Top 6 Things to Consider Before Hiring a Social Media Manager

Social media experts are in high demand right now as brands scramble to find innovative ways to reach customers. Small-business owners will often try to handle their own social media activities, putting off hiring an expert until they have the client base in place to justify paying someone to handle their social media marketing for them.

But from the beginning, business owners can benefit from having a skilled social media manager to help out. Whether a business outsources it to an expert who charges hourly or brings a full-time worker on to handle all social media efforts, it’s important to choose the right person for the job. Here are a few things to consider before you start your search for the perfect social media manager.

1. Match Your Brand Voice

Experts have long stressed the importance of establishing and maintaining a brand voice in all marketing efforts. One of the biggest benefits of hiring a social media manager is consistency. You’ll have one person handling all of your online posts and replies, which ensures each post can have the same personality.
It’s important to find someone whose writing style matches the tone your brand wants to set, whether that tone is casual and fun or professional and businesslike.

2. Don’t Rule Out Younger Candidates

Experience often wins when businesses sort through applicants. However, when you’re looking at social media expertise, you likely won’t find anyone with more than a few years of experience. This is one area where someone with years of experience may not have an edge over someone who is only a few months out of college.
Trends are constantly changing and someone who is relatively new to the field could bring a fresh perspective that a more seasoned pro wouldn’t have. However, avoid handing over your accounts to an intern to manage, since they’re still developing their skills.

3. Look for Strategy

A talented social media manager knows the importance of creating and following a social media strategy. Look for someone who will work with you to craft a plan for your daily, weekly, and monthly social media posts and follow that plan without your constant guidance.
Most importantly, look for a manager who will match the strategy to your own unique customer base. Ask candidates what tools they’ll use to strategize and set up expectations as to how you’ll expect to be included in the process, if at all.

4. Review Their Social Media Accounts

Every candidate for a social media-related position should have an impressive social media presence. Review each candidate’s social media presence and note the tone, as well as the interactions with others.
Sometimes pre-existing connections can help as you attempt to branch out into new directions with your marketing efforts. If the candidate is currently serving in a social media capacity for another employer, review the work that brand is doing online for signs that candidate will be the right fit.

5. Don’t Forget Professionalism

Your social media manager will represent your brand in a very public way. This makes it essential that you choose someone you can trust to always handle situations as professionally as possible. This includes those rare instances when an online troll tries to get attention by posting negative comments about your brand.
Your social media manager should be able to handle any situation gracefully, demonstrating the professionalism you want your customers to always see from your brand.

6. Check for Related Skills

Planning and updating your social media accounts will be only part of your manager’s duties. Whether you choose to monitor your social media analytics or your social media manager will handle that, it’s important that the person you choose be able to take action on those results.
Over time, the manager should use the provided data to make decisions about everything from the best time to deploy a new announcement to whether posts with images or videos get more views from your customers. This information will not only help your social media manager do a better job, but it will help you learn more about your customers.
If you’ve decided it’s time to hire a social media manager, it’s important to know what to expect before you start your search. With the right credentials in mind, you’ll be poised to hire the best person to represent your brand as you take your business to the next level.

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