The Social Media Manager has become the go-to person for businesses who require assistance using their online marketing efforts. It's no secret the impact social marketing can have on a small business and the advantages its google-plus. And it's also no secret that most business owners cannot handle their social marketing all on the own.

A Social Media Manager does a whole lot more than posting status updates on profiles. Social media marketing management encompasses figuring out the who, the what, the when and why. Would you your business want to reach? What is needed to reach them? Where are they most active? Why should we use social networking within our marketing efforts? Many businesses are discovering that outsourcing or hiring you to definitely manage their campaigns has become an important section of using social networking for marketing. Some other individual can usually start to see the problem more clearly.

Social media marketing management is a position that has attracted a large amount of attention and membership in recent years. I start to see the major causes for its popularity as:

- Low entry barriers

- A higher demand for the services

- Big rewards

But is it really for everybody? Honestly, these day there are lots of social networking managers. Some very, very good. Some really, really bad. So how do you filter the bad ones and find the nice ones? Well, the nice social networking managers will know their stuff and they understand what it requires to be successful.

Here are 21 questions you are able to ask your potential social networking manager and what the higher answers should look like...

1. How do you define success?

The quantity of followers isn't the only sign of success in social marketing. A social media manager should have the ability to allow you to define success on a proper and tactical level, in order to support your larger marketing goals. If a social media manager includes a limited view of success, or is not able to explain performance measurement beyond the amount of audiences, they won't have the ability to offer you higher level strategic solutions.

2. What sort of results can we expect?

An excellent social networking manager will manage your expectations and let do you know what results you may achieve. Understand that social networking managers aren't psychics. They ought to act on your behalf utilising the best practices of the, but there will be a lot that is out of their control. They ought to have the ability to provide you with a rough concept of what they bring to the table based on the previous results and experiences. If a social media manager cannot communicate this effectively for you, then they probably don't have the degree of experience you need.

3. How is ROI defined in social marketing?

Despite popular thinking, ROI can continually be measured in social marketing. But it can be perceptual. What are your goals? Were they achieved? In that case, then you had a positive ROI. Did your campaigns help your business by any means or have any results? Should they did, then you had been successful. Social marketing ROI is not at all times linked with tangible business benefits. Ask the social networking manager which factors could be measured and how they'll be reported to show the value they bring to your business.

4. What social platforms would you specialise in? Why would these specific platforms be right for the business?

Different social support systems have different audiences and practices. Don't assume all network is right for each and every business or industry. Like, how could a pharmaceutical company possibly engage in drug marketing on Twitter? The reality is that most businesses can take advantage of the networks out there in some way, but when you will find limitations, you would like your social networking manager to keep yourself updated of them.

5. Should we be on every social platform?

A social media manager who has done their research on your business ought to know your target audience. How that is answered is the key as it gives you an instant knowledge of their perceptions of your business. If a social media manager extends your business visibility to many networks, your marketing efforts may spread too thin and mean some of the campaigns might suffer. They ought to pick where your market is already situated and give attention to maximising performance on those platforms.

6. Would Google+ be worth using for the business?

This will highlight the extent of your potential social networking managers Google+ knowledge. Google indexes Google+ content faster than content posted anywhere else. It's a platform that has grown rapidly since its launch in 2011 and has become among the main social platforms. A social media manager ought to know this and should understand whether your market exists there, thus viable for your business, and how Google+ could be leveraged to fulfill your wider marketing objectives.

7. Could you give us an example of a limitation on a social platform that you have experienced? How did you overcome this?

A social media manager should understand that social support systems come with limitations; API calls, bandwidth limitations, character limits etc... If a social manager has never come across limitations and hasn't experienced how exactly to overcome them, then this likely means that they are not very experienced. In fact, they will likely be brand-new to the social landscape. Asking how they overcome any hurdles using their past or current clients will provide you with a great indication of how they respond to adversity.

8. Can we run a "Like and Share to Win" style contest on our Facebook page?

If a social media manager doesn't know the solution to this, then move on. Its imperative you discover a person who knows the rules and guidelines of every and every social platform and who won't have your business in violation of any Terms of Service. As a heads up, on Facebook you have to use a third-party app to host the contest and cannot use the 'Share' button, 'Like' button or require an opinion in order to be entered to win.

9. Maybe you have had to deal with a social marketing crisis? In that case, could you offer an example?

Asking a social media manager to define what that 'crisis' means to them can highlight their level of experience. If their biggest crisis consists of miss-typing a URL on a Pinterest pin and not noticing until their client asks why there's so many messages about broken links, then chances are they are vastly inexperienced google-plus. It's also insightful to ask what steps they took to eliminate the crisis and how the problem was handled.

10. Could you show us some of the clients or projects you are still working with?

Any reputable social networking manager can tell you their client accounts. And be proud to do so. Some profiles will likely be doing better than others based on each campaigns goals and strategies. Should they dodge the question or cannot explain to you anything, then it will rightfully lead you to consider they are hiding something. Social media marketing managers who take pride in doing quality work should want to show you their portfolio. Imagine turning up to a sales pitch with no product sample. Clients would not even think of placing an order unless they are able to see what they are buying.