How To: Hire A Social Media Manager

Dorien Morin-van Dam

Are you in need of an online marketing expert?

Is your business booming? Are you a start-up company? Are you an established business needing to tap more into the social media marketing possibilities vs continuing with traditional marketing only? Are you extremely busy running your business? Do you have a marketing budget to work with? If you just answered ‘yes’ to even one of these questions, it doesn’t matter which way you arrived here (I am assuming the title pulled you in!) at this blog post; it seems it is time to delegate more of the day-to-day tasks associated with running a business and thus it might be time to hire a social media manager!

Social Media Manager vs Social Media Consultant vs SEO Expert vs Web Designer and more

How will you know whether you need a social media manager, a social media consultant, an SEO expert or a web designer? How about a VA or a graphic artist?

It all depends on who you ask! (It’s not THAT easy to explain.)

See, many people do a little bit of everything and things get a bit confusing (read: very confusing!) because we all want to help everyone! I find this to be especially true for those just starting out in the social media and online marketing industry. New businesses and agencies often offer to do a package deal and ‘give you everything you need’. If someone offers you everything (web design, social media, graphic design, SEO, and more) and they are a one (wo)man show, tread lightly!

Find someone who is the best at that one thing that they do, that one thing that you need most! How you do find your (next) social media manager? Read on!

How to hire a Social Media Manager

There are several steps involved in finding and hiring a social media manager. I’ve outlined 13 steps I would take if I had to hire someone to take over the day-to-day social media management for More In Media.

NOTE: Skipping a step here and there is probably not going to impact your overall satisfaction, but if you are going to skip all of these steps and just hire the first person who raises their hand to ‘give it a try’ or the first person who is willing to work for ‘next-to-nothing,’ stop reading this now!

Seriously, just stop reading and COME BACK TO READ MORE after you’ve fired THAT person.

Social media management is more than just ‘posting to Facebook once a week’. (It includes many tasks but that’s for me to discuss another day!) For now, let’s just say social media management takes skill, expertise, drive, knowledge, determination, ingenuity and much, much more.

Here are 13 steps I would take if I had to hire a social media manager for my own business! These are the steps I suggest you take:

1. Ask around for (local) referrals from trusted business associates and/or do a Google search (many webdesigners and graphic artists work closely with social media consultants. We refer clients back and forth all the time).
   
2. Set up meetings and meet face-to-face (in-person, or via Skype or Google HOA -video hangout) with at least two candidates.
   
3. Share your marketing goals and expectations with a potential manager.
   
4. Share your business plan: target audience, marketing budget, product information, sales stats, growth projection with a potential manager.
   
5. Ask for testimonials and references.
   
6. Ask for a written proposal.
   
7. While you wait for the written proposal to arrive, check out social media profiles (again); read reviews.
   
8. Read their blog – what?! no blog? What CONTENT do they have?
   
9. Pick your social media management plan of choice.
   
10. Insist on a contract to protect you both.
    
11. Set up payment plan.
    
12. Set up a communication system.
    
13. Provide relevant information, logos and pictures to get your new social media manager started with a strategic social media plan – then continue to do so weekly there after!

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