Afterwards it moved all accounts to business emails, added a second admin and wrote an SOP, and it now uses a hybrid model with external production.

• See client work

What does a 30-day recovery plan look like?

• Days 1 to 2: secure access, remove the leaver, check business manager tools.
• Days 3 to 7: schedule four weeks of posts from the bank and recent work.
• Days 3 to 7: name a temporary owner for replies.
• Days 8 to 21: collect the calendar, templates and results; write a short SOP.
• Days 22 to 30: decide rehire, outsource or hybrid, and brief the chosen option.

• Social media burnout: stay consistent without it

What does each option cost?

A mid-level UK social media manager typically earns £32,000–£42,000, plus roughly 20–30% for National Insurance, pension, equipment and software. Freelancers charge £25–£60 an hour or £400–£1,200 a month part-time. Managed agency support for most UK SMEs costs £950–£2,500 a month. Compare against how many hours the role actually needs.

• The business case for consistent social media

Next step

Check today that at least two current staff have admin access to every account, using business-owned email addresses. It is the single most important protection.