It has been said that a business that is not online is set up for failure. Allow us to put it this way, a business without a social media presence is set up for failure. Why exactly is it important to hire a social media manager?
Research shows that over 3 billion social media users are currently in the world, and this figure keeps increasing astronomically every day.
It isn’t easy to meet anyone, whether male or female, young or old, who does not know various social media platforms.
Such is the popularity of social media among people of different gender and age group.
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Who is a Social Media Manager?
A social media manager is someone who is tasked with the responsibility of creating and managing a company’s social media channels/platforms.
The duties of a social media manager are not limited to creating content for social media, though.
He/she is also responsible for monitoring, moderating, and responding to comments made by visitors and customers on each social media platform.
Additionally, a social media manager will also develop strategies to collaborate with other brands on social media when necessary.
What a Social Media Manager can do for your Business
If you are still contemplating the need to hire a social media manager, no doubt the following duties of a social media manager will convince you.
We have put in great effort to list out all the possible functions a social media manager can perform as a part of your team towards business growth.
Here are some of them.
Develop a Social Media Strategy
It is one thing to be present on social media; it’s different to know why you are there.
It is important to understand the goal of your social media presence and what you intend to use the platforms for.
Truth be told, that there are tens of social media platforms available.
This doesn’t necessarily mean you have to be on all of them.
You need to decide which of the social media platforms are more relevant to your goals and vision.
A social media manager will help you develop the strategy to achieve these.
Develop a Budget for your Social Media Management
Content is more important than spending while managing social media.
The importance of spending a few bucks here and there cannot be minimized.
A social media manager will help ascertain how much you will need to implement the strategies.
He/She will also advise on what sacrifices you have to make to cater to this need and the projected return on investment.
Create a plan for Social Media Activities
Usually, companies that have recorded great success in social media marketing work with a social media calendar.
A social media manager will develop an elaborate plan on what activities will go on for each social media platform daily.
He will make use of the tools available to get a calendar that yields results.
Recruit a Social Media Marketing Team for the Organization
Under the directive of the general manager, a social media manager is responsible for recruiting a team for social media marketing.
He will decide which areas of social media management need to be catered for and how many people you will need, and what form the recruitment will take.
Interact with Social Media Audience
Aside from posting new content on social media, it is also the duty of a social media manager to respond to comments on the page(s).
Also, when your social media followers post important materials and content, the social media manager sees to it that they are shared.
He/she also does the same thing for influencers’ posts.
Define Important Social Media KPIs
Creating a social media strategy and managing content is just not enough.
You have to measure the results of the effort and know if the resources being expended are worth it.
What better way is there to do this than having clearly defined Key Performance Indicators (KPIs).
A social media manager will develop these KPIs.
Also, he/she will monitor the social media campaigns to see if they meet up.
Monitor, Monitor, and Monitor
We couldn’t stress it enough.
Your social media manager will help you monitor everything that is happening on social media.
These include the recent trends on social media, so you know if it’s something you can incorporate into your business.
Also, he will monitor the activities of your main competitors on each social media platform.
This will give you an insight into their strengths and weaknesses and know where the opportunities to strike lie.
He/She will also keep an eye on related topics and conversations going on, so you can contribute and create brand awareness.
Additionally, the Social Media Manager will also need to monitor SEO and make recommendations on optimizing content better.
Collaborate with Other Marketing Departments Towards Driving Sales
Certainly, social media marketing is not your only marketing strategy and should not be.
A social media manager will work together with other teams, especially email marketing, content writing/blogging, digital marketing, and even project development.
Why Hire A Social Media Manager? – Benefits of Hiring a Social Media Manager
We get it. You have personal Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts.
But does that qualify you to be a social media manager? Not really.
In fact, certain benefits come from hiring a social media manager for your business instead of opting to do it yourself.
Let’s look at some of the benefits of hiring a social media manager
You have a Professional Getting Things Done
Regardless of how tempting it might be to handle social media management yourself or have someone on your team do it, it’s better to get a professional.
That way, you are assured of getting quality content out regularly, and the manager also creates a strategy that considers your business needs.
A seasoned social media manager knows just what content you need, what time to post, the duration for posting, and what works best.
Better Use of your Time
Let’s face it. Social media management is time-consuming.
Most especially if you want to dish out quality content regularly, which should be your target, you need to invest a lot of time.
Now ask yourself as a business owner: “Do you have that luxury of time to use for this?”
The time you spend managing your social media channels is best spent on other aspects of your business.
Just imagine how much productivity will come to your business when you can take your hands off social media and focus on other important activities.
Consistency in Content Creation/Posts
Maybe you’ve been handling your social media management yourself before now.
How has the experience been?
To be specific, how many times a week do you get to post on your social media handles?
If the posting frequency has been epileptic, to say the least, then you would agree it is time to get a social media manager.
