12 essential skills for social media managers

Social media management isn't just about posting catchy content. These professionals must understand different platforms, keep up with fast-changing trends, and – most importantly – manage a brand’s voice.

Knowing what to look for in a social media manager will help you choose the candidate with the best skills for the role. But this can be tricky since social media managers need so many different skills to really make your brand’s social media presence shine. 

This article will show you which essential skills social media managers need – plus how you can assess them in candidates. This way, you can boost your brand's online impact and build a strong social media community. Read on to learn how.

What is a social media manager?

A social media manager is the person behind the curtain who makes sure your brand shines on platforms like Meta (formerly Facebook), Instagram, and X (formerly Twitter). But what does this role really involve?

Each day, they're the ones making your brand look good online. They craft posts that fit your company's vibe and talk directly to your audience. They also time these posts perfectly to grab the most eyeballs. Throughout the day, they monitor reactions to these posts – likes, comments, shares – and fine-tune their approach.

But they're not flying solo. Social media managers collaborate closely with the marketing team to align their posts with broader advertising goals. They often manage a team of social media specialists or social media executives to plan and deliver a social media strategy. They also work with customer service to respond to any feedback or questions on social media. Sometimes, they even team up with sales to boost new products directly to your followers.

In essence, they help keep your brand active and appealing on social media, helping to draw in and keep customers.

Core skills every social media manager must have

To keep your brand buzzing on social media, managers need a diverse set of skills that help them handle everything from daily posts to full-blown crises. 

Hard skills

Essential technical skills help social media managers effectively showcase and grow your brand online. 

• Content creation for writing compelling content that speaks directly to your audience and clearly communicates your message.

• Knowledge of different social media platforms so they can best represent your brand.

• Paid social media advertising so they can run and optimize paid social media campaigns on platforms like Meta, Instagram, and LinkedIn during new product launches and more.

• Social media strategy development so they can craft strategies that take advantage of each platform's strengths – like using user-generated content on TikTok.

• Analytical skills for understanding what the data says about your campaigns and tweaking strategies for better engagement.

Soft skills 

These skills help managers connect with audiences and navigate the ever-changing social media landscape.

• Crisis management for responding quickly and tactfully to negative feedback or public issues.

• Social listening to keep tabs on the online buzz about your brand, which helps spot trends and track competitor moves.

• Influencer collaboration for building and using relationships with influencers to extend your reach.

• Adaptability so they can shift tactics as new trends emerge.

• Creativity so they can dream up engaging campaigns and fresh posts that make your brand stand out.

• Strategic thinking for planning social media moves that mesh with your company’s larger marketing goals.

• Resilience for keeping campaigns on track despite bumps along the way.

How to assess social media manager candidates

When looking for the right social media manager, don’t just stop at their resumes and portfolios. Sure, these help you shortlist candidates who look great on paper, but you'll want to dig deeper. It’s important to really test their skills to ensure they match what your organization needs. 

This way, you find someone who can truly handle the job, not just someone who seems like they can.

You can use talent assessments to test your candidates’ hard and soft skills. Fortunately, using a talent assessment platform like TestGorilla makes this easier. We have various tests that check for these skills and provide unbiased results to guide your hiring decisions. 

Our platform makes it super easy to combine up to five different assessments – so you can test everything from role-specific skills and cognitive abilities to personality traits and culture add. Here’s how you can really get to know your social media manager candidates.

First, assess their hard skills

When assessing your social media management candidate's hard skills, you want to select tests that focus on specific skills you’re looking for. Here are some tests you might use.

• Social Media Management test. This will help you see if your candidates have the knowledge needed for this role and know how to use it to improve your social media reach on different platforms.

• Social Media Community Management. This one assesses their social strategy and planning skills to improve your online presence through their content.

• Meta Ads test. This test helps you see if they can navigate Meta’s advertising platform, create effective ads, and target your audience.

• The TikTok Marketing test and Instagram Marketing test. These tests help you see how well they handle content – and audiences – on TikTok and Instagram. 

