(Photo above courtesy of socialmonsters.org)
A social media manager is more than someone who can pen witty Facebook posts — the position can bring huge dividends to your company. Sales conversions, more visits to your brand’s website, improved brand sentiment and more (and more positive) press for your company are just a few of the reasons why businesses large and small are hiring full-time social media managers in their marketing departments. Social Media Today reports in 2014, 68 percent of businesses had a digital marketing budget, averaging about a quarter of their total marketing budget, and the number is only expected to increase.
To stay competitive within your industry, put careful consideration into hiring a social media manager. It’s an essential role in the digital marketing space; don’t simply hand it to a fresh college grad with a YouTube cat video obsession. Here are the top qualities to search for to ensure your brand’s social media management is a success and not an epic fail:
Focus on Analytics
Without concrete forms of measurement, your business will have no idea whether there’s a return on investment on your social media manager hire. In the interview process, be sure to gauge what analytics tools your potential hire is familiar with and how he or she plans on conveying successes and areas for improvement in your brand’s social media space. While follower growth is an obvious indicator of increased engagement, make sure your hire is familiar with tools such as Google Analytics or Radian6 to track website visits, sentiment and sales.
Additionally, your social media manager will need to be able to convey the analytics in a digestible way for various departments so other employees can better optimize business practices based on the results. Ask potential candidates how they would develop, implement, measure and amend social media strategies based on company data. The ideal answer will depend on your company’s growth strategies and goals, so make sure they’re aligned. Examine examples of past results the candidate has achieved for previous employers and delve into how those were garnered.
Be Open-Minded About Credentials
Besides evaluating past experience in marketing roles, be open to hiring a social media manager who doesn’t necessarily have a marketing or business degree. Writing, editing and communication skills are vital for social media success. A study by social media and marketing expert and author Jay Baer, in slideshow “Social Pros All Stars Collection One,” found only 24 percent of the top social media professionals had marketing, advertising or business degrees, while 50 percent had degrees in journalism, English, literature or public relations. No matter how great that 140-character message about your brand is, if it’s riddled with spelling errors, it gives an unprofessional vibe.
Aim for Genuine Engagement
One of the most important aspects of a stellar social media manager is for the person in the role to be, well, social. This means a manager must be willing to solicit honest feedback about your brand, deliver professional customer service and be active in monitoring complaints and praise.
Effective social media messaging is not just about spewing marketing messages, either — it’s about engaging with customers by asking questions and providing them with valuable content that will have them returning to your brand’s channels, which makes them more likely to receive the marketing messages that are mixed in.
For example, rather than just promoting deals or new products on their Facebook page, identity theft protection service LifeLock creates original blog content that informs readers about everything from mobile security to President Obama’s plans for a national cybersecurity budget. Another stellar Facebook page, by clothing and outdoor gear company L.L. Bean, doesn’t just show images of its products — it shares travel blogs highlighting outdoor adventures. The Food Network’s Pinterest page features everything from recipes to the food television channel’s hosts’ favorite music playlists. Visitors to social media channels such as these don’t feel like they’re being sold to; they visit the pages because they enjoy the content that’s on them. Your social media manager should advocate the power of content marketing and develop a strategy that makes sense for your brand.
Make analytics-gathering, creative writing and a focus on engagement top priorities when combing through social media manager applications. As with any marketing position, the ability to be agile and adapt to your business’ evolving needs is crucial, and the social media manager’s strong listening and problem-solving skills will benefit your company. A search beginning on a social media channel such as professional networking site LinkedIn is a great place to start finding candidates. Be sure to look for endorsements and recommendations on the candidate’s page relating to social media.