With a social media manager, you are certain of getting posts on your social media handles consistently.
It goes without saying that consistency in posting is essential if you want to grow your traffic and stay relevant.
Improved Customer Engagement
Another integral process towards the growth and success of your social media plans is monitoring customer engagement.
Do you remember how many times you’ve had to unwittingly leave a customer or prospective customer’s message unreplied for a long time?
While that wasn’t your intention, you probably forgot or were busy with other things, and the visitor felt neglected.
Included in the duties of a social media manager, as we noted above, are monitoring and engagement.
He/She has the time for this and is constantly checking to see who has dropped a like, comment, DM, or mention, and is keen to reply asap.
This will ensure your customer engagement is improved, and customers trust you more, which is great for your brand.
An Opportunity to Get New Customers
One of the big goals of every business owner is to make more customers.
The reason for this is clear, as it also means you are getting more patronage and making more profits.
When you saddle a Social Media Manager responsible for handling your social media platforms, you are setting them up for growth and customer acquisition.
Help in Communicating Vacancy Announcements
Your social media manager would also liaise with the recruitment and HR manager during recruitment processes.
He/She will ensure the advert for vacancy announcement is prepared and shared on all social media platforms and marketed.
This will be a welcomed addition to LinkedIn and other job posting platforms, and with the right caption and targeting, it will yield results.
The Most Important Skills/Attributes of the Best Social Media Managers
Now you are coming to the hiring process for a social media manager proper, and to begin this, it is important to consider what skills to look for when considering who to hire.
Some of these skills are more important than others, but all of them are essential if you will get the best person for the job.
Take a look at some of them.
Graphics Design
Of course, this is not a blog post on how to hire a graphics designer.
However, graphics design skills are essential in your next social media manager.
Research has shown that most social media users prefer posts with images and interact with them more than text-only.
Visual content is becoming the new trend, and social media managers need to be aware and equipped for this.
Thankfully, there are many online design tools for those without experience in using expensive software, which can easily be learned.
Your social media manager should know about these.
Video Editing
Same as for images, videos are also types of content that social media users look forward to seeing more in the future.
As a business owner yourself, how many times have you had to stop scrolling on your social media newsfeed because you saw a video that got your attention?
If you feel enticed by this, you can be sure that the other target users you are targetting are no different.
Therefore, this is another skill that a social media manager should possess.
Good Writing Skills
Another important skill that a social media manager should possess is great writing skills.
While it is true that images and videos are becoming the new order of the day, the importance of good writing skills cannot be overlooked.
This will include writing introductions that are compelling, engaging and help keep the audience glued to your content.
Also, he/she needs to be conversant with how to arrange and structure the texts online, so it’s easy to read for people.
Having a social media manager who is good at writing also means they are well suited for your other digital marketing departments.
Creativity
Day after day, people consume information online changes, and so do their tastes and choices.
Because of this, businesses have to notice the trend and have the needed creativity to adjust.
A good social media manager isn’t resistant to change.
He/She needs to be very creative, and be willing to experiment, always trying to go beyond bounds and limits to get things done.
A Very Good Speaker
One other feature that is fast becoming commonplace on social media today is live videos.
You would see this on Instagram and Facebook especially.
What live videos do for you is that it gives you opportunities for more engagement with your audience.
Also, the live video will afford you the platform to reach more people, as it will be higher up on the news feed.
A good social media manager must possess the quality of speaking well and the boldness to appear before a large audience and attend to them.
Business Savvy
A great social media manager does not just pursue likes, follows, and comments.
He/she understands that while those things are important for engagement, they do not necessarily translate into growth or profit.
Therefore, you need someone who is business savvy enough to understand how social media fits into the overall goal of the business.
In that way, he/she adds value, not just to social media but to the company as a whole.
Resilience
Growth on social media sometimes might be slow and ponderous.
You might be doing everything right, or so you thought, and things are just not going as planned.
Additionally, there will be many criticisms and bants in comments as there will be praises.
A social media manager has to be resilient to get over the difficult situation and protect the image of the brand while responding to ugly comments.
Leadership Skills
The last but in no way the least skill a social media manager should possess is leadership skills.
Since he will most likely be working with a team, he needs to understand how to communicate clearly and get the team motivated and engaged.
After all, a social media manager position is a leadership position, which should be seen in the person.
Where to Find the Best Social Media Manager to Hire
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Trust us, every young adult or even teenager out there with a mobile phone and following social media thinks they have what it takes to be a social media manager.
Well, maybe they do.
However, considering all the factors we’ve considered above, it takes effort to get the right ones with the right skills and expertise.
Here are some places to check when looking to hire a social media manager.
One tested and trusted way to get a social media manager is by asking for recommendations.
No doubt, you must have seen some brands doing great with their social media handles.
Probably you like their category of content, rate of engagement, or consistency of posts.
