How to build a high-performing team

Social media has turn into an unimaginable advertising and marketing channel to search out, have interaction, and convert nearly any area of interest viewers.

However there’s quite a lot of nuance wanted to achieve success. That’s why social media hiring issues in 2025: Manufacturers want particular abilities to chop by crowded feeds.

On this information, we’ll cowl every little thing you could find out about social media crew hiring in 2025, together with:

• The right way to construction a crew
• What totally different social media roles do
• The right way to interview candidates
• And an entire lot extra.

We’ve additionally tapped social media specialists, Sebhendu Pattnaik, Chief Advertising Officer at Covasant and Eileen Kwok, Social & Influencer Advertising Strategist at Hootsuite, for his or her recommendations on constructing a high-performing social media crew

Key Takeaways

1. Social media hiring isn’t one-size-fits-all. Your crew ought to develop with your enterprise targets. Whether or not it’s one particular person working the present or a full squad, rent for the talents you really need — not simply fashionable titles.
2. Know when it’s time to rent. In case your DMs are overflowing, engagement is flat, or your one-person crew is burning out, that’s your signal to usher in backup. Progress on social means development in your crew, too.
3. Readability is every little thing. Write job descriptions which might be actual about day-to-day duties, clear on targets, and trustworthy about pay. The best folks will respect transparency — and also you’ll save time hunting down unhealthy matches.
4. The most effective groups keep curious. Social adjustments quick. Hold your crew studying, experimenting, and testing new instruments (particularly AI) so your model doesn’t get left behind.

What does a social media crew seem like in 2025?

A social media crew in 2025 is a hybrid of strategic human creativity, operational group, and AI-powered effectivity. All of which may be bundled right into a single, full-time social media supervisor working to develop a startup. Or it may very well be unfold throughout a multi-disciplinary enterprise crew of a dozen folks, every with complementary specialty abilities.

So, who’s on a social media crew? That’ll rely upon:

• Group measurement: A posh, multinational, multi-brand company will want a bigger, extra various crew than a neighborhood enterprise that operates one store in a single geography.
• Objectives: Formidable, wide-ranging development targets will want extra palms and a larger array of talents than a aim like “generate consciousness on TikTok.”
• Channels: Should you’re constructing model consciousness with banking leaders on LinkedIn, chances are you’ll simply want one particular person with a particular skillset (irrespective of how giant your group is). If you could attain a multi-generational viewers utilizing natural and paid methods on Fb, TikTok, and X, you’ll want extra folks with a broader skillset.

The social media crew not often, if ever, works in a vacuum. Their targets and ways overlap with content material advertising and marketing, buyer care, development entrepreneurs, and the model crew.

Supply: Zappos

For instance, you might have somebody centered on rising your model by natural content material on TikTok and Instagram. However they’ll additionally have to subject feedback and questions from current clients and collaborate with influencers.

And infrequently, one “social media” rent might do jobs that might formally land in different classes — as you’ll see in our examples.

When is the precise time to rent for social media?

There’s no blinking indicator that’ll inform you the proper time to put a brand new social media rent. However there are indicators that recommend it might be time to take action.

Indicators your social technique has outgrown your present crew

If development stalls or DMs pile up, it’s time to rent::

• Efficiency plateau: Your follower depend has gone stagnant, engagement is flat, and the circulate of recent leads from social isn’t rising.
• Complicated social wants: You’ve grown from an ecommerce web site with a few social channels to a multi-channel, multi-media, full-funnel social promoting enterprise with new social media initiatives.
• Missed engagement alternatives: Feedback sit unanswered, critiques on social channels go unchecked, and your checklist of unanswered DMs is longer than a CVS receipt.
• Burnout: Your advertising and marketing crew of 1 is frazzled attempting to handle paid social advertisements, create new content material, and hold observe of all of the model mentions.
• Lack of specialization: You’ve discovered an viewers on YouTube Shorts and it’s time to usher in a video storyteller to take it to the following stage.

Supply: GlowingGoddess7

In keeping with Pattnaik, it’s a linear connection between enterprise development and social media crew development.

“When the work quantity will increase and we all know that the conversations we have to take part in, or reply to, are rising over capability, that’s once we determine to rent an extra particular person,” he shares. “As well as, once we need to get into an space inside social media that isn’t inside the present competency of the crew, we rent as effectively.”

