How To Find The Right Social Media Marketing Manager to Help Grow Your Business

And how to hire them

By: Jeanette Stevens, Owner iSimplyAssist LLC: www.isimplyassistu.com

Time is money.

Now more than ever, as a business owner you already have so much on your plate with handling tasks like:

• Managing your day to day operations
• Developing new and innovative ideas
• Creating and designing for social media or video
• Finding ways to generate leads, like networking
• Maintaining a budget so that your business stays alive
• Plus you are probably doing this alone or with a very small team of contractors.
• The list goes on…..

You do not have the time or the money to waste.

This is why when the decision has been made to bring on a social media manager (also called a Community Manager) to help, you want them to hit the ground running.

I would caution you to begin by understanding the type of social media assistance you are looking for.

For example: are you looking for someone with social media marketing skills? Social Media management skills? Or you may need both!

 

Let’s Define Social Media Marketing & Social Media Management Quickly

 

• Social media marketing – Focuses on selling, leads, and conversions.
• Social media management – Focuses on building the brand, engaging, communicating with your audience, and awareness on your social platforms.

Someone with the experience and track record for developing and executing social media campaigns, including management, engagement and marketing – could be a killer addition to your team!

On the strategic end, you want to always include a healthy mix of both in your social media campaigns anyway. Just keep in mind that the social media marketing (or paid media piece) will probably get you quicker results over time with a dedicated plan.

• Paid ads: reach and interact with new accounts, gain new leads – ie: build your e-mail list or announce and boost awareness to products and services

 

• Organic: is a lengthier and slower process, but it helps with community building, engagement, establishing your brand and really getting to know your audience.

 

What To Look For In Your Social Media Freelancer:

Here are a few ways to ensure that the social media manager you are looking to hire is going to be worth the investment.

• They Know Social Media – they understand social media concepts, they can translate your needs into a social media campaign that makes sense. They understand how to use social media tools and have in their arsenal knowledge of the different social media platforms. ***Seek references, also any kind of education is good: degrees, certifications for example. It shows that they are learning, staying on top of what is happening and the latest trends.
• Great writing skills. You may not have all of the content created for them to post which means they may have to take information from your blog, newsletter, product launch information for example, and creating compelling, engaging, and well-written content conforming to each platform they will be posting to. ***Ask for Samples (A digital Portfolio would be great)!
• Strategy/Data and analytics. They take the information which you have provided (Your business goals) and they develop a strategy and create measurable goals for each platform and campaign.

• Understand Data – A key part of a social media manager or marketer’s job is the ability to read and understand data that is coming in from each channel. The information gained from this data is very valuable to your business. It goes well beyond the best times of day to post, data from each platform can tell you, what kind of posts your audience likes best. Which post/ content convert best and even which social media channels perform best.
• Excellent customer service skills. A social media manager will be responsible for engaging and communicating with your audience. They need to be able to stay on top of communication and do a little crisis management if and whenever needed.
• Great Social Media Engagement Skills – You want someone willing to spend some time each day on engagement. Following relevant accounts, building a community around your content while also engaging with relevant accounts in your industry.
• Organized – a great social media manager is organized. That means if you require a discussion about content for the week they can present you with a content calendar or some form of an editorial calendar that will include ideas for the weeks ahead. A great social media manager will even highlight which content performed well and which did not and iterate the kind of content posted from this information. What you don’t want is content that is stale, never changes or develops.

Warning signs

• Inexperienced – Social Media Manager who has not worked with enough small business owners. That is not to say that an inexperience social media manager is not eager to learn, they simply may not be ready to handle your But on the bright side, if you really liked them and think they have great possibilities hire them anyway or refer them to someone who can use their services.
• Bad writing skills – You have done a little super sleuthing (which btw you totally should so anyway) and discovered that the blogs they have written, accounts they have worked on, and even their own accounts are riddled with grammatical errors. Now 1 or 2 typos are normal but too many is too much.
• One Size Fits All Strategies – There is nothing new about what they are telling you will work for your business. With a little research, you realize quickly that the strategy or proposal you have been given as a sample is anything you can find on the internet. You are looking for fresh ideas, with customized solutions for your business.
• No references or reviews – This one is simple, if a social media manager is claiming to be an expert, AND experienced they should certainly have a few references and reviews for you to follow up on.
• Do your research – Personally, if I am looking to hire someone to help me grow my brand on social media, I will typically check out how they themselves are presented on social media. Whether they are a solopreneur, agency, small business etc. a social media manager’s profile should reflect success in that area. Essentially how can they help you grow your presence online if they have not taken the time to grow and develop their own? Double for larger agencies and businesses with the bandwidth to hire social media managers for this exact purpose.

So, what is the average rate?

The average rate to hire a Social Media Marketing and Communications Manager in the United States is $50 as of December 28, 2020, but the range typically falls between $44 and $57. The hourly rate can vary widely depending on many important factors, including education, certifications, additional skills, and the number of years you have spent in your profession. (Source: Salary.com)

Conclusion:

Now the next logical question is – where can I hire a great social media manager or marketer?  There are several places you can look. My suggestion is to keep this blog and the questionnaire handy wherever you decide to look.

Regardless of the platform, now that you have been armed with resources on what to look for, there will be less confusion and worry about narrowing your choices down to the right person.

There are of course quite a few freelance networks out there to choose from when you are ready to make your hire. A few notables are Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn ProFinder.

I hope that the information in this blog is not only helpful but useful to you.

To reach me for projects, email: support@isimplyassistu.com Find and connect with me on LinkedIn – Jeanette, LinkedIn.