How do you hire the right person for such a role in your company?
Digital marketing is becoming more and more important in our increasingly digital world. Social media provides numerous opportunities, but intentional strategy is needed in order to effectively utilize it. Ask these five questions before you hire your next paid social media strategist:
1. What communication responsibilities will this person have?
The level of a paid social strategist varies depending on the organization or campaign. Regardless of the role level, the successful candidate will have important communication responsibilities. Paid social media professionals may be part of an account team, a marketing team or a large digital paid media team. In addition to working closely with teammates, they may have direct communication with clients or business stakeholders. In any case, effective communication will be necessary to the success of the role.
Ask yourself this question: What communications will be critical to the success of the role? Consider what skills and experiences will be necessary, and then select a candidate who can communicate successfully in the role. You may consider a written communication assessment if written communication is a big part of the role.
2. What evangelism or new business responsibilities will this person have?
Business stakeholders, clients, and marketing teammates may all benefit from a greater understanding of paid social media.
The evangelism or new business responsibilities of a paid social strategist will vary depending on the organization, campaign, or stakeholders. Paid social media professionals may have little to no evangelism or new business responsibilities as they may be a background or support player. However, if the role requires some influential communication, then must hire someone with the appropriate abilities.
Ask yourself this question: What evangelism or new business responsibilities will the person in this role have? Consider what skills and experiences will be necessary, and then select a candidate who can handle the required level of influence.
3. How hands-on will this person be?
A paid social strategist may work entirely in strategy or vendor oversight. In another case, they may work entirely in hands-on campaign creation and optimization. A large percentage of social media professionals work somewhere in the middle. Ask yourself this question: How hands-on will this person be? In order to set appropriate expectations, determine how much of each of these skills and experiences a candidate will need to possess. Then select a candidate who desires and can handle the required level of hands-on involvement.
4. What knowledge should be had before the role and what can be learned?
There are more than 20 significant social media channels. Not each of these channels will be appropriate for your business. The prior knowledge, of specific paid social channels, needed for a paid social strategist varies depending on the organization and campaign. In order to select the right candidates, determine what social channels must already be known prior to hire. Then determine what can be learned during the role. Maybe you don’t know what channels are best for you and you need someone skilled at evaluating channel potential. Select a candidate who has the prior knowledge necessary to being successful in the role. Ask yourself this question: What channel knowledge should be had before the role and what can be learned during the role?
5. How much will this person have to juggle?
Juggling multiple priorities is important in today’s workforce. However, we all have a limit to how many priorities we can successfully balance at a time. The number of campaigns a social strategist has to juggle varies depending on the organization.
A social media professional may have to juggle dozens of campaigns or several campaigns for several clients. In another case, they may just have to focus on one or two large campaigns. Ask yourself this question: How much will this person have to juggle? In order to set appropriate expectations, understand the juggling demands of the role. Then select a candidate who can handle those demands.
Final Thoughts
This isn’t a comprehensive list of things to consider before making your next paid social strategist hire. However, these are five very important things to consider prior to making that hire. Focus not only on doing good qualification. Also focus on setting appropriate expectations with candidates. If you are an agency or operate as an internal agency, see our post on improving your agency’s hiring. To discuss your next paid social media strategist hire, contact us.
