You’ve made a critical decision for your company: It’s time to hire a social media marketer. Or is it that time? I ask because it’s important to know the answer before you post the job. How do you know whether to hire or not?
I have suggestions. Based on my experience of being hired as a social media marketer and from doing the hiring, here are tips on when it’s time to hire.
3 Tips for Hiring (or Not)
- Evaluate your team. What does your company or team look like? Are you a company of one? Is there already a marketing specialist on board? If you’re a team of one and your social media presence takes up 50 percent of your day, a social media marketing hire might be a good decision to help you get back to running other parts of your business. If, say, a marketing specialist is handling social media duties, how will a new hire impact that person?
- Analyze the need. Do you have a social media presence? If not, is it because you don’t think there’s a need or, alternatively, because no one has done it yet? If you have an established presence, but you don’t see much activity, maybe it’s best to focus on another area of marketing at this time.
If you don’t have much activity, it’s important to ask why. Is your industry not social friendly, or have you not found the right voice or the right audience? If you’re unsure, it might be worth hiring a freelancer to do an audit for you. He can tell you if you’re missing an opportunity or if social media is not worth pursuing (which is unlikely).
- Access future responsibilities. Is social media marketing a full-time job at your company? If not, is it a part-time or contractor role? Are there other functions this role can perform, such as advertising and content writing? Very few roles are hired to do singular duties, especially at smaller companies.
When I’ve hired social media coordinators, they have always been strong on content; they become the voice of the brand. Depending on the company size, I’ve divided the role in three ways: paid, organic, or both. Generally, if I’m hiring for a performance marketer, she is executing on a brand that has already been created by an organic marketer. In my experience, only in very small companies should the performance marketing roles be merged.
Voice of the Brand
If it’s a full-time hire, you want that person to be around for the long haul. He has to enjoy what he does and have enough to do. Remember, the person that will control your social media and your content will control your brand’s voice, which is critical. Hire whom will best represent your brand — if you decide to hire.