It is not out of place to ask them who is responsible for their social media management.
Another great place you can source for the best social media managers is on social media groups.
Yes, you can join the groups in your business industry on social media, be it Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn.
You can connect with fellow entrepreneurs in such groups and find out who they are using for their social media management.
Additionally, you can use LinkedIn to post job adverts or to source for social media managers.
It has proven to be a great choice for that purpose.
Other Options
Another option you can explore for getting the best social media manager onboard is using the job boards.
Recruiters have been using these job boards for many years and it’s still very effective.
Many platforms are available for hiring social media managers on a freelance basis.
Some of them are:
- Upwork
- Freelancer
- People Per Hour
- Fiverr
- Guru
- Hubstaff Talent
- Simply Hired e.t.c.
While these platforms will offer you many options for social media managers, picking the right ones might be difficult.
However, when combined with other hiring guidelines, you can get the best.
Steps or Procedures to Follow on How to Hire a Social Media Manager
By now, you have all the background information you need on hiring a social media manager that is just right for your brand.
Now, let’s talk about the hiring process itself.
What steps or procedures should you follow to get the best social media manager for your business?
Outline your Content Goals
This is the first step you need to take towards hiring your social media manager.
As the business owner, you must be clear on what goals you want to achieve using content and social media as a tool.
Only when you are very clear about the end goal of content for your business can you know who to target to handle this responsibility.
Consider Whether to Hire a Full-Time Manager or Freelancer
When it comes to social media management, there are two options: getting someone on a freelance or bringing him/her in-house.
Both options have their advantages and demerits.
You need to consider your business structure and the needs of your business to decide which one is best for you.
Your decision on this matter will influence the next stage of the recruitment process.
Be Clear on the Job Role and Description
Once you’ve decided which mode of operation you want your social media manager to take on, the next thing is to set the job role and description.
It is good to be clear on whether the social media manager is coming in to do everything related to social media or have a team to work with.
Also, clearly state the job roles when posting your job vacancy announcement on job boards.
Typical social media manager job description will look like this:
- Define social media strategy
- Develop KPIs to measure social media marketing success
- Implement the strategy you developed
- Use analytics tools to make reports on the progress made for social media activities
- Liaise with other marketing departments to reach marketing goals, e.t.c.
Source for Fitting Candidates for the Role
As earlier mentioned, you can start with your close community, asking for recommendations and referrals.
Also, you can make good use of job boards and vacancy announcement websites to get the word out there for your vacant role.
It is not out of place to combine two or more of these platforms to get just the right candidates to apply.
Assess their Suitability for the Role
How exactly do you assess an applicant’s suitability for a social media management position for the role?
There are various ways of doing this.
First, you can explore their personal social media profiles, where they have made it publicly available.
Usually, people are always happy to talk about and do things that they are passionate about.
A prospectively good social media manager is most likely active on their own personal social media platforms.
It is also important that they stay consistent, and their social profile is quite impressive.
Also, as part of the application process, you can ask them to prepare a social media strategy for your business.
Alternatively, you can also request they make a post suited for your social media audience and see what they come up with.
All these assessments give you an insight into their capability for the role.
Arrange for an Interview
By now, you would have been able to greatly cut down on applicants and have come down to the best 2 or 3.
The next thing will be to arrange an interview session.
This stage aims to get to hear from the horse’s mouth (so to speak) why they are best suited for the role.
Examples of questions you can ask during the interview are:
- What is your general knowledge about social media management?
- What tools and resources have you used in the past to achieve success in social media management?
- In your opinion, what do you think are relevant KPIs to measure return on investment on social media?
- How would you deal with criticism and bad comments about a post or the brand?
- What is your knowledge about SEO, and how does it relate to social media?
- Can you provide contact information or letters of recommendation from other clients you’ve worked for in this capacity in the past?
- Make a pitch on what strategy you would put in place to improve our social media engagement.
In addition to all these, you can give them a tough scenario and ask them how they will handle it.
This will give you much-needed insight into their suitability for the job.
Make your Offer
Once you get the best-suited candidate for the social media manager position, it’s time to make your offer.
Note that what you offer will depend largely on whether the person is working in-house or on a freelance and the budget you have.
Usually, it is good to make a competitive offer, especially when you clearly see what the candidate has to offer.
However, the scenario plays out, make sure you reach a compromise that benefits both parties.
That way, you do not get to this stage of recruitment only to back out at the last minute, which is not good for business.
See also How to Hire a Blogger.
Conclusion on How to Hire a Social Media Manager
Are you okay with the current sales report of your company? Or do you feel things can get better?
Don’t be surprised. Getting a social media manager might just be the difference between failure and success for your business.
No doubt, if you review all the guidelines and suggestions given on how to hire a social media manager, you will be setting up your brand for immense success.
Follow this link to Hire a social media manager on Fiverr today
