Looking for some social media talent, but not sure where to start? Here are some tips and tricks to help you identify, find, and hire the right talent.
How to hire a great social media strategist.
How to hire a great social media manager.
This weekend I gave a mini-presentation for Project FreshKicks in Denver. In less than 10 minutes, here are six content tips:
Can’t see the slideshow above? Click here.
This will be the second in my series of Q&A posts. Today’s topic: getting known and educated with social media.
QUESTION: What should a content person do with social media?
I’m just starting out and up till now I’ve primarily been a blogger. What else should I be doing with social media?
ANSWER: It depends.
What are you trying to accomplish?
If your goal is to stay informed on the latest content marketing news and thinking, get yourself on Twitter. More and more people are adding their expertise to the collective pool of knowledge online…and there are people on Twitter aggregating all this great content so that you can find it, read it, respond to it and add to it. The online community for content is huge and generous.
Another great network for staying informed is LinkedIn. There are content marketing groups, content strategy groups, social media groups, web manager groups…you get the point. If you are looking to collaborate with and learn from others in the field, these groups are a great way to connect.
If your goal is to show off your social media skills, you’ll need to take a different tact. Instead of posting occasionally and following all the right people, you’ll be expected to aggregate or produce high-quality content yourself. This can be pretty time-consuming, but if you’re just starting out and you need something to show your clients…it might be the right move. If this is your goal, you’ll need to be on all the social networks that you want to work with for your clients. If you plan on being a generalist, experience with at least the big social networks will always be an asset.
If your goal is to connect with clients, producing high-quality content will still be part of it. But now you’ll also want to put a strategy in place for how you’re going to find the right people and start a conversation via social media. Who will you follow/friend/connect with? How will you find them? Who will you reach out to? Who will you start a conversation with? All of these questions will inform your strategy–and which networks will work best for you. Depending on your industry targets and the types of people you want to have conversations with, you might be on one social site or a variety.
And, do you have time for this?
With all these options, you’ll still need to take your time into account. If you don’t have time to do it right, you’ll need to change your plan. Only take on what you can do really well and truly benefit from.
It was just a few days ago that a new graduate asked me if those “social media jobs on Craigslist” were real. Of course, I can’t speak to whether or not anything on Craigslist is a scam. But it did open up an interesting discussion about social media jobs. What do they take and who should you hire…
Who Should You Hire to Run Your Social Media?
She said, “wow, that would be an easy job. All you need is anybody from our generation.”
I said, “you’d be surprised how many people in our generation lack the writing skills and customer service savvy to make social media a profitable investment for a company. It’s more than knowing how the technology works.”
You wouldn’t hire an intern to give statements to the press in times of crisis. You want the CEO or the marketing director—the face of the company—out there calming your clients. Social media is an instantaneous way you connect with your prospects, your clients and your skeptics. You need someone with killer problem-solving skills and clear communication at the helm.
Social Media is a Two-Part Job
First comes the strategy. Then comes the execution.
The social media strategist will ask the hard questions: should you do social media? Why?
They’ll do the research and point you in the direction of the right channels to use, the tone, the messaging, the key influencers. They’ll help you develop a social media policy, an editorial calendar and guidelines for posting, responding and reaching out to your users.
And then there’s the executor. This person will post according to your guidelines. They’ll monitor what’s being said. They’ll craft responses.
What to Look for in a Social Media Strategist
What to Look for in a Social Media Manager
The Secret to Your Success?
For those of you who have an awesome social media hire–what else did you look for? What other skills have been essential to your success?
So, you’re thinking about starting or redoing a blog? Before you hire a designer or start your WordPress set up, consider the overall elements of your blog–the header, the categories, the content, the navigation, etc. Outline your strategy for each area and then start in on design. Because, without a plan, you might miss key lead generating opportunities, end up with navigation a designer just threw in as a placeholder or drive away your users.
So, before you design, plan, considering all the general elements below, as well as any elements specific to your needs or those of your customers.
The blog header
The header should very simply and immediately answer two questions for your users: who are you (as an organization, business or blog)? And what can I (the user) do here (get information, sign up for free stuff, find resources, ask questions)?
Navigation
Blog navigation should be simple and every button/link should have a clear purpose. Ask yourself: what info, based on my target audience and my business goals, does my user need to access–and quickly? That information is the information you should link to via your navigation.
Sidebar elements
Again considering first your users’ goals and second your business goals, ask yourself what is the easiest way for your users to navigate your content (categories? tags? featured content?) and what do said users need access to quickly (a way to follow you on social media for frequent updates? A way to contact you/your team quickly? A way to get to even more content–white papers, videos, etc.–with more in-depth information?). Those elements that support user tasks and business goals should appear in your sidebar. And in the order of their importance (contact info is the most important thing? Make sure it’s near the top).
Categories
Categories allow users to browse through similar content. And in my own experience with blogs, they are often the most clicked links on a page or in a post. So make sure they’re clear and simple. Have as few of them as makes sense. And use everyday language to describe them (though the usual moniker is “categories,” I find that “topics” often does a better job of getting through to people–particularly if your audience isn’t a tech-savvy audience).
The content area
Obviously, the key element of any content area is…the content. But here are a few other things to consider:
