20+ Questions To Ask Your Next Social Media Hire

happy friday! we made it! and it’s already december somehow. i hope everyone is resting up after the holiday and black friday/cyber monday craziness.

we’re a bit delayed due to getting hit with a small stomach bug and tech issues, but we’re here! i also realized that this lil’ ol’ newsletter is almost one year old!!!! if you’re new here or have been here since day 1, I appreciate you so much.

it’s that time of the year where brands are looking to hire social media marketers or influencer marketers to bring on to their team, but it’s also the time of the year where some folks want a change and want to get into the industry of social and influencer marketing.

with that said, i thought i would make a quick hit-list of questions that you can use to ask potential hires or prepare to answer if you’re being interviewed. some of these questions literally got complimented during an interview I did for someone yesterday for a new brand i’m advising, but also come from questions i’ve been asked by potential clients and that friends have been asked in their own journey. From social strategy to content creation to systems, they hit on it all.

let’s get into, shall we?

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- The seasonality of your competitors when it comes to releasing new products

- What emails, social posts, and ads are going live for certain campaign or competitor products

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20+ Questions to Ask Your Next Potential Social Media Hire

If you’re reading this, hiring someone or being hired to run a brand’s social media strategy, content, and influencer programs is no small task.

I promise this list is going to be so easy to just tailor and use for your own journey if you’re hiring right now. They allow you to get the information you need, see how that person will get along with you and your team, and more. Of course, you may want to add specific questions if you’re a brand who is more heavily sold in retail or strictly DTC.

Ice-Breaker: If you had to get rid of one platform forever, which would it be and why? If you could only use one platform forever, which would it be and why?

• What platforms do you have the most experience with across social media? Do you like to consider yourself someone who likes to focus on one channel, like Instagram, or likes to work across channels like Instagram, Tiktok, X, and more?

  • Do you feel like it’s important to make sure there is a separate strategy for each social platform?

  • Do you feel like a brand needs to be active on multiple platforms at once or would you rather focus on two really well?

• You can only pick 3 main metrics to measure success. Which ones are your ride-or-die? Why?

  • Do you think that social media should be considered a sales channel? How do you communicate it to higher-ups the role of social media within the company to level set expectations?

• Social media is like the Wild West—how do you figure out which trends to jump on and which to ignore?

• What are some brands that you look to for inspiration across content and creator efforts? Why? How do you like to find inspiration?

• What is a social media and/or influencer campaign that you put together that you’re really proud of? What was your role?

• We’ve all had a plan go sideways. How do you handle it when things don’t go according to plan?

• Speaking of, how do you approach building a content calendar? What tool(s) do you usually like to use, especially if a brand is trying to be a bit more scrappy in the beginning?

  • Do you think brands should have fully flushed out calendars months in advance? What’s your approach on getting a brand ahead while also trying to remain flexible to act fast and stay relevant?

• If our brand were a person, what would they post on social? How would you bring that to life?

• What support would you need in order to do you job best for the brand early on now and in 6 months from now?

• If you were to start tomorrow, what would your first 30 days look like?

• Creators and influencers not only help get the world out, but now allow brands to fulfill their content strategy efficiently and effectively while gaining more reach and impressions. What’s your experience in working with influencers to bring internal concepts to life? Do you enjoy the process of briefing, negotiating, and managing a potential budget?

  • Do you have expertise in working with creators on Youtube?

• What tech platforms do you enjoy to you use when you’re on an account? If you were starting tomorrow, what would you say was a non-negotiable for the team to be using.

  • Inquire about tools regard project management, social reporting, scheduling, and more.

• How do you think about content distribution and repurposing for a brand that has longer form or more traditional channels, like a blog? How would you break a blog post down across the organization?

• What do you think is the most underrated way of building a community? What are ways that you would go deeper with your community vs. trying to get the biggest following possible?

• How do you view organic social media content support the overall marketing organization? Do you have experience helping the paid media arm of a business?

• When reviewing a campaign or the past month, how do you turn data into actionable insights? How do you present results to stakeholders in a way that’s clear and impactful?

• How do you experiment with new ideas while keeping the basics running smoothly?

• What does the ideal social team structure look like for you to be successful?

• If you are working with influencers, what do you look for in influencers beyond just follower count?

• How do you view getting product into the hands of influencers when it’s a product that can appeal to everyone? What ways would you get it out into the world?

• Do you think a brand needs to post every day on social? Why or why not? What’s your stance on upload cadence?

• Are you comfortable on camera if you need to help support on content creation? If so, can you share examples after this call?

• Do you think one person should be doing content (ex. filming educational videos), strategy and management in the beginning? Why or Why not?

  • Note: You all know how I feel about this one, but still worth adding.

• What skills do you want to improve when it comes to social and influencer marketing? What is your bread and butter? What don’t you like doing? What do you have zero interest in doing?

AHEAD OF THE TRENDS

A quick, snappy ode to the fun things I’m seeing online across creators, social, and brands. Sometimes, it’s a trend. Sometimes, it’s just a tip I want to share about marketing. TL;DR: just cool things I’m loving right now.

Account of the Week: AWAY! Alice and her team are constantly crushing it. For a relatively large company, they act faster than most brands online. They’ve mastered bridging brand and culture in a way that feels authentic—never cringe. Case in point: their campaign featuring winners of all the recent lookalike contests (think: Timothée Chalamet, Jeremy Allen White, and more). It’s brilliant. Check it out HERE. 11/10 execution.

Product of the Week: Okay, hear me out—this is random, but it’s a total game-changer. It’s not food or skincare; it’s a computer monitor light. If you don’t have space for a desk lamp or are tired of working in a dark black box on Zoom calls, grab one of these. I snagged this one from Amazon, and my productivity has skyrocketed like, 3,948.39%. Life. Saver. Also, I enjoy that I can change the warmth of the light.

Account I Am Crushing On: Let it be known: I am a sunglasses snob. They’re my go-to accessory, always. One brand I’ve been eyeing (pun intended), but haven’t bought from yet is Chimi. Yesterday, I saw an ad for their new NYC flagship store, and I’m obsessed. They nail the balance of low-fi, authentic content—like their campaign with @subwayhands highlighting NYC moments—with slick CGI and motion design, like this flagship opening video. Plus, their cheeky fake OOH billboard campaign HERE? You know I love a good billboard moment.

That’s it for this week!

It’s been so fun logging into Beehiiv and seeing more teams signing up together—it never fails to make my day and motivates me to keep these coming.

Have a topic you want to see covered or questions you just want answers to? Hit “Reply”

Want to read past editions for free? Click right here.

That’s all from me this week.

As always, peace, love, and KPIs.

-KD

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