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  Much more than ever, social media has become a useful tool for individuals and businesses to showcase themselves to the world. There is little you can do with physical branding, and with the post-pandemic era where more activities are carried out online, social media branding is the in thing. To be able to brand yourself or your business, it is possible you might not know all the intricate parts of social media, insights, engagement and all. This is where a professional social media manager is required. 
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A social media manager is responsible for creating and implementing content strategy, making daily posts, maintaining brand voice/tone, having engagements, running social media ad campaigns and interacting with customers. This implies that it is a specialized role that needs to be properly handled to get positive results.  As a business person, you will most likely be occupied with other aspects of your business and will need to outsource the social media projection of your brand to someone else. Inasmuch as hiring a social media manager is important, there are certain criteria that you should check before hiring anyone, so you will get effective results.  A potential social media manager must have experience with effectively managing social media, even if it is their personal accounts. They must have writing and organizational skills. They should also be able to have good customer service skills and understand social media analytics, across different platforms. 
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In this article, I highlight tips on how you can successfully hire a social media manager to take care of your business’s social front.

  • Establish your brand identity

You wouldn’t want your social media manager (SMM) to be confused when hired. This is why you need to define your brand identity from the onset. This involves determining your brand message, your company vision, mission and value propositions. You should also have your visual branding in place, logo, colour schemes, etc., which will inform the content created and distributed by the SMM. 

  • Determine your social media channels

With your branding in place, you must determine the channels you want your SMM to manage. Some SMMs are better with some social media platforms than others. So, in your hiring process, you should know what platforms they are good at. And if they match the platforms you intend for them to manage, then you can go ahead with the hire.

  • Write a job description

At this stage, you will have to state the responsibilities of your prospective SMM. With the knowledge of the channels you want them to handle, you can draft a job description. For instance, the description for channels like TikTok and Instagram might be different from others like Twitter.
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You can create a content calendar to this effect, and identify how posts are to be scheduled. In some cases, SMMs create social media calendars for companies, especially if they are in their beginning stages. However, if you have this already, it will be good to work with it. Nevertheless, your SMM can make adjustments with better content strategies.

  • Advertise for the role

Now you have the basics in place, you can go ahead to advertise for the role. You can do this on your own, through your website or social media pages, or on job platforms like LinkedIn. You can also employ the services of a recruitment agency. Just ensure you state clearly your expectations of the SMM. You will also need to specify if the job will be a full-time or a part-time role, as well as your salary range. After the job advert and the receipt of applications, scan through the applications and select candidates with the best entries. During the interview, ask for their portfolio (although you can do this during the call for applications). Ask questions bothering social media analytics, brand voice and their individual creativity.  By now, I believe you’re ready to hire a social media manager. Take your time and ensure you hire one with the best interest of your business.   Featured Image Source: Later
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This article was first published on 5th August 2022

chidiogo-akaelu

Chidiogo Shalom Akaelu holds a degree in English and Literary Studies, from the University of Nigeria. She is a freelance writer, editor and founder of Loana Press, a budding online publishing outlet.

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