Waddup y’all! How about the USA Men’s and Women’s Hockey teams taking home gold in the winter olympics yesterday and Alysa Liu becoming the talk of the entire olympics with her gold in figure skating!

The olympics get me pumped, but that’s not what I’m here to talk about. Let’s get into it.

I just got back from Austin filming content with a client. They're in the 0→1 phase, thinking about content the right way, especially founder-led content. We need more budget to test and scale, but watching the founder light up on (and off) camera reminded me why I do this.

Content isn't just strategy on a whiteboard. It's showing someone how to be on film. How to tell their story. How to build trust through a camera lens.

AI can't teach that. A typical brand marketer can't sit there with you and show you how to film.

You need someone who's actually done it.

Which brings me to what I've been seeing a lot lately. And it's breaking teams.

The pattern that keeps showing up

Founders hire one person to "do content."

Usually a social media manager.

Then they ask that person to:

• Film and edit content across Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, X

• Manage community and respond to comments on all platforms

• Handle influencer outreach and campaigns

• Pull reports and analytics

• Sometimes even manage the affiliate program

One person. All of that.

And then founders wonder why the content starts slipping.

Why engagement drops.

Why the person they hired seems checked out or overwhelmed.

Here's what actually happens.

The worst case I've seen

A founder hired a social media manager a while back.

Great hire on paper. Experienced. Creative. Solid portfolio.

But the role kept expanding.

First it was four social channels. Daily posting. Community management across all of them.

Then it was influencer campaigns. Six figures per quarter. Managing 10-15 creators at a time.

Then it was the affiliate program. Over 100 affiliates.

One person. All of that.

And for a while, it worked. Or at least it looked like it worked.

Until it didn't.

One day, the social media manager went completely rogue.

Three days. No contact. Didn't respond to Slack. Didn't answer calls. Just… gone.

When we finally got in touch with them, here's what we found out:

They had been in bed for two straight days. Completely burnt out. Couldn't even pick up their phone.

Day three, they spent looking for a new job because they couldn't imagine going back.

The founder had no idea it was that bad.

But looking back, the signs were everywhere.

The content had started to slip. Engagement was down. Posts felt off.

Not because the person sucked at their job.

Because they were exhausted working 24/7 and couldn't give anything their full attention.

What actually needed to happen

I told the founder three things:

1. Apologize for overworking this person

2. Tell them what you're going to do to fix it (hire support or delegate tasks)

3. Pay for a vacation

Then we restructured the whole thing.

We brought in:

• A video editor to take editing off their plate

• An agency to handle influencer campaigns

• Split the affiliate program between me (once I came on as head of content) and the SMM

The person stayed. The content improved. The team didn't break.

But it almost did.

Why one person can't do it all

Here's my go-to explanation when founders push back on this.

If you hire a jack of all trades, they'll be a master of none.

And you can't afford a master of none.

Think about it like football.

If you get Tom Brady on your team but the rest of the team sucks, Tom can't throw the ball, catch the ball, play defense, and call plays for the entire game.

He's great at one thing. But he needs a team around him.

Content is the same way.

A social media manager is great at content creation and community.

A paid ads manager is great at creative testing and performance.

An influencer manager is great at relationships and campaign execution.

When you ask one person to do all three, you're not just stretching them thin.

You're setting them up to fail.

And you're setting your content up to underperform.

What a good content team actually looks like

This depends on where you are.

Early stage (bootstrapped or pre-seed):

Bare minimum: one creative + one executor.

That could be:

• Social media manager + paid ads manager

• Or if you're really strapped, just one person who focuses on ONE channel really well

If you can only afford one person, don't try to be everywhere.

Be really good at one thing. Meta. TikTok. Amazon. Whatever drives revenue.

Focus. Then expand when you can afford it.

Growth stage ($5M+ revenue):

This is where you need structure:

• Head of content (leads strategy across paid and organic)

• Social media manager (owns organic calendar and execution)

• Paid media buyer (buys and executes on paid ads)

• Head of content focuses on optimizing creative for performance

If you have budget, add an influencer manager to handle outreach and campaigns.

But the key is: everyone has a clear lane.

No one is doing everything.

The thing most marketers get wrong

A lot of traditional marketers think content creators are just focused on going viral.

That we can't be strategic.

That we're good for organic reach but not actual business outcomes.

Here's the reality.

Content creators who have significant followings and have gone viral multiple times didn't just get lucky.

They're strategic about their content.

They're strategic about community engagement.

They're strategic about their offers and monetization.

That's why I didn't become a full-time creator.

I built Social Playbook instead.

Because I can take that creator mindset, combine it with corporate marketing strategy, and actually move the needle for businesses.

I've been proving that to clients day in and day out.

AI can't teach you how to be on camera.

A typical brand marketer can't sit there with you and show you how to film founder-led content.

You need someone who's done both.

What to do if you're already in this situation

If you hired one person and you're asking them to do everything, here's what you need to do:

1. Audit their actual workload

List out everything they're responsible for. Everything.

Then ask yourself: could I do all of that in a 40-hour week?

If the answer is no, you're overloading them.

2. Identify what can be delegated or deprioritized

What's actually driving revenue?

What's just busy work?

What could be outsourced to an editor, an agency, or a contractor?

Cut or delegate the rest.

3. Give them a clear lane

Let them focus on one thing they're great at.

If they're a great organic content creator, let them own that.

If they're a great media buyer, let them own paid.

Don't ask them to be both.

4. Hire support when you can

Even if it's just a part-time editor or a contractor for influencer outreach.

One additional person can cut the workload in half.

And it prevents burnout before it breaks your team.

The bigger point

Content is not a one-person job at scale.

It's a system.

And systems need specialized roles, not generalists doing everything poorly.

If you invest in content, invest in the structure to support it.

Otherwise, you're just burning people out and wondering why the content isn't working.

If this resonated, hit reply. Tell me what your current content team looks like and where you're feeling the most strain.

See you next week.

Chase Coleman

Founder of Social Playbook

Notes on content, creators, performance, and building Social Playbook.