For Kwok, the strain check is when one particular person is pulled in too many instructions. “Working in social media entails content material technique and creation, analytics, social listening, engagements, help in managing your social inbox, and different duties that immediately have an effect on your natural attain,” she says.

“As you possibly can see, that’s already fairly the checklist, so the minute the one-person-social-team looks like they’ll’t give every process their undivided consideration, it’s time to rent an extra headcount.”

Enterprise levels and hiring readiness

Along with the factors above, contemplate your enterprise’s stage of development and whether or not it’ll require extra social media assets to realize its targets.

• Enterprise stage: Are you in startup, scale-up, or full-on enterprise mode? Let your social crew mirror that stage of development and rent a minimum of a part-time useful resource.
• Enterprise targets: Much more essential than stage, contemplate your targets. If your enterprise mannequin requires quite a lot of leads from a number of sources and audiences, you’re extra prone to want a bigger, extra diversely expert social crew than even a big firm that sells to a couple enterprise companies and may join simply by simply LinkedIn.

Supply: Maxsemo

Which social media roles must you rent first?

Social media entrepreneurs are available many varieties and may have a really various set of abilities.

“Be sure that whoever you rent has the talents you’re searching for,” Kwok explains. “Should you’re primarily searching for content material creation, search for expertise in creating short-form video, easy graphic design, and copywriting. Should you’re searching for technique, prior expertise constructing one thing from the bottom up is important.”

Let’s break down the most typical roles and job varieties of a social media crew, see their core job capabilities, and take a look at when it’s best to contemplate hiring every.

Social media supervisor

A social media supervisor oversees all model exercise on social platforms, from technique to posting.They might be managing a multi-person crew. Or they might be a one-person band that handles copywriting, graphic design, social media technique, posting, scheduling, and extra.

An SMM is probably going your first social media rent until you could have a really specialised want. Ideally, search for somebody who has expertise in a number of disciplines and who can develop right into a management function.

Social media strategist

A social media strategist is just like an SMM and is usually employed for a similar goal. However actually, your strategist needs to be extra centered on the large image of analyzing information, refining goal audiences, reviewing outcomes, and making a social plan that aligns with your enterprise targets.

Should you haven’t employed an SMM, a strategist may very well be your first choose should you even have an company doing the legwork of content material creation and publishing.

Social media content material creator or video producer

A content material author or video producer steers your model voice and tone. They create the copy and visuals that the world will see. Suppose you could have a extremely specialised want or a big social media crew. In that case, you might have a creator who focuses on creating partaking content material,a graphic designer, and somebody who captures static pictures and video.

In case your Instagram web page or YouTube channel lacks the aptitude that makes your model stand out, it’s signal that you just want an skilled content material creator.

Group supervisor

A neighborhood supervisor has a troublesome and essential job. They use social listening instruments like Hootsuite to study when and the way your model is talked about, then bounce in to create partnerships and affect your model’s status.

They might additionally handle a neighborhood constructed by the model. Starbucks, for instance, has a thriving neighborhood known as “The Leaf Rakers Society” constructed round a love of fall (and all issues pumpkin spice).

Supply: The Leaf Rakers Society

If the sentiment about your model isn’t nice, or should you’re undecided what your model sentiment is, it’s best to contemplate hiring a neighborhood supervisor.

Paid social specialist

A paid social specialist manages social media promoting campaigns. They sometimes handle budgets, direct advert spend, and analyze efficiency. They’ll both collaborate with content material creators to supply the advertisements, or create them themselves.

Supply: Stitchfix

Your paid social specialist can be an early rent, particularly in case your aim is to generate new leads immediately from social platforms.

Social analytics lead

It is a specialised function that crunches all the information out of your varied natural and paid social media metrics and turns them into insights the crew makes use of to spice up efficiency. They’ll dig into questions in regards to the lifetime worth of social media leads, which channels have one of the best ROI, and the way sure audiences react to numerous messages at totally different occasions of the day, week, or yr.

A number of the greatest social analytics leads within the biz use Hootsuite to collect and visible all that information.

Should you generate quite a lot of information from a number of social channels, a number of audiences, and a spread of campaigns, however aren’t seeing the downstream outcomes you’d like, hiring a social analytics lead needs to be in your close to future.

Buyer care/social help

A buyer care or social help specialist listens for and reacts to clients who attain out by way of social media. These messages could also be about product issues, a assessment on Fb, and even recommendations your clients have that’ll make what you provide higher.

