As your online presence develops, you may find that you no longer have time or energy to devote to other things. Maintaining your online presence may feel like a full time job. Hence, it is time to find someone to help you out to manage your businesses online presence. You can either hire a digital/ social media agency if you have that much capital to spare or get someone in-house to help you out like a Social Media manager.
The ideal Social Media manager should be knowledgeable and should be passionate about things online. In addition, a social media manager should have:
- Flair for writing
- Background in marketing
- Excellent listening skills
- A creative blend
All these skills are no-brainers and they should be marked in your checklist while you’re interviewing your candidate. But there are some more pressing and important things which are important and a brand should take care while hiring a social media manager-
1. Do a run through of their social networks
Who can not add various adjectives to their resume and make it sound all glorified, but it is very important to do a personal research before you go hire someone only based on their resume. Take a look at their social media presence and see what their activity is like on their Facebook, Twitter account, LinkedIn profile etc.
The point is to note how they are handling their personal presence, if they haven’t tweeted since 2010 or their Facebook pictures have 100’s of hashtags you will know they aren’t the ideal choice for your company and won’t do justice to your social accounts either.
2. Ask them for their contingency plans during crisis
As trouble comes unannounced, you must know if your manager can deal with situations. As everyone deals with bad comments, trolls in a different manner create a scenario and ask how your new manager would react to that situation.
Quick tip – when you ask them this question, watch their body language and see how rational the response is; will help you understand how they will behave under stress.
3. Quick leaner & Adaptable
If your manager isn’t able to adapt to things quickly, that may turn bad for your strategies. Thus it is imperative that they have a strong social knowledge and are keen learners. In social media, you can never stop learning as it has so many layers, and sub layers. Your brand can receive a serious hit if your manager isn’t aware of these changes and continues on the same old path. They need to have a true thirst for social media, to adapt to new environments in the socialsphere.
Ask them for their sources of information on news about various platforms, if they talk about Facebook Press, JonLoomer.com, Social Media Examiner, Twitter Press, Google+ Communities. You know they are making sense.
4. Social media is ever changing, creativity helps you grow
Social media is ever-evolving (see social media stats 2013 to social media in 2014 ), you must hire someone who can grow and keep up with the changes. Not only is it important to adapt but it is equally important to implement those in your online presence. Creativity is something which is a trait which is in-built and cannot be cultivated overnight.
Their thoughts and creativity will help you not to be copy-cat but instead would help your business be a leader thus helping you grow and letting you make positive strides.
5. Look for Multitasking skills
Social media marketing is not a sprint, but a marathon thus the person you hire should be able to multi-task. Social media has a lot of depth; it is more than just scheduling posts. There is a lot to do for a brand for on social media, the person who will represent your company should be extremely efficient and be able to do a great balancing act in keeping your company afloat and above your competitors.
Last but not the least, ask them the tools, what social media tools he/she is aware about and is their favourite and why? I am sure these points will make your decision making process a little smoother. The person with the maximum checks for the above skills is the one suited for the job as they will help grow your business in the right direction. Remember, the person you hire is the one who represents your brand, they will be the eyes, ears and voice of your organization online.
Do you think I missed on any key element while hiring Social Media managers? I would love to see some contributions here. Do share your insights with us below.
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