What to Look for in a Social Media Director
What's one must-have trait for a great social media director?The following answers are provided by the Young Entrepreneur Council (YEC), an invite-only nonprofit organization comprised of the world's most promising young entrepreneurs. The YEC promotes entrepreneurship as a solution to unemployment and underemployment and provides entrepreneurs with access to tools, mentorship, and resources that support each stage of their business’s development and growth. E-mail your questions about best practices for starting up and/or managing a small business to smbs@foxbusiness.com.
No. 1: Voracious Interest in the Latest From Doreen Bloch of Poshly Inc.
Innovation in social media continues to be created, so seek out a social media director who is extremely passionate about the ecosystem. A great social media director will be interested in knowing about the latest tools and social media sites. Even better if the social media director then has an eye for how to strategically implement initiatives with those tools or platforms that bolster business.
No. 2: Can You Handle the Community? From Kelly Azevedo of She's Got Systems
Tools and platforms will change and grow rapidly, so find the person who will invest in and develop the community, no matter where the technology takes you. Keep the high level vision of social media as an avenue to deepen relationships and take service to the next level and the rest will fall into place.
No. 3: Personality Matters Most From Warren Jolly of Affiliate Media Inc.
Managing and building a social media presence online is a fight for your users' attention. How do you keep them engaged? Have a personality that connects with them and keeps them interested in your brand. The best social media directors have a great real-life personality, which then translates into their tone and approach with your community. This will make your users feel at home and connected.
No. 4: The Ability to Talk to Absolutely Anyone From Thursday Bram of Hyper Modern Consulting
Online or off, a social media director has to be able to make connections. You need to find someone who can connect with anyone, no matter how she happens to be communicating. Networking events are a great test to see if a prospect has what it takes to be a great social media director. You'll need to eliminate the wallflowers, but if someone comes away with plenty of new friends, keep her.No. 5: Recruit a Lifelong Learner From Caitlin McCabe of Real Bullets Branding
A social media director should have a good knowledge of the tech space. Choosing someone who keeps up with the changing landscape of the online industry is key. A lot of people tend to get into a rut with social media -- they figure out what works once and they stick with it which can make your social media plan look outdated. Your director should be interested in the space itself, not platforms.
No. 6: Go Beyond Social Media From Benjamin Leis of Sweat EquiTees
Social media is an excellent medium to identify those that are most passionate about your brand. A social media director needs to understand and strategize on how to best incorporate those individuals in your marketing and new product development in order to further strengthen and grow your brand.
No. 7: Don't Follow Corporate Requirements From George Mavromaras of Mavro Inc. | Praetor Global LLC.
Corporations are requiring over six years of experience for a social medical directors. Really? The truth is that social media truly took off less than six years ago, with Twitter, Facebook, etc. Look for someone young who can connect with your customers. Having exceptional communication skills, free thinking, and a creative independent master of your product is a must.
No. 8: Incomparable Follow Through From Roger Bryan of RCBryan & Associates
Most social media campaigns are not direct response, so you need someone who can stay focused and follow through without direct metrics for success. This is not easy to do!
No. 9: Complete Organization From Josh Weiss of Bluegala
These days, a social media director must keep track of a vast universe of social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, etc. Organization is key.
No. 10: Spelling and Grammar, Seriously From Logan Lenz of Endagon
Even if the social media director position isn't the individual posting the updates directly, someone with authority should always be able to edit and revise the brand's message accordingly. Even the smallest of spelling and grammar errors can have a negative impact on a brand. Correct verbiage and writing skills need to trickle down from the director at the top.No. 11: Intellectual Curiosity From Brent Beshore of AdVentures
A great social media director must be interesting. If you wouldn't want to chat with the social media director in real life, then you probably wouldn’t want to interact with him online.
No. 12: Manage the Multitasking From John Hall of Digital Talent Agents
A great social media director must also be great at multitasking. He or she must be able to run and effectively control several different social media platforms at once. This takes dedication and commitment to the task while staying focused.
No. 13: Ridiculous Creativity From Matthew Ackerson of PetoVera
Let's be honest, it takes a special person to sit in front of a computer all day and Tweet and pin, especially if they aren't a founder of the business. That's why you need to hire someone for the position who is ridiculously creative. They can turn mundane topics, like 'taxes and accounting' into amusing and worthwhile content. In fact, use that as a test when hiring.