Whether you are a marketing consultant or have your own company and want to hire a Community Manager to be in charge of applying your strategy on a day-to-day basis, it is important that you take into account these initial considerations:
Analyze your business needs
Depending on the size of your market and current audience, the needs in terms of Social Media will be different from one company to another.
For example, it is not the same to be the Community Manager of a large company like Coca-Cola where a large number of people are needed to process all the messages it receives and the brand must broadcast in the different countries and markets where it is present, than a small local business whose audience will be much more limited.
Choose the right person
Training, interest in the project and empathy with the public are the three fundamental requirements that you must take into account when hiring a Community Manager. Today there is a proliferation of people who say they are dedicated to the world of social networks with hardly any training or experience, so do not hesitate to carefully review the CVs of your candidates and even ask questions or take a small exam on basic knowledge of the sector to confirm that He is the right person for the position. However, in addition to knowledge, it will be necessary for the person to have an interest in the project and empathy with the public.
Many Community Managers are already specializing by sector, and that is very noticeable. For example, if this person, in addition to being trained as a Community Manager, has interest and experience in the sports sector, they will handle the social networks of a company in the sector or related to it much better than one that has focused more on the subject of cooking. . Likewise, if a professional has a particular interest in a sector, it is likely that they will feel reflected in the public or feel more easily empathy for them, knowing their needs better.
Set minimum requirements
It will be important that you have knowledge and experience in the social networks where you intend to have a presence, as well as in the business sector. Good writing, no spelling mistakes, mastery of tools to optimize your work (eg hootsuite), design (illustrator) and analytics. If you want him to also run the company’s blog, you will have to ask him for knowledge in the CMS you use (eg WordPress), SEO and Google Analytics.
From there, you can ask for more requirements based on other tasks that are specified in the online strategy, but… don’t go too far! Remember that the more you ask, the more you will have to give, so if your budget is tight, do not expect to have the best professional in the sector.
Thoroughly prepare the questions you will ask the candidate
Before hiring a Community Manager, you can ask questions such as: what presence do you have on the Internet and what use do you personally make of social networks? What is the first thing you would do to start this project? How do you analyze the reputation of your clients?, how often do you think it is necessary to publish on the networks?, in which social networks do you think our company should have a presence?, what tools do you like to use to optimize your work in social networks?, what What results do you think we can get from social networks? What tone do you think you should use to address our clients? What would you do when faced with criticism on social networks? Why are you a Community Manager?…
A Community Manager applies a strategy, does not make it
“Let’s not ask for pears from the elm” says the saying. It is important that we know how to invest not only in execution, but also in strategy. Before hiring a professional to apply the strategy, make sure you have a very clear and defined one. Otherwise, what he does is likely not to get the results the business needs.
In case you do not have knowledge in strategy, you can outsource this service, or look for a Community Manager with knowledge and experience in strategy. Ask for references!
The results depend both on the strategy and on its correct application.
It’s not all the fault of the strategist, nor is it all the fault of the Community Manager. When something does not work well, the problem is usually one of understanding between both parties, so make sure that there is good coordination and communication between the two.
Social networks are not free
To achieve results you will have to know how to properly value the work of the Community Manager, as well as invest in advertising when necessary. Analyze, request reports of results with a certain periodicity and apply the necessary adjustments in the strategy.
Decide if you want to hire it on staff, subcontract it to an agency or opt for a freelance
Evaluate all the options based on your needs and budget. If what you need is a complete strategy and Community Manager service, perhaps the best thing to do is to go to an agency that will solve both problems for you. However, if you have already solved the strategic part, you can opt for the other two contracting methods.
In the event that the strategy requires a dedication of 8 hours a day, what will be cheaper is to hire a professional directly on staff. If, on the other hand, your company is not very large and you do not have a very broad strategy, it is possible that you need fewer hours of dedication and it is convenient for you to opt for a freelance Community Manager.
Be clear about the conditions of the contract
You can establish the bases of the agreement in dialogue, but it will be important to specify all the details in a document signed by both parties that includes the rights and obligations of both parties (payments, delivery terms, nature of the service, guarantees…)
Do not forget to sign a data access contract on behalf of third parties
By hiring a Community Manager, you will give them access to the data of your clients and followers, that is, personal data, and you will have to make sure that you comply with the regulations for the transfer of this type of information.
We hope that when you decide to hire a Community Manager you take into account these 10 tips with which you will surely find the right person to get your business off the ground on social networks. Also, if you liked this post, you will probably also be interested in How much does a Community Manager charge? and The functions of the Community Manager and more than 100 tools that you should know about.