In an ever-changing social media landscape, businesses can no longer rely on organic reach to bring in new customers. If you're not using other methods to promote your business on social media, you might as well not exist online. That’s why investing in a paid social media marketing team is a wise move. Paid social marketing gets your company’s message out there and carries added benefits like greater engagement, increased organic reach, and better search engine optimization.

Paid social media marketing is marketing sponsored advertising content on third-party social networking platforms with the goal of targeting specific customers.. There are many benefits to having a paid social media team, including the ability to create more targeted and effective campaigns, as well as saving time and resources. Additionally, a paid social media team can provide valuable insights into the latest trends and best practices. 

A common misconception about paid social media management is that it can be handled by a single person, usually someone who falls into one of these categories: recent college graduate, "digital native," or someone with more than 500 followers on their personal social media accounts. Social media is frequently a late addition to a long list of responsibilities for someone on the marketing or sales team. The truth is, most brands that are successful on social media have an entire team dedicated to different aspects of the job, like content creation, measurement and analytics, or strategy.

If you're considering building a paid social media team, there are a few things to keep in mind. First, you'll need to identify the roles that need to be filled on the team. Next, you'll need to find candidates who are qualified for each role. It will be equally important to manage and report on the team's performance. And if you find that your paid social media strategy isn’t working, we’ve added some steps you can take to get it back on course.

In this article we will cover: 

1. Paid social media team roles
2. Interviewing for the right fit
3. Managing your social media team

Paid social media team roles

When building a paid social media team, first identify the roles that need to be filled. The most common roles include social media manager, content creator and social media analyst.  In some cases, you may also extend the team to include an influencer manager. Here’s what each role entails:

Paid social media manager

This is one of the most important roles for your team.  A great social media manager will have an intricate understanding of your brand. Their primary focus will be to make sure that your social media strategy is aligned with your business goals. 

Responsibilities: 

• Developing strategies, setting goals, researching target audiences and-— if flying solo —creating content. 
• Creating social media policies and procedures for your team, as well as training new team members. 

Requirements: 

• A clear understanding of how each social platform works, along with what types of your brand's content will excel on those platforms.  
• Capable of running A/B tests and analyzing statistics in order to create a plan of action that will accelerate performance.

Skills: 

• Excellent written and verbal communication skills. 
• Thinks creatively, problem solves quickly.
• Works well under pressure.
• See this more detailed list of skills.

Content creator

A content creator is someone who writes posts, designs graphics, and makes videos for social media. Content creators support the social media manager by taking some of the work off their plate so they can focus on more strategic tasks. 

Responsibilities:

• Produce high-quality content quickly and efficiently.
• Make sure that content is engaging and shareable.

Requirements:

• Have a strong understanding of social media platforms, including which types of content perform best on each one.
• Keep up-to-date with current events and social media movements so that this information can shape the creation process.

Skills:  

• Write persuasively while also having fresh, innovative ideas.
• Familiar with basic photo and video editing software.

Companies vary in size, and with that the number of people on a content creator team. At larger companies, you might have a team of designers, photographers and copywriters who specialize in creating assets for social media. In smaller companies though, this role is often played by one person who has to wear many hats — they design content, take photos, write copy, and create videos all by themselves.

Paid social media analyst

Business intelligence is essential for any growing business, and social media plays a significant part in that. A social media analyst can take your company's raw data and turn it into useful information to help you make better-informed decisions. A data analyst is pivotal to a company's success as they not only assess social media campaigns, but also make recommendations for change. 

Responsibilities:

• Showcase how data impacts business and measure the return on investment (ROI) of social media outreach programs. 
• Report on key performance indicators (KPIs) to show you if your current strategy is working.
• Offer ways to improve performance when strategy is not going as planned.

Requirements: 

• A deep understanding of each social media platform and which metrics matter on each one.

Skills:

• Excellent communicators so they can properly relay their findings to others in the company. 

Influencer manager

Depending on your budget, objectives and consumer, you may also consider hiring an influencer manager. Your influencer manager is someone who finds, nurtures and leverages relationships with influencers. 

Social media influencers have amassed a following by providing value to their audience through creative content.  