Supply: Woot!

This function is usually ignored as a result of it’s not centered on buying new clients. However should you get quite a lot of buyer questions, critiques, and considerations on social channels that go unanswered, a buyer help specialist will save your status and hold these clients completely happy. They can be useful by collaborating with a public relations specialist.

What does an AI social media strategist do?

An AI strategist makes positive your crew is utilizing the precise instruments for all attainable duties and doing so effectively. They’re on high of recent AI platforms and use instances so everybody can benefit from the expertise.

For probably the most half, this function will exist in giant organizations that have to streamline many advanced workflows. They’ll usually act as a social media coordinator. Nonetheless, a smaller enterprise may assign an current particular person with a number of the duties as a part of their job.

How do I write a transparent social media job description?

Listed below are some methods to tune up your social media job put up.

Be clear in regards to the function

We’ve all seen these job descriptions which might be so obscure and far-reaching that it’s exhausting to inform what the job will really be. Or those who seem like they need one particular person to do the job of 20?

Supply: MAYUR448

Be extraordinarily clear about what the function really entails, so nobody says this about your job description. Attempt including a bit describing the day-to-day actions of this function. Point out as many related duties as attainable.

Whereas writing the JD, just be sure you have somebody who’s desperate to study. As a result of social media platforms change over time, even the significance of a particular social media channel in your GTM technique can change, too.

However most of all, use your job description to single out individuals who can adapt. “Whereas writing the JD, guarantee that you’ve got somebody who’s desperate to study,” Pattnaik shares. “As a result of social media platforms change over time, even the significance of a particular social media channel in your GTM technique can change too.”

Kwok explains that it’s best to break down all of the anticipated duties within the description and to be reasonable in regards to the place. “[Include] each social process they are going to be engaged on,” she says.

“A variety of roles are inclined to bake in graphic design, video manufacturing, working paid advertisements, influencer advertising and marketing, neighborhood, and so on. These are fully totally different roles, and whereas they’ll fall beneath the social crew, a sole particular person can’t be anticipated to try this all. A process like working paid advertisements for instance, requires prior information and expertise, so laying all of it out there may be crucial.”

Platform information

There’s some baseline information to search for in a possible social media rent, like a bachelor’s diploma. However you’ll additionally need to search for expertise within the social apps they’ll work in.

In your job description, be further clear about which social platforms your new rent must know in and out from day one. Should you promote to Gen Z by TikTok, a LinkedIn professional received’t be one of the best match.

Which abilities are must-have vs nice-to-have?

This may rely upon the function you’re filling and who else you could have on the crew.

Say that is your first social media rent, and nobody else in your crew has expertise. The particular person you usher in ought to have a working information of scheduling instruments, the flexibility to create a method from scratch, and so forth.

Then again, when you have somebody already working social media and also you want, say, a designer or video content material creator, it’s much less essential that they know the precise instrument you employ to schedule content material. As a substitute, give attention to the specialised abilities they’d want to realize your targets.

What metrics ought to I checklist within the job description?

Please don’t publish your social media job description with out together with how success within the function can be measured and the expectations. And ensure they align with your enterprise targets.

If you wish to enhance engagement in your lively social channels, contemplate hiring a neighborhood supervisor. Embrace metrics like engagement price as a measure within the job description. And add that your aim is to extend it by 25% within the subsequent yr, so that they know the bar they need to hit.

One metric that will get missed, based on Kwok, is pay. “Extra roles must also embrace compensation,” she notes. “There are a lot of occasions a Senior Social Media function (develop international social advertising and marketing technique) receives junior stage pay.

Candidates ought to find out about that earlier than they undergo your entire recruitment course of. Being upfront and clear saves each events extra time!”

Interview questions and purple flags to be careful for

Your crisp, clear job description introduced in an inventory of stellar candidates. Now it’s time for the interviews. These interview questions and checklist of purple flags will aid you get to know every candidate, and set everybody up for fulfillment.

