Hiring a Freelance Social Media Manager on a Tight Budget: 5 Tips to Follow
If you’re a small business owner or an entrepreneur, social media management may not be your forte. Unfortunately, it’s a necessity in today’s digitally-driven world. Hiring a full-time social media manager can be costly, especially if you’re just starting out. But not to worry, there’s a solution: freelance social media managers.
Freelancers can be an affordable alternative that allows your business to maintain a competitive presence on social media without breaking the bank. However, hiring a competent freelancer involves more than just scrolling through job postings on freelancing platforms.
1. Define Your Goals
Before you start searching for a freelancer, you need to define your social media goals. This will help you identify what kind of expertise and experience your ideal candidate should have. For instance, if your goal is to increase brand awareness, you need a freelancer who has experience with building online communities.
Defining your goals will also help you establish your budget. How much can you afford to pay your freelancer? You want to set a budget that is reasonable yet still competitive to attract qualified candidates.
2. Look for Relevant Experience
When searching for a freelance social media manager, look for experience that aligns with your industry, niche, and goals. This experience could be in areas such as content creation, analytics, customer service, or community management.
Don’t just rely on resumes or portfolios, take a closer look at their social media profiles. Evaluate how they manage their own profiles and assess if their knowledge and skills align with your needs. This will help you gauge their potential to manage your social media profiles successfully.
3. Interview Several Candidates
When you’ve narrowed down your list of potential candidates, schedule interviews with more than one freelancer. This will allow you to ask more detailed questions about their experience, methodologies, and approach to social media management.
Make sure you ask relevant questions such as how they measure success, how they tackle customer service queries, and how they create a content calendar. This will give you a sense of their expertise so you can make an informed decision.
4. Consider Communication and Reliability
Social media relies on engaging in real-time with your audience. That’s why a freelancer’s communication skills and reliability are crucial. After all, they will be representing your brand online.
You want to work with a freelancer who is responsive, professional, and has excellent communication skills. Make sure they’re comfortable with communicating via email, phone, and Slack so that you can reach them when necessary. You’ll also want to set communication guidelines, preferably via a written agreement, so that expectations are clear from the get-go.
5. Leave Room for Collaboration
It’s important to remember that hiring a freelancer isn’t the same as hiring a full-time employee. As a business owner, you should still have some level of involvement in social media management, even if it’s just reviewing content before it’s posted.
Make sure there’s room for a collaborative, flexible approach to social media management. Discuss your expectations and any concerns you may have, and be open to feedback and suggestions from your freelancer.
Conclusion
Outsourcing your social media management to a freelancer can be an affordable and effective way to boost your brand on social media. But it requires that you take the time to find a competent social media manager who aligns with your goals and expectations.
By following these five tips, you can find a freelancer who can manage your social media profiles without breaking the bank. And remember, Socialdraft offers a range of products including midjourney prompts, chatgpt prompts, chatbot templates, stable diffusion prompts and more that can help you streamline your social media processes and strategy even more. Visit our website to learn more.