By now, most small business owners and entrepreneurs have probably heard of the importance of social media for marketing your business. But social media can be a real time sink and many small business owners simply don’t have the time or energy to it themselves.
Enter the social manager. Hiring the right social media manager can free your time while building your brand. But how can be sure you’ve chosen the right one? Different companies require different things from social managers. But there are a few warning signs you should look out for that could mean you’ve hired the wrong social media manager. Here are some of them.
Attributes of a Bad Social Manager
They Have No Social Media Presence
It should go without saying that your social manager should be good at managing social media. But too often, businesses rely on the fact that someone claims to be an expert, rather than looking at actual results. So if your social manager has about 40 followers on Facebook and no presence on any other platform, they should at least have some examples of work they’ve done with clients on social media. If they don’t, then how can you expect them to run your social media presence successfully?
They Don’t Focus on the Right Social Networks
Even if someone is generally good at social media, that doesn’t mean that they’re going to be the right fit for you. If you’re trying to market to millennials on social media, you probably shouldn’t go with someone who’s really good at Facebook marketing but has limited experience with Instagram and Snapchat. There are social managers who focus on all different types of platforms, and some that have more experience in all of them. So consider your business’s needs and your target market carefully when looking into social media managers.
Their Strategy Isn’t Aligned with Your Business Goals
Growing a social media following isn’t just about numbers or a few set objectives. Different businesses have different goals for their social media marketing. And your social media manager should constantly have those goals in mind. So if your goal is to grow a following so that you can nurture those potential customer relations over the long term, but your social manager only ever posts links to try and get immediate traffic to your website, there’s something wrong. If you’re unsure about how something they’re doing relates to your business’s goals, ask them. And if they can’t answer, they might just not know what they’re doing.
They Don’t Communicate Effectively
Social media is all about communication. Although it’s a format that differs from many more traditional marketing channels, your social media manager still needs to be able to get messages across clearly. So if they communicate in a way that is confusing, unprofessional or just not on-brand, they’re probably not going to work for your social media strategy.
Their Voice is Off
In addition to just being able to get a point across, your social manager should be able to do so in a voice that’s likely to resonate with your target audience, writes Nichole Beckett of Premier Content Source. So if you’re trying to get a message across to moms, don’t speak to them like they are children. And if you’re marketing to millennials, you don’t need to write like you’re composing a term paper. If your social media manager’s voice is disconnected from what’s going to appeal to your target audience, you’ve probably chosen the wrong manager.
They Make All Kinds of Spelling/Grammatical Errors
Regardless of who your social manager is talking to, their messages should usually be free of outright errors. In some cases, they might be able to get away with things like fragmented sentences or abbreviated words. But if they just constantly make errors that aren’t intentional, your audience is going to notice and not take your business as seriously.
They Don’t Listen
Social media is a two-way street. So your social media manager shouldn’t just be good at posting on social media, but they should also be good at listening to others on those platforms. For example, many customers use social media as a way to reach out to companies with questions or concerns. If your social manager ignores those posts or just deals with them in some generic way without actually listening, that’s a bad sign.
They Only Do What You Tell Them to Do
Of course, you want your social manager to listen to your goals and requests for your company’s social media strategy. And they should absolutely take that input seriously. However, if they only ever do what you tell them to do, then they aren’t actually adding anything to the position. A good social media manager should come with their own ideas and ways to turn your goals into actions. But if they only do exactly what you tell them to do and nothing more, they probably aren’t right for the job.
They Don’t Bring You Results
Social media marketing is an ever-changing process. So it’s not necessarily going to bring your business overnight success. But over time, your social manager’s actions should bring you some kind of results, whether that’s increased engagement, website traffic or even sales. And if they aren’t, then their efforts may not be worth the investment.
[“source-smallbiztrends”]
