A social media manager at a firm of 10 to 250 people is judged on one thing: whether social conversations turn into enquiries. Everything else, from post design to follower growth, serves that. If you are about to find a social media manager, this article answers what to hire for, whether a local hire beats a remote one, and how to set the person up on the levelpartner.ai platform so they are productive and safe from their first week.
What the role actually covers
Job titles vary. A social media content manager focuses on writing and visuals. A social media marketing manager adds paid campaigns and reporting. A social media post manager mostly schedules and publishes material others create. At a 60-person firm you usually need one person who does a slice of all three, with most of the time going on content and replies.
Write the job around outcomes rather than titles: a steady posting rhythm, replies within a working day, and a monthly report that shows enquiries from social. That description filters candidates better than a list of tools.
What to hire for
Hire for writing first. Ask for three short posts based on a real client question you give them, and judge how quickly they get to the point. Hire for judgement second. Give them a draft containing a client name, an unsupported claim and an off-tone joke, and see what they catch. Hire for curiosity third. The best candidates ask about your clients before they ask about your brand colours.
Tool experience matters less than you might think. Any capable person learns a planner in a week. Few learn how to write for mortgage clients or property sellers in a month.
Local or remote
Searches for a social media manager near me usually reflect a reasonable instinct: someone nearby can photograph your team, attend events and sit in on client meetings. For real estate firms, local knowledge of streets and schools is a genuine advantage. For agencies and consultants, a remote manager often works just as well if they get regular time with your senior people. Whichever you choose, the person needs weekly access to the people who talk to clients.
Before you start
- A written role description built around outcomes, not titles.
- Social accounts connected to the Social Planner under a company login.
- A senior approver who will review drafts for the first three months.
- A voice guide, a banned topics list and access to approved images.
How to set it up
On day one, add the manager as a user with access to the Social Planner, Conversations, Media Storage and Reporting, and share the voice guide and banned topics list. For the opening quarter, every post they write goes through the planner's approval flow to the senior approver. Assign social messages in Conversations to the manager with a named backup, book a weekly half-hour with a senior adviser, and review after ninety days whether approval can be lighter.
The daily reply pass on comments is the part to teach in the first week:
- Go to Marketing > Social Planner > Comments.
- Read new comments on posts published through the planner.
- Reply, like or answer threaded comments.
- Switch the filter between Latest and Top.
- Select a platform, apply filters and click Mark All as Read.
What the manager replaces
A capable manager replaces the scattered efforts of several people posting when they remember. They also replace the founder's late-evening posting habit, which tends to stop the moment a busy month arrives. What they do not replace is senior input. A manager without access to client questions produces content that looks fine and brings in little. See social media content planner for how to turn that input into a monthly plan.
Imagine the consultancy hires a part-time manager for three days a week at an illustrative £28,000 a year pro rata, about £4,200 a quarter. The test after the first quarter would be the three numbers agreed up front: posts published on schedule, replies within a working day, and enquiries from social. If a dozen enquiries produced even two or three proposals, the partners would have a real basis for keeping or widening the role.
When not to hire
If you post fewer than twice a week and do not plan to grow that, a full manager is more than you need. An internal person with a few hours a week and an approver can cover it. Hiring makes sense once the posting rhythm, replies and reporting together exceed what a part-time internal owner can handle. For the lighter option, see social media management for small business.
Hiring a manager and measuring them on follower growth. Followers are easy to buy attention for and hard to turn into work. Measure enquiries and replies from day one, so the manager optimises for what the partners care about.
Weekly rhythm for the role
A typical week: one planning block on Monday, drafting through the week, daily passes through Conversations and the Comments view, and a Friday check of the coming week in the social media posting calendar. Monthly, an hour on the report.
Troubleshooting
Posts are on time but generic. The manager lacks access to client conversations. Protect the weekly session with a senior adviser.
The approver holds everything up. Approval has no fixed time. Book a daily ten-minute slot.
Replies slow down during holidays. No backup was named. Assign Conversations to a team rather than one person.
The report is full of reach figures. The outcome was not defined. Agree the three numbers that matter and drop the rest.
Frequently asked questions
Should I hire a social media manager or use an agency?
Hire when you need steady volume and your best material comes from inside the firm. Use an outside provider when you need design and volume without adding headcount. Either way, keep the work inside your own accounts.
What should a social media manager report each month?
Enquiries from social, opportunities created, response times and the posts that started real conversations. Engagement figures can sit in an appendix.
How do I give a new manager access safely?
Give them their own user, send their posts through the approval flow at first, and never share network passwords. Manage social media accounts covers connection and offboarding.