• Content Strategy test. This test helps you peek at just how good they are at using content to turn a target audience into followers and customers.

• Public Relations Strategy test. This checks how well candidates can deal with public relations crises. Since social media is often the first place customers reach out with their issues, your candidate needs to be good at handling tough situations smoothly.

• English (Upper Intermediate/B2). This test helps you learn more about your candidates’ English chops, clueing you into their writing abilities. 

Next, assess their soft skills

Soft skills are essential for the day-to-day operations of a social media manager. They impact how they interact with content, colleagues, and the community. Here are some tests you might use:

• Communication test. This one tells you if candidates have strong written and verbal communication skills in a professional setting. It will help you see if they have what it takes to be the voice of your brand.

• Critical Thinking test. This test helps you understand how well your candidates can reason. Can they solve issues by themselves and come up with creative solutions? The test can help you answer this question.

• Problem Solving test. This test shows you how your candidates approach and solve problems as they arise.

• Negotiation test. This test shows you how well they can negotiate with potential business partners (think: influencers) to come up with win-win solutions that make both parties happy. 

Don’t forget about culture add 

Hiring a candidate who doesn’t vibe with and add to your company’s culture can be damaging to your brand – both internally and publicly. They might fluster their colleagues, misrepresent your values, drive away the very people you’re targeting, and worse. 

A Culture Add test is one of the best tools for ensuring that your social media manager will positively contribute to your company and represent your brand well. 

Finally, use behavioral interviews for further insights

Behavioral social media interview questions can reveal how your candidates have handled situations in the past.

For example, ask about a time they turned a negative social media situation into a positive outcome or led a campaign that really increased follower engagement. This can help you assess their crisis management and audience engagement abilities.

You can also evaluate a candidate's creative thinking skills by asking them to explain how they’d design a campaign for a made-up product launch. Their answer will show if they can come up with fresh, attention-grabbing ideas that can stand out in a crowded social media landscape.

Common mistakes to avoid when assessing candidates

You can make sure you’re hiring a social media manager who can boost your brand’s social media presence by avoiding these two common mistakes.

1. Not checking their engagement know-how  

Social media managers shouldn’t just be good at posting content – they must also know how to engage with your audience. This goes beyond responding to a comment there or a DM here. 

Do they know what makes your audience tick? Can they spark a conversation? Do they understand how to get your audience engaged with each platform’s unique features – such as polls and live streams? 

Not assessing engagement tactics can lead you to hire a social media manager who doesn’t effectively interact with your followers. This can leave your brand in the shadows of your competitors. 

2. Not glimpsing their content adaptability

Given the public and real-time nature of social media, what works today might not work tomorrow. Can your candidates adapt their content strategies quickly based on new trends, platform updates, or shifts in audience behavior? Are they ready to experiment with new content types?

Candidates who can’t adapt their content to ever-changing social media trends could silence your brand’s voice over time. For example, your brand’s posts might not land on your customers’ “For You” pages even though your product is one that’s in high demand. 

FAQs

What must a social media manager know?

A social media manager must know how to make and share content that fits the brand’s style, use tools to plan posts and talk to followers, and understand data from their posts to see what’s working. They should also keep up with the latest trends in digital marketing.

What makes you a good social media manager?

A good social media manager is creative and good at analyzing data. They know how to make interesting content that people want to see – and they can use data to make better posts. They also need to be great at talking to people online, working with other teams, and understanding their audience’s feelings and needs.

Find the best social media manager for your team with TestGorilla

Hiring the right social media manager is a must-have for boosting your brand’s online presence. It's important to understand the essential skills needed – from content creation to strategy development. 

Hiring a candidate who doesn’t have the essential skills for social media management can be damaging to your brand. TestGorilla provides the tools to assess these skills effectively – so you can find the best person to rep your brand’s voice.

Ready to take your hiring process to the next level? Check out our test library, schedule a demo, or sign up for a free account today to get started.