Good inquiries to ask

You’ll in all probability begin off with some straightforward inquiries to heat up the dialog. After you get by the fundamentals, use this checklist to dig deeper into your perfect candidate’s pursuits and capabilities:

1. What steps would you are taking to create a social media advertising and marketing technique from scratch?
   • What’s one factor many [job title] get improper about social and content material technique?
2. Inform me a few time you needed to handle a model disaster on social media?
   • How did you find out about it, and what steps did you are taking?
   • Various: How would you understand if a disaster was brewing, and the way would you deal with it?
3. How do you retain up with present tendencies?
   • And the way are you aware which tendencies are value leaning into?
4. Which metrics do you imagine are an important to trace?
5. Inform me a few time you observed one thing in your social media analytics that made you are taking motion?
6. Why did you get into social media?
7. Inform me a few marketing campaign you labored on that carried out very well or that you just have been notably happy with.
8. Describe our audience and inform me what sort of content material they might care about.
9. How would you go about rising a brand new social media account?

Kwok likes to ask, “What manufacturers [the applicant] thinks do social media advertising and marketing effectively?” She provides that “Not solely does it showcase their persona and the fashion of content material that resonates most, however you’re capable of perceive if there’s an alignment with how they decide a manufacturers social account.”

Pattnaik focuses his interview questions on exercise. “Whereas hiring a Social Media Supervisor, my first few questions are: What number of followers do you could have, and the way lively are you in social media in having conversations, sharing factors of view, and becoming a member of conversations?”

Purple flags to be careful for

Even nice potential candidates can find yourself being a poor match. Look out for these purple flags whereas talking with every candidate.

• Generic solutions: If the candidate isn’t providing private tales and particular particulars of their solutions, they might not have the expertise you want.
• Lack of platform nuance: Everybody you interview possible is aware of tips on how to publish a put up on Instagram and write a Tweet. However do they perceive tips on how to hook a TikTok scroller or get folks to click on a hyperlink from Fb?
• No measurement focus: On the finish of the day, the content material we publish has a aim. Has the candidate measured the affect of their work? Do they know tips on how to alter when one thing isn’t working?

That final one is especially essential, Pattnaik notes. “If somebody demonstrates that they’re data-driven and have been pretty engaged within the channels, it provides me confidence that they know ‘what works’ on that particular social media channel.”

And for Kwok, it’s a purple flag if they’ll solely give examples of massive, splashy manufacturers. “I’m searching for the applicant to say area of interest accounts that I haven’t heard of earlier than,” she shares. “It reveals they’ve performed their analysis, and I can also study one thing new within the course of.”

For instance, Kwok says many SMMs would possibly reference Duolingo and different huge companies that do social effectively. Nonetheless, “I’d have an interest to study what smaller manufacturers which have much less assets are additionally excelling within the social media area.”

The right way to construct an agile, high-performing social crew

Hiring one of the best folks is the 1st step. Now be certain they’re outfitted with one of the best instruments and coaching to do the job.

Use the precise instruments and workflows

Whether or not you could have a single social media supervisor doing all of it or a crew of specialised execs, Hootsuite will assist them develop your social media presence rapidly.

Hootsuite’s content material creation and scheduling options make it straightforward to create higher content material rapidly and put up it a simply the precise time.

And since social media advertising and marketing is commonly a crew sport, your social superstars can simply create a custom-made content material collaboration and approval course of that retains every little thing on model and on observe.

In fact, they’ll want a option to see how all of these posts on all of these channels are performing. With Hootsuite, you will get a birds-eye view (see what we did there?) of your total analytics or dive right into a single put up for a better view.

Put money into upskilling and studying

The evolution of social media (and digital media as an entire) is accelerating at an unimaginable price. Virtually nothing appears to be like the identical because it did a number of years in the past. There are new platforms, algorithms, and tendencies to maintain up with. Plus, the sweeping adjustments AI is inflicting.

Maintaining present with all of it doesn’t occur accidentally. It’s a must to be intentional about studying and upskilling. Listed below are a number of methods we’ve seen SMMs and groups do it:

• Problem crew members to search out and trial one new instrument they assume will assist, then report on their findings.
• Schedule common blocks of time (a few hours every week or a day or two every quarter) particularly for studying.
• Ask a crew member to current on one thing new they’ve realized every month.
• Help studying efforts with paid programs as an employment profit.
• Hold observe of recent abilities and power proficiencies along with your crew.

3 social media crew buildings from actual manufacturers

How do profitable corporations at totally different levels of development construction their social media groups? We requested a fast-growing startup and a big, well-established firm to share social media crew org chart. We’ve additionally added a peak into how our crew is about up.

