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It is no secret that social media can help build your brand, connect with your customers, drive more traffic to your website and increase sales. The hard part is managing it well.
Consistency and recency have a highly positive effect on many social media algorithms. But consistency is hard. It requires time. A lot of time researching trends, creating unique content, interacting with your followers, and analysing your efforts. Not to mention, the internet
is a fast-paced place changing constantly.
There are many reasons to consider hiring a social media manager: if your business’ workflow is interrupted by the demands of your
online presence, you want to reach a wider customer base, or you want to showcase your brand in a professional and interactive way.
Follow these three steps to find the best social media manager for your business.
1. Determine your most immediate needs
Let’s keep this simple. Use this list of questions to figure out all the practical aspects of your business’ ideal candidate:
- Do you need someone full-time, part-time, or would it make the most sense to go with a freelance social media manager?
- Can you work with specialized individuals, or do you require a full-service social media agency?
- Should they be local and in-office, or can the position be handled remotely?
- Which social media platforms will they be responsible for?
- What style of campaigns will your manager be overseeing? These could be organic strategies, paid advertising, a combination of both, and promoting IRL campaigns.
- Will this role in your company require additional knowledge and other responsibilities that are beyond online marketing?
- Will you need someone to take photos for you or can you do this in-house?
- What are your objectives and goals for your social media presence?
Keep in mind that hiring a social media manager cannot be completely hands-off at outset. You will have to work with them to identify your style, voice, message and content plan. You will have an ongoing relationship with them as your campaigns evolve, so finding a
good fit earlier is better.
2. Qualify your candidate
No two marketing teams are going to require the same kind of person, so defining the essential skills for your ideal social media manager is a key step in the hiring process.
Digital marketing is a fast-paced industry that is constantly updating. Social media managers may invest in ongoing education by completing courses and acquiring certifications. Ask your candidates what sort of training or experience they’ve had that makes them qualified for the position. Specifically, request real world examples of their experience in the form of portfolios and case studies. These kinds of documents demonstrate industries familiar to your candidate, examples of their creative work, and the metrics of their accounts. Testimonials and Google reviews are great insight into the character and integrity of your prospective partner or candidate. Agencies or social media managers may have years of experience but not be familiar with your industry or audience.
3. Where to Find a Social Media Manager
Once you have identified who it is that you are looking for, it is time to start your search. There are a couple ways to do this.
The first is having people find you. You can do this by posting on job boards like LinkedIn or Indeed. These job boards will require you to create a detailed job description and identify other important information about the role.
Option two, find people yourself. The easiest way is to do a keyword search on your browser of choice. Alternatively, there are popular sites like Upwork, Freelancer and The Social Media Manager Market where people advertise their services.
Social media is as necessary as a website these days. Understanding your needs and options will help you achieve your ideal online presence. Maximize the value of your time by delegating responsibilities. That way, you can pass off researching trends, creating unique content, interacting with your followers, and analyses to professionals.