In this article, we would shine the spotlight on the social media manager role and we will show you how important they are to every business and what to look out for when trying to hire one.
Brand awareness is very important to every business and we have social media managers holding this forte. A social media manager is key to any online business because they make the most of the social media platforms by creating and managing engaging content, marketing campaigns, and branding.
Brand loyalty is another key area where a social media manager is also responsible for, they are to understand the way new customers/clients think and act. This in turn will foster a bond between your brand and your clients, even potential ones, causing repeat patronages of whatever goods or services you offer.
Why Do You Need A Social Media Manager?
Effective and efficient social media marketing will transform your business, give you the needed brand awareness, bring your target audience to your doorstep, and foster brand loyalty. Now, you can strategize and get the ball rolling, but we must warn you it is incredibly time-consuming.
Social media marketing entails consistency, researching, and coming up with strategies every time. Also, keep the conversations with your customers and leads going, these are a lot right? This is why you need a social media manager. With the ever-changing updates, new features, trends, and user behavior, you will not be able to keep up and still run your business effectively and efficiently.
What To Look Out For In A Social Media Manager
Social Media X Business Analysis
A social media manager should be able to recognize and spot content and conversations that are opportunities for your business. We know that the social media sphere is clouded with a lot of issues and opportunities at the same time. However, a social media manager should be able to sort through the noise and steer it positively for your business.
Their Personal Social Presence
Anyone can construe words to create a good resume, well for this kind of role, action speaks volumes. Have a look at their personal social media platforms and see what their activity is like. Are they consistent? Are they able to identify trends? If the person uses short forms to write their captions or just throws in a bunch of hashtags that are totally unrelated, you already know that is not your candidate.
Can They Create A Bond Between Your Brand And Your Audience?
An ideal social media manager should be able to create engagements, and campaigns. They are properly calculated for your audience to build lasting relationships. The content they produce should be current and informative, this will help in building loyal audiences. Loyal clients/audiences help in advancing your brand’s goal.
Effective Storyteller
An expert knows how to make use of the various broad host of social media channels at their disposal to use them to tell the same amazing stories that an advertising executive uses to “sell” customers on a company’s goods and services. Because of this, each social media platform has its own requirements for storytelling. For example, on Twitter, they must deliver a storyline in 140 words or fewer, while on Facebook, an interesting title must is used to assure users to “share” and comment on the post. A social media manager needs to have an eye for visually appealing content that will catch viewers’ attention, which is equally crucial.
Crisis Management
You need to know if your manager can handle circumstances because difficulty often arises without warning. A single insensitive or inappropriate Tweet can destroy a firm’s reputation. A single careless Facebook post can go viral rapidly and bring shame to an entire company. In order to prevent such errors from happening, social media managers need to be adept at addressing PR disasters when they arise as well as keeping a close eye on corporate social media material. Social media managers must be skilled in crisis PR, much like their traditional public-relations colleagues.
Adopting Social Media Strategy To Align With Goals
Even though social media experts are skilled at creating social media strategies, it’s vital that they get that these strategies do not exist in a vacuum but are a part of a much larger picture and exist only to further the greater aim. You need to hire someone who can swiftly change your social media strategy when your company’s objectives and priorities change. The ideal applicant should be able to take part in strategic planning meetings for the company and offer detailed suggestions for social media strategy.
Creativity X Growth
The ability to be creative is something that is innate and cannot be developed overnight. Since social media is constantly changing, you need to hire someone who can advance and stay current. Not only is it vital to adapt, but it’s also crucial to apply those changes to your online presence. Their ideas and originality will help you avoid being a copycat and instead make your company a leader. Which in turn will allow you to develop and advance.
Ability To Learn Quick And Adapt
Your strategies may suffer if your social media manager cannot rapidly adjust to having a solid understanding of social issues. Social media has so many layers and sub-layers that learning is never done. If your social media manager ignores these developments and keeps going in the same direction, your brand could suffer well. In order to adjust to new social scenes, they must truly desire social media.
A Multitasker Who Knows Their Tools
Multitasking is key to social media marketing. Social media has a lot of complexity, so there is plenty a brand can do there that goes far beyond just scheduling postings. The person who will represent your business should be very effective and able to strike a wonderful balance in order to keep it afloat and ahead of the competition.
