5 Questions to Ask When Hiring a Social Media Manager
The only way to build a successful brand in this day and age is to have a strong online presence. Even more important is an active and engaging social media presence. Fortunately, more small businesses and startups are waking up to this reality and creating Instagram, Facebook and LinkedIn accounts for their businesses. However, the majority of small business owners underestimate the amount of work that goes into managing their social media accounts.
In order to gain popularity on social media, a brand needs to produce relevant and interesting content, engage with followers and post consistently. Running a business is time-consuming and social media management is usually the first thing to fall by the wayside – and also the most critical aspect of your digital marketing strategy and overall success. The best way to prevent this from happening, while also growing a following on social media, is to hire a social media manager or social media management company.
A social media manager is familiar with various social media platforms, can produce creative content, respond to followers and keep your brand’s social media page up-to-date. Hiring a social media manager is a cost-efficient and convenient way to strengthen your online presence. But how do you find the right one?
As social media becomes more integral to brands’ digital marketing strategies, increasingly more companies and individuals are offering social media management services. Just like with any service provider, it’s important to make sure that they are the right fit for you before hiring them. Social media managers need to be tech-savvy, responsible, trustworthy and able to juggle multiple tasks at once. Before you hire a social media manager or management company, you should conduct an interview to make sure that they are not only qualified, but a good fit for your brand.
Here are the most important questions to ask:
What makes you different from your competitors?
There is no shortage of social media managers and social media marketing agencies. However, the overwhelming amount of social media managers available online can make it difficult to decide which one is the best fit for your brand. Social media managers are also no stranger to the fact that they have quite a bit of competition.
In an interview, you should ask them what distinguishes them from their competitors. Not only should good social media managers be able to answer this question eloquently, but they should also be prepared. Look for concrete evidence that makes them stand out from other social media managers, like case studies and a strong track record.
Do you have experience with social media marketing and social media customer service?
Social media managers have a very complex and multifaceted job. Not only do they need to be able to produce high-quality content, but they also need to be able to interact with social media users. If your brand’s social media page has the most incredible content, but no evidence of engagement with followers, it says that you only care about your image and not your customers.
A good social media manager will have experience in both the marketing aspect of social media, as well as customer service. Be sure to ask in the interview for examples of when they have performed tasks related to both.
Have you published content on social media channels?
A knowledgeable and qualified social media manager will recognize the importance of content creation. One of the biggest responsibilities that a social media manager or management company has is to create relevant and engaging social media content for the brands that it manages. In order to create this type of content for others, social media managers should be able to create it for their own brand, as well. You should ask if they have their own blog or have work published on popular social media channels, like LinkedIn or Medium. This can help you get a better idea of what they can do before hiring them.
What are your goals for my social media accounts and how will you accomplish them?
A common misconception is that social media is simply a numbers game. However, the quality of your followers and the significance of your engagement with them matters much more than how many followers you have.
If you ask a social media manager what their goals for your business would be and they respond with “to get as many likes, followers and shares as possible,” then they aren’t as qualified as they let on. Instead, they should give you specific strategies that they will use to build a following of relevant and engaged followers.
Which social media platforms should our business focus on and why?
This is one of the most important questions to ask a social media manager during an interview because it will show whether or not they have researched your brand. Prior to the interview, they should have done their research on what it is your business does and who your target audience is, which in turn would indicate which social media platforms you should focus on.
Every social media platform has different demographics, meaning different social media platforms are better for different businesses. A good social media manager or social media management company should be able to explain why a certain platform would or wouldn’t work for you business.
There are endless benefits to hiring a social media manager. They can help give your brand a consistent voice on various social media platforms, attract new customers, help your business gain credibility in the online realm and so much more.
However, your business will reap none of these benefits if you hire the wrong social media manager or a management company that does not provide the services you are looking for. By asking the important questions above during the interview process, you will be able to weed out the inexperienced and under qualified social media managers to find the best one for your business.
Looking for a social media management company that can post to your pages daily for a low cost? $99 Social might be the right fit for your needs! Check us out using this link, and feel free to schedule a call with Teresa for an interview!
Heather Hart
Latest posts by Heather Hart (see all)
- 2022 Top Social Media Networks Compared - June 27, 2022
- Social Media Content Trends for 2022 (The Ones You Should Know About!) - February 28, 2022
- 2021 Social Media Image Dimensions Guide for Facebook, Instagram, and More - January 22, 2021
No comments