There comes a time in the growth of every business when it needs to really grow. An integral part and a touchstone of this growth is the need to hire a social media manager. Once running your social media accounts become too large of a task for you and your employees, it’s time to hire a pro. However, you have probably never before had to hire a manager of this sort so you are unsure if there are any other questions to ask him or her apart from the standards ones that your HR department asks candidates for other posts. The questions are many but here are the most important ones that should not fail to ask in order to determine who will best manage your company’s social media presence.
Knowledge of the basics of digital marketing
Regardless of how the person got to the interview, whether it was a recommendation or an ad in the papers, they need to know the basics of digital marketing. In terms of metrics, there are two words in particular that you want to hear from them, and these are “engagement” and “leads.” If they are aware of the importance of engaging visitors through discussions and interesting content, then your social media presence will generate many leads. Ultimately, these leads will translate into sales, which the end result of a long process that starts with the interview we are presently discussing.
Fast to respond
You know how Facebook has that feature in Messenger “replies within hours?” Well, the speed of response is quite important in social media marketing because more and more customers are ditching the traditional complaint and FAQ channels like emails or phone calls. They find it easier to send an enquiry or provide feedback on Instagram as a reply to your story there. That is why the new social media manager needs to be aware of the importance of expeditiousness. You want them to organize their itinerary in such a way that there will always be a person replying to your potential clients at any time of day or night. “Replies within minutes” should be the standard your prospective social media manager should set.
Extra skills
The candidate is by no means expected to be a Renaissance man (or woman) but they should have a few extra skills. Having mentioned speed, it is more than welcoming if this person can edit images fast and post them ASAP after you let them know that they need to be uploaded. This is where their skills of editing images come into play, as well as the image editing programs they use. For instance, there are plugins for Photoshop like the one found at Sleek Lens that significantly speed up the entire process. In addition to neat skills, candidates should be amicable, polite and open-minded personalities in general. Also, if the job is office-based, they need to have good interpersonal skills and be team players.
Digital strategists
Each business has a business plan and each department in your company had developed a strategy to put this plan into action. Even the social media aspect of your business is a part of this plan. It might
seem like a silly question to ask but the person you are interviewing should at least have a vague idea of what kind of a strategy they will implement. At first, you can give then free rein in determining this strategy so you can see if they are up to the task. This kind of independence is something that you should nurture in your social media manager because they are effectively a team/department of their own. If you notice that they are unsure of which methods to use to generate leads or they are clueless about where to advertise your franchise, then this person is perhaps not the best option to go with.
Tell me a story
Managing your social media accounts is no child’s play but you might want to make it appear it as such. Namely, in order to test the candidate’s worldviews, sense of humor, and storytelling abilities, ask them to tell you a story. This might seem like an odd request but it is perfectly compliant with the desire to find out if this person can create compelling and engaging content. People are not going to open the link to your blog or follow you on Twitter if you are spamming them or posting boring content. They want relevant stories that they can enjoy reading in the hope of finding out something new. The story your future social media manager narrate will serve as the ultimate test for their ability to create engaging, lead-generating online content.
There are many more questions you can ask prospective candidates but the ones we have listed above are the most important. In fact, they will suffice for the very first time you need to select a person to run your social media accounts. After that, you will get to know the work social media managers perform much better and be able to tell which person is right for the job.