The tools they are used to, will go a long way toward providing you an understanding of how current they are and how the task will be delivered. The person who has the most checks for the mentioned talents is the one who is the best fit for the job since they will assist your business to expand in the proper path. So go ahead and ask for the tools they are familiar with. Keep in mind that the person you choose to work for your company will serve as the face and voice of your business online.
Technical Tests For Hiring A Social Media Manager
Understanding the various audiences that each social media platform draws in and the material that performs well there are all very particular abilities that can come with qualifications. These knowledge requirements for a social media manager are closely related to the various social media platforms.
However, some capacities and skills are more difficult to assess, and here is where software and aptitude tests can be useful. The tests listed below would be helpful for applying for the role of social media manager:
Checking For Errors
For a social media manager, attention to detail might make the difference between a post that is carefully produced and one that is completely overlooked because of an obvious spelling mistake. The everyday responsibilities of the social media manager include identifying errors before they turn into costly issues.
Facebook Ads
The social media manager needs to be aware of the many Facebook ad types. How to target the right demographic, and the best form of advertising to employ when promoting a good or service. To gauge how skilled a candidate is at using this specific piece of technology, the Facebook Ads test puts them through their paces.
Google Analytics
An experienced social media manager can use Google Analytics as a tool in their toolbox to assist them to create a better picture by employing a variety of analysis software to create a picture that can be used for social media strategy.
Reasoning Abstractly
The ability to think logically about new information in order to spot patterns and trends helps social media managers create better data, which in turn leads to better plans. Abstract reasoning is a solid sign of future success.
Verbal Reasoning
The candidate must show that they can read, comprehend, and analyze foreign written material in order to gain the knowledge they need from it.
Skills To Look For In A Social Media Manager
Successful social media managers require a variety of abilities, both technologically and generally.
In order to manage a company’s social media presence, they frequently handle a variety of various jobs. Therefore, some qualities you should look for in a potential social media manager include:
Instructing & Management of Personnel Resources
Although the social media manager may only be in charge of managing some of the marketing activity, in some cases they will also manage other members of staff. Helping them learn new strategies, or ensuring that work is completed properly and on time. We should find people management and leadership skills in every social media manager applicant.
Operations & Systems Analysis
The social media manager’s job requires them to do studies of current operations and systems. The social media manager will utilize the data from this analysis to guide the development of a viable plan. This will improve and grow as more analysis is conducted.
Persuasion & Negotiation
Because a social media manager’s job is as much about marketing as it is about managing social media, the hiring team should be on the lookout for candidates who have these abilities.
Platforms Knowledge
Expertise in Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and even Tik Tok is necessary. Especially since each platform is intended to host a particular type of content and draw a particular demographic of users.
Sense Of Judgment
The greatest social media managers are able to use their knowledge and judgment to make wise judgments. From the initial strategy to selecting the appropriate content to publish, based on data from analytics.
Key Abilities Of A Social Media Manager
We connected the skills that an employer should be searching for in a potential social media manager to original yet reasoned thinking. Along with other skills like the following, the social media manager should be able to speak clearly and comprehend other people’s speech.
Creativity X Originality
The creative aspect of the social media manager’s job is coming up with new ways to reach a wide range of people through various post types. This requires originality, fluency of thought, and imagination. Regularly generating fresh ideas and having the ability to create from a design standpoint is also crucial.
Data Collection
The social media manager must be able to organize all the data they have in a way that makes sense. It is used to develop and update strategies because there is so much data to collect.
Deductive & Inductive Reasoning
Making decisions about strategy works best when logic is used rather than emotion, and reasoned thinking helps make better choices. The social media manager needs to be able to spot patterns and trends as well as work with unfamiliar information.
Oral Comprehension & Expression
The prospective social media manager must be able to communicate verbally with other managers and members of the marketing team. In order to present findings from reports and discuss strategy. They must also be able to comprehend what others are saying in order to reply properly.
Ordering Of Information
With so much data to collect, a social media manager must be able to arrange all of their data in a logical manner so that it is used to develop and revise a strategy.
Written Expression & Comprehension
As part of the job, the social media manager may be required to write reports for managers and content. They must be able to communicate verbally and in writing, as well as understand what others have written.
Finally, hiring a social media manager for your company should be a much more fun endeavor if you go into the search with reasonable expectations and a clear grasp of the skills and experience level you’re looking for.
FAQs
what should I look out for when I want to hire a social media manager?
Writing
Creativity
Efficiency & top-notch organization
Traditional & digital marketing
Customer care