The short answer, provided you have room in the budget and a need for much more free time, is yes! There are plenty of tools available to help you balance all the elements of your social media marketing strategy, but when work is going well, and you’ve got a lot on your plate, it’s still easy to get overwhelmed. Hiring a social media manager can free up time for you to focus on building and managing your real estate business and relieve some of the stress involved in getting that business off the ground.

How do you determine whether a social media manager would make a good addition to your team, and how do you identify the right candidate for the job? Here are some things to know that may help you make those determinations.

What Does a Social Media Manager Do, Exactly?

Managing social media for a real estate professional involves creating and curating images and videos to represent your brand on social media. It also entails engaging your followers regularly by publishing frequent, regular posts across all relevant platforms according to a set schedule or content calendar. A good social media manager will stay on top of new trends and best practices for all the platforms you utilize and track data and analytics from all platforms to help you adjust your marketing strategy to earn the best results for your business. 

Many of these tasks are complex and time-consuming, or they require a certain level of knowledge you may not have the time or the motivation to seek yourself. Hiring a social media manager can relieve you of a lot of extra work!

What Are Your Social Media Goals?

Think about precisely what it is that you want to achieve with your social media strategy. Do you want to build the authority of your brand? Rapidly obtain more followers? Improve the quality and value of the content you provide your audience? Knowing what you want to accomplish is the first step toward actually achieving it. Once you’ve got your goals in mind, write them down to make them official and create a timeline to help guide your social media strategy. Seeing your needs defined and planned out will help you determine how much and what kind of help you need.

Where Do You Go to Find Good Help?

Job boards like LinkedIn and Indeed are always an easy option for finding qualified full- or part-time workers, but they aren’t the only places to look. If you feel that all you need is the occasional help, you can check out Fiverr or Upwork and view samples of different candidates’ work. If you want to help out your regional job force, place an ad on your local Craigslist forum or classified ads website. You can even try checking with local colleges to see if any marketing students would be willing to help out with the experience.

Finally, your best option is to ask for recommendations from your network to find a social media manager whose quality of work your peers and colleagues can vouch for.

What Skills and Experience Should I Look For in a Candidate?

First of all, acknowledge the fact that there is no such thing as a perfect candidate. Rather than holding out for someone who meets all your criteria, look for a person who shows enthusiasm and initiative in addition to having at least a few of the following skills.

A social media manager should have experience planning, managing, and executing marketing strategies across various social media platforms. They should also have experience using different analytics tools, interpreting and reporting the findings, and devising potential solutions for better strategies.

Candidates should be creative and have skills in textual as well as visual content creation. Ask to see samples of their work and inspect their written content for lack of typos or grammatical errors and their visual content for a basic understanding of graphic design. For evidence of professionalism, candidates should also be prepared to present a solid resume and a well-written cover letter.

How Do I Get Qualified Candidates to Apply?

Start with a concise job description that clearly outlines the position’s responsibilities, the skills you require, and the expectations you’ll have. Then, point out and play up the benefits of working with you and helping build and represent your brand. You’ll want candidates who find your listing to feel excited and eager as they read about the position. That enthusiasm will shine through in their work.

Finally, be prepared to pay a fair wage. Depending on the candidate’s experience and current market fluctuations, $23 to $30 an hour tends to be acceptable for social media management, although this range is subject to change. Many agencies and freelancers charge with a retainer model versus an hourly rate. A monthly retainer can be beneficial for budgeting purposes, so you know your exact spend each month.

We know how busy you are as a real estate agent and how frustrating it can be to keep up with ALL THE THINGS! Add that to the constantly evolving landscape of social media, and it can be overwhelming. To help you and/or your social media manager, we’ve put together 25 tips to help you optimize your brand on social media (including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn) and to build relationships with potential clients.

Click HERE to get your FREE list of 25 Tips to Optimize Your Social Media Brand!