How to Hire a Top-Notch Social Marketer

Busy business owners know that the key to keeping things running smoothly is to surround themselves with smart people who excel at what they do.

Social marketing is a fast growing industry and companies everywhere are clamoring to find the best social marketers in the field.

They rely on a cadre of accountants, IT professionals, legal eagles, advertising gurus, and others who specialize in their line of work.

If you’re ready to add a savvy social marketer to your team, there are a few things to keep in mind.

These are all important factors in finding someone who is just the right fit for the job.

Note what it is that you like so you can share your vision with the prospective social marketers you interview.

Begin your search by identifying the role your social marketer will play within your company.

• Will she be part of the marketing department or report directly to the owner?

• Will his budget come out of advertising or the general fund?

• Do you want an employee or a contractor?

Next, look at the timelines of some social media accounts you admire.

Use this information as a springboard to discussions about your goals for your social accounts.

Let your contacts know you’re looking and be sure to use the platform’s robust search features to find candidates that might otherwise go unnoticed.

Your great-aunt Betty may think her fresh-out-of-high-school niece is perfect for the job, but you should probably politely decline in favor of finding someone with the skills, knowledge, and ability to get the job done perfectly.

When you’re ready to start interviewing, LinkedIn is a good place to begin.

Remember, you’re looking for a highly-skilled specialist to manage one of the biggest customer-facing components of your company.

Make sure your candidate has a strong social presence across multiple major social networking platforms. A good social marketer is also well-versed in various social media management and analytics tools, as well as up and coming new platforms that aren’t yet widely used.

Check out the posting history on the professional accounts of a social marketer before you commit to bringing them on board. You can tell a lot about someone’s level of professionalism and skill by looking at how they maintain their timelines.

● Profane language.

● Racist, homophobic, or sexist content.

● Repeated, long gaps in posting history.

● Frequent typos or grammatical errors.

● Low number of followers or fans.

● Lots of retweets, quotes, memes, and other unoriginal content.

● Little to no engagement with other users.

Watch out for these red flags:

Hiring a social marketer can seem like a daunting task, especially if you’re not familiar with everything the job entails.

You wouldn’t get a haircut from a bedraggled stylist, so don’t let someone maintain your social accounts if theirs are a mess.

Soon you’ll have a sparkling new team member who’s ready to take your social media to soaring

new heights.

Just take your time and don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions.