Digital Dealer - May 2018 - 44

By Kathi Kruse
Founder,
Kruse Control Inc.

COMMUNICATIONS

APRIL 21-23, 2015 * TAMPA, FL
APRIL 21-23 * TAMPA, FL

10 Questions to Ask When Hiring
a Social Media Manager
Every dealer wants
his or her business to
grow. At some point
(maybe it's today), you'll
likely recognize the
valuable marketing
opportunities available
with social media. One of
the steps you'll need to
consider is hiring a social
media manager.
Hiring a social media
manager will require
an assessment of your
resources and possibly an
adjustment to your current
operational structure.
Realistically speaking,
it's unlikely that you, as
the owner or manager,
will be doing the social
media marketing. It's very
difficult to produce original, high-quality content,
monitor engagement,
run ads successfully and
continually up your game
while still operating the
store.

HIRING A SOCIAL
MEDIA MANAGER CAN
BE A CHALLENGE.

During the hiring process, you'll need to figure
out who measures up and
who doesn't. Many GMs,
owners or HR managers
don't spend a lot of time
on social networks so it's
quite a challenge to figure
out who the best candidate may be to handle the
store's digital reputation,
social presence, and
sales leads.
Social media reaches

44

M AY 2 0 1 8

people who buy the cars
and service you sell. It
targets those likely to buy
and your social media
manager must develop a
leads funnel strategy.
WHO SPEAKS FOR
YOUR BUSINESS ON
SOCIAL MEDIA?

Social media is a popular marketing medium and
there are many people

organization and your
customers before assessing the potential across
today's social media channels.
Facebook, Twitter, your
company blog, Instagram,
YouTube, and others are
all unique channels and
each has different marketing tactics. Focus on
the channel(s) where your

ENGAGING REGULARLY WITH FANS
AND FOLLOWERS IS EVIDENCE THAT
YOU'RE THERE - YOU CARE - AND
YOU'RE INTERESTED IN HAVING THEM
AS A CUSTOMER.
trying to capitalize on
it. Remember this: not
everyone who says they
can do social media marketing has actually done it
successfully!
When you're ready to
hire (or promote) your social media manager, pose
these 10 questions to your
candidate. Their answers
will inform your decision
and help you pick the right
person.
1. Which social
media platform(s) are
best for our business?
(and have them explain why).
Ask them to describe
the "personality" of your
company brand in three
words. They should have
done research on your

D I G I TA L D E A L E R . C O M

target customers spend
their time.
2. What are the two
most important social
media metrics to
monitor regularly?
 ENGAGEMENT.
Whatever the channel, there needs to be
measurable conversation
around your company
brand. Content drives
social marketing success
so if your content stinks,
you won't see people
engaging. Your candidate
should be well-versed
in writing and curating
relevant content for your
target customers.
 LEADS. What's their
track record with Facebook ads? Have they run
a social campaign that

generated leads? Ask
them to outline a strategy
for Facebook ads. Listening and responding timely
to social media leads is
crucial. Just like in real
life conversations, when
people talk to you, they
expect a response. Make
sure they have a solid
grasp of how leads will be
handled, too!
3. Are they
accomplished in a
social marketing
environment AND
in a social customer
service environment?
Ask your candidate
to define the difference
between the two.
 SOCIAL
MARKETING

environment is "presale." It calls for a more
conversational approach.
Most social media
conversations don't
revolve around sales.
Your candidate should
be able to recognize
where a customer is in
their purchase journey
and guide them to their
destination.
 SOCIAL
CUSTOMER SERVICE

environment is "postsale." It requires empathy,
patience, and the ability
to resolve a conflict. Your
candidate must be able to
recognize situations that
may call for an escalation
to management
Remember: they're not
http://www.DIGITALDEALER.COM
Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Digital Dealer - May 2018
