How to choose the right social media manager for your business

If you’re struggling to attract and retain customers on social media, you may be considering hiring someone to manage your company’s social accounts full-time or part-time.

Before you do, though, it’s important to make sure you choose the right person for the job — so you get the most out of your investment in them and they end up sticking around long enough to help you make real progress with your social media marketing efforts.

As the owner of a business, it's important to make sure you get the most out of your social media marketing efforts.

Because of that, it's important to find the right social media manager for your business. Learn what to look for and how to find the right one for your company.

Choosing a social media manager

Now that social media is so important in business, it’s more vital than ever that you have someone on board who understands what they’re doing. But how do you go about choosing a social media manager?

The perfect person should be able to help grow your brand awareness, build and maintain relationships with customers, drive traffic from social media to your website, and offer effective ways to leverage new technologies—all while staying true to your vision. 

The best social media managers can make your job easier. They'll be able to find, understand and make the most of your social media marketing efforts.

They'll also be able to help you improve your search results, so you can get more people to your business. 

Here are 3 main things to look at:

1. Find out what experience the social media manager has done in the past

It is important that your social media manager has a lot of experience in doing something similar before. This is because you need someone who knows all about what they are doing as it will help them do a better job.

They must have knowledge on how to promote products, communicate with clients and much more. The more experience they have, the better it will be for your business overall.

You don’t want to get stuck with an amateur. Ask them to send over any past work examples so you can see their capabilities firsthand.

2. Ask the social media manager what their process is

The best way to get a feel for a social media manager’s expertise is by asking how they manage various accounts, what type of strategy they employ, and if their approach has changed over time.

They should be able to explain what their process is for any given client, which will give you an idea of how much attention and management you can expect from them in the future.

Remember: just because someone may have a large number of followers doesn’t mean that person knows how to leverage them effectively.

Also, most social platforms require managers to disclose clients they represent and reveal sponsored posts; make sure your potential hire is up-to-date on these guidelines. 

Lastly, social media management encompasses more than managing only Facebook and Twitter accounts—and there are excellent professionals out there who specialize in LinkedIn, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram, YouTube and other sites as well!

Make sure you’re getting a big-picture specialist (with proper experience on all platforms) or someone willing to develop that knowledge quickly.

3. Understanding of analytics

The first thing you need in a social media manager is someone who understands what numbers are important and why.

The good news is that most social media managers know, at least on a basic level, what sort of data should be tracked, and how.

But it’s not enough to just know that blogging gets X amount of traffic or Y number of new visitors. You need someone who will explain why those figures matter—to both your company and your overall brand strategy.

Does the social media manager understand your industry?

If you were hiring a social media manager, would you prefer someone who knew your industry or someone who knew what they were doing but didn't understand your industry at all?

You might think that as long as you have someone who knows social media then any responsible person would fit the bill. My advice: don't be so quick to judge.

A lot of times it just isn't the right match, kind of like when you meet someone and they're cute but you don't become friends.

It is important to check that the social media manager is the right fit for your business. That person must have an understanding of the space he or she is trying to fill.

Hiring the right people only will you be able to see the results you're expecting.

Good social media managers foster engagement and provide metrics on what is or isn't working. They are able to take initiative and help generate relationships with like-minded people across all platforms.

Regardless of medium, there needs to be some level of compatibility between you and them — or else you're going to both struggle.

It does help if they understand your target market and know how to speak their language. You'll want someone to manage your social media account who understands the people, what they value and what kind of content will resonate with them.

Final Thoughts

A good social media manager needs to have experience, passion, and great communication skills. The most important part of your search is finding someone who is excited about what you’re doing and who will also be able to communicate that vision back out into your network.

This can make or break how effective they are at attracting followers, customers, clients, or fans to your business. Be sure to look beyond their social following and dig a little deeper into their personality so you know they’ll be right for your brand!

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