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How to Hire The Perfect Social Media Manager For Your Business

Social media marketing is an excellent tool for building brand awareness. It gives businesses an opportunity to connect with their target audience directly and helps in increasing their sales and adding to the bottom line. However, social media management can be a very time-consuming task. For getting the desired results on social media platforms, showing up consistently is very important.

Businesses need to research new methods and develop better strategies for creating engaging content for the audience. It is also important to keep up the interaction with potential customers and make meaningful conversations with them from time to time. The landscape of social media is ever-changing, so there will be the added task of staying on top of the latest trends and features. Keeping up with all these tasks in addition to managing the business can be overwhelming. This is where a social media manager comes in.

For businesses that want to develop and execute an effective social media marketing strategy, a social media manager can prove to be a valuable addition to your team. They can help companies in creating and publishing content, and communicating with potential clients. Outsourcing all the marketing-related tasks to an experienced and knowledgeable social media manager can help a business focus on the more important matters at hand. In this article, we will cover everything new and emerging businesses need to know about social media managers (SMM) and the best way to hire the perfect candidate for social media management.

Who are social media managers and what is their role?

A social media manager plays a very important part in any company’s social media team. To hire one that is reliable, you can try utilizing strategies such as reverse recruiting. An SMM is someone who is involved in sourcing, creating, writing, and scheduling social media posts for a business. Social media managers essentially serve as the voice of the brand. Some of the main duties of a social media manager are as follows –

1. Content curation

An important task that a social media manager has to perform as part of their day-to-day duties is creating content for the social media pages of a company. The content can be in the form of articles, videos, podcasts, or infographics.

2. Determine posting schedule

Besides ensuring the quality of the content, a social media manager is also required to determine the optimal time for posting the content. Scheduling the posts can help the business in reaching out to the target audience better.

3. Creating a content calendar

A social media manager is also required to keep a content calendar, which allows the business to churn out content consistently. By monitoring the content calendar, the SMM can analyze the performance of different types of content.

4. Keeping the followers engaged

An SMM is also required to keep up the engagement levels of the audience, so as to increase the brand’s visibility on the platform. A good social media manager should consistently comment, share, and respond to any queries the followers have about your brand.

5. Monitoring trends and best practices on social media

Social media trends change almost every day, which is why it is important to keep on top of them. It is the job of a social media manager to monitor the viral news, trending hashtags, and any new practices reigning in the industry.

6. Analysis and strategizing

A social media manager is also required to analyze the marketing strategy from time to time so that the new changes can be implemented to improve performance.

Step-by-Step Procedure of Hiring the Best Social Media Manager

Finding the right social media manager can help businesses in reaching the heights of success. Here is a step-by-step guide that makes the process of finding a suitable candidate easier. You may also click here to find more helpful hints about the recruitment process.

1. Determine the right social media channels to market your content.

The first thing businesses have to do is determine which channels they want to use for marketing their content so that the SMM can be chosen accordingly. Experienced social media managers usually tend to have substantial knowledge about most social media platforms. However, narrowing down the marketing channels can allow businesses to look for specialized SMMs who have targeted knowledge and experience in handling a particular platform. For instance, a social media manager might have a substantial number of influencer contacts on Instagram or relevant experience with tackling customer service on Twitter. By narrowing down the channels, businesses will be able to find SMMs who are best aligned with their needs.

Businesses should consider including new social media platforms like Clubhouse, TikTok, and Pinterest in their list of channels, as they have a lot of potential for attracting new audiences.

2. Assign the priorities to marketing duties so that they can be assigned accordingly.

Before hiring the SMMs, it is important to decide the social media marketing duties according to their priority. The role of a social media manager comprises many elements, which makes it tricky for businesses that are looking at potential hires. Here are ways that businesses can simplify the job role so that the process of hiring goes smoother:

  • Top priority should be given to curation, scheduling, and management of the content calendar since this is the most time-intensive and important task.
  • Establishing the identity of the brand is the second most important duty for SMMs.
  • Regular monitoring of social media trends is something that is required by all SMMs. Although it doesn’t come under regular tasks, it is important to keep on top of trends from time to time.
  • Engaging the followers and answering their queries is an important task for nurturing the clients.

3. Define the skills required for the social media manager position

To hire the right candidates for the social media management position, it is important to list the job role and required skills clearly. Here are some important skills every good social media manager should possess –

  • Excellent writing abilities for creating good marketing copies and communicating with the clients effectively.
  • Some level of experience with different social media platforms is important. An experienced social media manager should also have a good understanding of the best practices in each platform.
  • SMMs should also know the basics of customer service, including escalation management and customer success.
  • A good understanding of analytical tools.
  • A good grasp of organizational skills.

4. Full-time or freelance social media manager?

Businesses have the option of going for a full-time social media manager hire or outsourcing the job to a freelancer. Both the options come with their own pros and cons. Although the financial commitment and process of onboarding is complicated with a full-time SMM, they tend to fit in better with the marketing team. Outsourcing the job to a freelancer, on the other hand, provides businesses with more flexibility. This is a better option for businesses that are just starting out.

Reputation Management

The brand image you establish in the market has the power to influence the purchase decisions of the consumers. Something that can greatly help in building a positive brand image, whether on online reviews or social media sites, is Reputation Management. Through reputation management, you can monitor the public perception of your brand in a better way. You would also be able to timely address any potential issues that could damage the reputation of your company. A good reputation is instrumental in inspiring consumer loyalty and driving growth and revenue for the business. An efficient social media manager will be able to help you in accomplishing all these goals.

Conclusion

Since the social media manager decides the voice and tone of a business, it is important to make the right decision when hiring someone for the position. You may check out sites like https://checkr.com/background-check if you have questions about the employment verification process.

Hiring the right social media manager can transform a business completely. With this definitive guide, businesses will be able to make the right hiring decision and it will also allow the business owners to focus on the other aspects of running it successfully. However, before hiring a new SMM, businesses should make sure that the individual understands the brand’s voice. It is only when they have a good understanding of the brand, they will be able to develop and implement better strategies for social media marketing. Another thing to do before hiring is doing a background check and drug health screening. Check out sites like https://www.sterlingcheck.com/services/drug-health-screening/ to learn more.

 

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Chandni Panjwani

VP - Business Development at Mondovo
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