All businesses are on the lookout for options to grow and reach to more and more consumers. Local businesses are now trying to grow global, and there are many virtual avenues for them to make it real. Social media is one such platform now, which will help you to explore many valuable marketing opportunities to reach to many. For example, Instagram now has more than a billion users, and on handling it well, you can reach many of your prospective customers out there as Instagram users.
In reality, once a major problem every business owners face while thinking of the new-age marketing strategies is the lack of expertise on these platforms. Here comes the need for hiring a social media manager. Even when you hire a social media manager as an employee or trying to get a consultant on a contract basis, you need to do a thorough assessment of the resources and identify the best matches to your existing operational structure and business niche.
The challenge of hiring a social media marketer
Considering it realistically, it is unlikely that any random business manager or owners will do the social media marketing part well. It may be very difficult for any random one to produce high-quality and original content to post, monitor the user engagement from time to time, do the analytics parts, and run the ads effectively to gain more likes, follows, and in turn business results. Hiring a social media marketing experts can be a way out, but only when it is done perfectly.
During the process of hiring a social media manager, you have to figure up at the first point as to who doesn’t match your requirement. As in case of any other profession, there is a wide range of marketers specialized in a different portfolio. Social media is a huge platform, and there are a lot of people out there who are trying to capitalize on it. So, you need to remember that not every who approaches you claiming as a social media expert is not so.
While you are trying to hire a social media manager, here are some questions to raise to identify the apt candidate. Their answers to these typical questions will help you choose the right one for you.
- Which social media platforms will be ideal for my business, and why so?
You may check if the provider can describe the personality of your brand to your satisfaction. Professional marketers may have done thorough research on your company as well as products to identify what you are and whom you need to address as your potential customers.
There are many platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest and more, each of which has unique characteristics and specialties to match the needs of different businesses. See how they explain which platform is most ideal for you and why it is so will give you a clear understanding of their knowledge and confidence in this.
- What are the social media performance matrices, you monitor?
The expert answers may consist of two primary elements (even though there are more) as Engagement and leads.
Engagement: Whichever channel you use for social media marketing, the primary need is to assess the measurable conversations happening around your brand. It is the content which drives your social media marketing success, and if the content stinks, you may not see people engaging with your brand. So, your social media marketer should have excellent content writing skills with the nature of the target audience in mind. They should also know the smart methods to increase engagement to buy real Instagram views and get more likes etc.
Leads: For this, check their track record in terms of Facebook or Instagram ads. A professional provider will always be happy to share such details with you. Check whether they go exposure to running high-end social media campaigns for lead generation. Check whether they can outline the strategy for Instagram marketing for your brand.
- What is the most important role of a social media manager?
A standard answer will be preparing the campaigns, publishing them, listening to the audience, and engaging with them through the social channels. Engaging effectively with the followers and fans is the key, but a professional social media manager is more focused towards generating actual business revenue through what they are doing.
- Have you handled any social media crisis ever?
You need to check it with the designated social media manager as to what kind of social media crises they have handled and how they resolved it. An experienced professional will be able to explain to you the situation and the step by step process to resolve it. Most of the times, this will be great exposure to you if you don’t follow the best protocols for Instagram or other social media marketing. What refers to a crisis in social media marketing is when your profile gets blacklisted or banned while violating the social media policies of different providers. Someone knowledgeable of these may surely help you to avoid any such instances.
- How do you plan the budget for social media marketing?
It is one of the most important aspects any social media manager should be able to plan well. You may ask your candidate to explain a plan, which will suit your social media marketing project the best. The typical budget considerations for social media marketing are for campaigns like Facebook Ads or Instagram Business account etc. The ideal move is to start with minimal investment and then slowly tap it up. A typical budget for a medium-sized business may be about $500 a month to get a good start. The fundamental matrices social media managers may consider while allocating a budget include
- Finances
- Time involved
- Human resources involved
- Attention needed
- Training required etc.
A social media marketer or manager is not such a position you could take lightly. This is not even an entry-level position that you can use any random one with a baseline knowledge of it. Coming days, social media marketing may act as your lifeblood in terms of the reach of your brand, which requires excellent administration and strategic planning to succeed.
Author bio
Karen is a Business Tech Analyst. She is very responsible for her job. She loves to share her knowledge and experience with her friends and colleagues.
