How Can Companies Hire Social Media Directors?

I think it would be smart for some companies to outsource that position, as in hiring a qualified consultant. I guess the question would then be what makes a “qualified consultant”….

Chris,

Really appreciate you sharing the post and glad you enjoyed it.

Not sure if you read through some of the comments (they’re lonnnng) but a lost of my readers felt that the answer is all in education. I agree, it’s up to the “social media experts” (the real ones) to guide these companies and not only tell them what to look for, but also why they should be looking for it.

David
Community Manager, Scribnia.com
@DavidSpinks

Hey Chris, I just started as the new Director of Social Media for Break Media (Break.com, Holytaco.com, CagePotato.com, etc.), and I think this is a damn fine and important article right now.

So many people are clueless, to no fault of their own, about what a social media director would do…or even what social media is. It’s a bit of a nebulous term, and can cover a wide range of ills. It’s the new catchphrase, and so it’s being thrown around quite loosely.

Here are the things I’ll be looking for when I’m hiring new social media personnel:
* friendly
* confident
* great communicator (both verbally and written)
* witty
* resourceful
* self-starting

From the managerial side, you need someone that can do a lot more than just manage your Twitter and Facebook accounts. You need someone who has the ability to work well with people, and across a variety of disciplines, because your in-house social media guru is going to be your champion in the next few years.

Everyone wants a social angle on their campaigns and in their company. All companies want to connect with their customers/fans/friends/clients in the networks where they already live and play.

So find someone who knows about technology, but more importantly, knows about relationships. It’ll be their innate ability to jumpstart relationships and generate new connections that will determine the effectiveness of your company as you push into the social realm.

Interesting post!

As much as the ad is important, I think the application process itself should be looked at. Instead of the usual written cv, why not ask applicants to use their imagination in their application, to demonstrate their social media savvy? If you truly understand the social media space, you should be using these tools to make your application stand out – it’s about the actions, not just the words.

Chris, I believe one of the better options for companies is to outsource this kind of task to a company who has been in this space for a while. They know what they are doing, they have been around for a while, and can offer education on social media to boot. Unless there is some factor and they cannot hire a company to help understand and manage their online presence, then go for the ’social media director’ route, but only after all other options have been proven ineffective.