1. Quick-growing startup: Covasant

Covasant is a dynamic tech enterprise that delivers some heavy-hitting agentic AI options like predictive analytics and clever automation. The crew maintains a constant presence on a number of social platforms, particularly X (Twitter) and LinkedIn. Their messaging is various — protecting subjects from new product releases to a neighborhood hackathon they’ve sponsored.

Supply: Covasant

Covasant splits the job of social media between two folks:

Social Media Supervisor: That is the artistic storytelling professional. They’re centered on digital content material creation, working carefully with the graphics and design crew.

Digital Marketing campaign Govt: This particular person has a various ability set. They’re the social listening and response one that retains a tab on — and responds to — the conversations taking place with Covasant (and the corporate’s different manufacturers). In addition they run paid social media advertisements.

The enterprise is within the technique of hiring for an information analytics function. That particular person will sit within the social media crew, however will function throughout the entire advertising and marketing group.

Mid-sized firm: Hootsuite

As you possibly can think about, we’re fairly lively in social channels right here at Hootsuite. Our crew consists of 4 individuals who, collectively, personal the technique throughout all platforms, create content material, and customarily hold the social media advertising and marketing wheels turning.

• Social & Influencer Advertising Strategist: This function manages influencer advertising and marketing and worker advocacy/social promoting methods. In addition they oversee TikTok and Instagram technique and assist with the general content material creation course of.
• Social Staff Lead: The lead owns Tier 1 social campaigns, the social content material calendar, engagement, and social listening technique. They oversee LinkedIn technique and assist in the general content material creation course of.
• Social Efficiency + Group Advertising Specialist: This crew member is answerable for inbound and outbound engagements, social listening ways, and total neighborhood technique. They oversee Fb, X, and Threads, they usually assist in the general content material creation course of.
• Senior Supervisor, Social Advertising: The Senior Supervisor leads the worldwide social media technique. They information technique, reporting, and attribution initiatives, whereas ensuring channels are used successfully and tactically. They’ve the ultimate say on the crew’s work and assist flip enterprise targets into clear social media plans that create affect.”

Established huge enterprise: Appian

Appian is a tech firm that provides low-code software program growth options. They assist companies construct inner apps that enhance workflows.

Supply: Appian

Appian makes use of each inner and exterior social media help, together with:

• Social Media Supervisor: This worker focuses on managing social content material manufacturing and publishing.
• Digital Advertising Supervisor: The DMM at Appian handles the paid advertising and marketing efforts on social media.
• Company help: Appian faucets into company assist for each natural and paid, as wanted.
• Vice President of Digital Advertising and Expertise: This particular person oversees the social media crew as a part of their function.

The clear delineation between paid and native efforts is obvious right here. However should you scroll their feeds and see the model’s advertisements, they keep a constant message — an essential takeaway for any enterprise because it advertisements new members to the social media crew.

Social media crew hiring FAQ

Okay, let’s cowl a number of of the most typical questions on hiring a social media crew.

When ought to I rent a social media supervisor?

A enterprise ought to contemplate hiring a Social Media Supervisor when social media is taking on an excessive amount of of the advertising and marketing crew’s time, when engagement and different outcomes are stagnant, or when the crew struggles to keep up a constant publishing schedule.

What roles are important on a social media crew?

Essentially, you’ll want somebody who can put up related content material repeatedly, observe and report outcomes, and alter the technique as wanted. Extra roles—like a copywriter, videographer, or social media strategist — will rely upon the wants and assets of the enterprise.

How do I construct a social media crew from scratch?

To construct a high-quality social media crew from scratch, you’ll first have to assess your social media targets and the assets you could have obtainable. Then, you’ll rent to suit these standards.

How a lot ought to I funds for social media hiring?

Your funds for social media hiring will rely in your targets and which abilities you’ll want to realize them. The common pay for an skilled social media supervisor generalist begins within the vary of $60,000 to $70,000 USD.

Can one particular person handle all of social media?

Sure, one particular person can handle all of social media in lots of instances. Nevertheless it shouldn’t be at an entry stage. And in case your development stagnates or your SMM experiences burnout, you’ll want to think about hiring to develop.

Save time managing your social media presence with Hootsuite. Publish and schedule posts, discover related conversions, have interaction your viewers, measure outcomes, and extra — all from one dashboard. Attempt it free at the moment.