The goal of influencer marketing is to tap into the social influence that influencers have with their followers. When done correctly, it can be an extremely effective way to reach a larger audience and generate more leads and sales. Consumers are more likely to trust other consumers over brands, so it's important for influencer managers to find influencers who will recommend your content. 

Responsibilities: 

• Find relevant influencers and persuade them to promote your business.
• Maintain relationships with both influencers and the company.

Requirements: 

• Have strong relationships with social media influencers in your industry.
• A good understanding of social media platforms and how to use them effectively.

Skills: 

• Excellent communicators to manage relationships.
• Well-organized.

Interviewing for the right fit

When you're ready to start interviewing candidates for your paid social media team, there are a few key things to keep in mind. First and foremost, you want to make sure that the candidate has a strong understanding of social media and how it can be used to achieve business goals. It's also important to ensure that they are up-to-date on the latest social media trends and platform changes. Furthermore, you want to find someone who is creative, strategic and analytical. 

Start by asking potential candidates to share portfolios of their past work to get a sense of the quality and quantity of their output. Next, structure your interview for each role with the help of these sample questions:

Paid social media manager

When it comes to interviewing social media managers, always ask these basic questions:

- What social media platforms are you most active on?

- How would you go about creating a social media strategy for a business?

- What do you think is the most important metric to measure when assessing social media campaigns?

- Can you give me an example of a social media campaign that you were involved in, and what the results were?

- What do you think is the best way to create engaging social media content?

- What do you think is the biggest mistake businesses make when it comes to social media?

Paid social media analyst

When interviewing for a social media analyst, in addition to the questions above, you might also ask:

- How do you collect and analyze social media data?

- What platforms do you use to measure social media analytics?

- Can you give me an example of a report you created for a previous client?

- How do you determine whether or not social media outreach programs are effective?

-What metrics are the most important to measure in paid social media campaigns?

Content creator

When you are trying to find the right content creator for your paid media team, try asking questions about their process:

- How do you come up with new ideas for social media content?

- What kind of content do you think performs best on social media?

- Can you give me an example of a social media campaign that you were involved in and what the results were?

- How do you go about creating engaging social media copy?

- What do you think is the best way to measure the success of social media content?

Influencer manager

Finally, when you are interviewing for an influencer manager, in addition to the questions above, you should also ask:

- How do you find social media influencers in our industry?

- What is your approach to social media influencer strategy?

- Can you give me an example of an influencer campaign that you were involved in and what the results were?

- How do you measure the ROI of social media influencer campaigns?

- What are some instances where influencer marketing would work better than others?

Managing your social media team

Once you've hired your social media team, here are some guidelines for effective management: 

• Set clear expectations and delineate roles from the outset. This will help everyone stay on track and avoid overlap in responsibilities. Social media can be a lot of work, so it's important to make sure that you're not overloading any one team member. Creating clear roles and responsibilities will also help you hold team members accountable and ensure that everyone is working to the best of their abilities. 

• Define a clear social media strategy for the team that aligns with your business goals. By having a strategy in place, you will also have set KPIs and goals for your paid social media team. These KPIs will help you measure the success of campaigns and determine whether or not they are meeting business objectives. Also remember that your social media strategy should be tweaked and updated on a regular basis. Social media is always changing, so it's important to stay flexible and adaptable in order to be successful. 

• Create systems and processes for managing content approvals and reporting. Social media moves quickly, so it's important to have a streamlined process in place for creating and approving content. This will help ensure that your social media presence is consistent and that you're putting out high-quality content on a regular basis. Creating a paid media calendar can also be helpful for managing content and making sure that everyone is on the same page. If you can also map out A/B testing for your social media plan, this will help you optimize your content and strategies over time.

• Regularly assess the performance of your team and campaigns. Social media analytics can be complex, but it's important to make sure that you're tracking the right metrics and reporting on them regularly. This will help you understand what's working well and what needs to be improved. Paid social media is an ever-changing landscape, so it's important to be constantly learning and evolving in order to be successful.

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 Paid social media can be a powerful tool to reach new customers and  promote your business. But it takes more than just a few clicks to build  and manage a successful campaign. With careful planning and execution,  you can assemble a team that will take your business to the next level.  

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If you need to build your paid media team, the Growth Managers at  MarketerHire are ready to help. Schedule a free consultation call here.