Thinking about bringing a social media manager on board? We totally understand why.

Out of the 8.2 billion humans on this planet, a staggering 4.9 billion people are active social media users.

Yep, social media is MASSIVE. If used the right way, it can take your business to the next level. But using a big platform means getting it wrong can have horrible consequences.

This is why so many restaurant owners hire social media managers or agencies. Their job is to make your social media presence shine.

Read on to learn how a social media manager can benefit your restaurant. We’ll tell you where to find and hire the best talent.

If you already know you want to hire, skip to Where to find a social media manager. We discuss their typical charges, how to write a job description, and more.

We also have a free e-book for you:

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What does a social media manager do?

Every social media manager has their unique approach. Nonetheless, their primary responsibilities are to:

Create & curate content

A social media manager spends much of their day creating and sharing content.

This content can include articles, podcasts, videos, or infographics. It should be a balanced mix of original, curated, and promotional material.

Schedule posts

After creating your content, your social media manager will schedule posts at the best times during the week.

Many social media managers use tools like Buffer or Pallyy to make scheduling easier. We discuss the pros and cons of social media automation in our free guide.

At F&B Social, we use Pallyy to schedule social media content for clients. Learn more about how we work.

Manage the content calendar

Your social media marketer’s main task is to ensure you have great content to share weekly.

They must keep check of all drafted and shared content. This is usually tracked in a social media calendar. This helps in reviewing each post’s performance.

Engage with followers/partners

Engaging with others on social media is very important. It boosts your visibility and makes your brand feel more relatable.

Your social media manager should comment, share, and respond to mentions of your brand often. This shows you care about your audience.

Monitor social media trends, news and best practices

Social media moves fast.

To stay current, your social media manager will monitor trending hashtags, viral news, and changing best practices. They will stay updated on industry trends.

If you own a restaurant and need social media content, F&B Social can help. Our social media managers know what works and what doesn’t. Visit our website to learn about what we can do for you.

Review analytics and put forward a strategy

Your social media manager will track your content’s performance. This includes clickthroughs on Instagram, engagement rate, and time spent on a page.

Using this data, they can analyse what’s working and what’s not. They will suggest ways to improve and create a strategy moving forward.

Why does my restaurant need a social media manager?

We know what you’re thinking: “I use social media every day. Can’t I do it myself?”

Yes, you can. But, will you get the best results? Do you have the time? Managing even one platform can be a full-time job.

Let’s break it down. Hiring a social media manager lets you:

Focus on your business

Running social media takes a lot of time.

Hiring a social media manager lets you focus on what you can’t delegate.

That meeting needs you. This catering event won’t plan itself. And those emails keep coming in.

Stay ahead of trends

At the risk of sound like a broken record: Social media moves fast. To get noticed, you need to stay on top of trending hashtags, news, and events.

This means checking platforms and joining conversations daily. Sometimes, even hourly! You likely don’t have time for this.

Abide by good social media practices

Are you a regular social media user? Do you know which hashtags get the best engagement? Do you know what images get the most shares? Did you tag the author in your post?

There are many “best practices” in social media. For a social media manager, this is basic stuff.

Maintain consistent branding and tone

A social media manager will set your brand’s tone and keep it consistent.

They handle your writing style and content type. They’ll make sure everything posted is on-brand and relevant to your followers.

Post regular, high-quality content

You know how time-consuming it is to source and create high-quality content regularly.

When managing it yourself, gaps in your content calendar are inevitable. I know this first-hand because it’s what happened to me when I was doing everything myself. A dedicated manager means no gaps and better posts.

Restaurant owners using F&B Social never have empty content calendars. Apply for a free trial and see for yourself.

Increase engagement

Good social media practices, consistent posts, and great content lead to strong engagement. Yes?

When you have a skilled social media manager at the helm, it’s only a matter of time before you start seeing more likes, shares, comments, and followers.

Track performance and implement growth strategy

Restaurant owners often post content and just hope for the best. We call that “spray and pray”. To succeed, you need analytics and strategy.

When you have a social media manager, they make sure to track your content and optimise it for the best results.

Does my restaurant need a social media manager near me?

Deciding if you need a local social media manager depends on a few things. Consider the type of eating establishment you own and your budget.

Why you should hire someone near you

Top reasons to hire a social media manager you can meet in person:

You need photography and video for your restaurant

Are you not very good at taking photos and videos of your food? Or do you not have the time to do it yourself?

You need a social media manager who can visit and capture this content for your social media.

You have the budget to pay for this

A social media manager working closely with you costs more.

Be ready to cover travel, equipment, and extra time fees.

You need or want to meet in person

The pandemic showed us we can work remotely. Still, some of us prefer face-to-face meetings.

Remote work can feel impersonal.

In that case, hire a local social media manager.

Why you should hire someone remote

If you don’t need a local social media manager for the reasons above, hire someone remotely.

They are cheaper and easier to find

Hiring remote gives you a bigger pool of candidates from around the world. You’ll have a better chance of finding someone you really like and can work with.

There’s no commute. The work is clear since you both agree on it from the start. This makes it cheaper for you.

A remote social media manager means less of a commitment

Remote work offers more flexibility.

You decide how much focus to give to social media.

Be direct about your needs. Streamline task management. Scale tasks up or down as needed.

An agency can serve more of your needs

If you want other digital marketing services, an agency can help you expand. For example, they may offer blog writing and more.

You can start and stop work easily

Remote social media managers or agencies are flexible. They are used to clients coming and going.

If you want to stop content creation or are unhappy with the work, a remote agreement makes it easier. You can pause or end the contract and hire someone else without much hassle.

Before you start looking for a social media manager, ask yourself…

Think you need a social media manager? Awesome!

Before you hire, ask yourself some key questions about your brand and goals. This will help you find the right social media manager.

What are your objectives?

When you hire a social media manager, the first question they will ask is: what are your objectives?

You need to know where you want your social media to be in 3 months, 6 months, and so on.

Do you want to share original content daily? Do you want industry leaders to engage with your posts? Maybe you want to appear in trending hashtags, events, or news?

Set realistic, actionable goals. For example, ‘go viral’ or ‘get more followers’ are not clear targets. Be specific to help your social media manager succeed.

Where are you in your social media life cycle?

Are you just starting out? Or do you already have a loyal following? Your strategy will be different depending on these stages.

If you’re new, build your following. Like and share other people’s content. Get involved in trending threads. Follow people in your industry.

If you already have followers, find out what content works best. Retarget those who are engaged.

What makes your brand unique?

Social media is crowded. You need to stand out. One way to stand out is to find your niche and stick to it.

What makes your business unique? What tone and style fit your brand? Make sure your followers can recognise your posts at a glance.

Communicate this clearly to your social media manager. They need to create brand-relevant content from day one.

If you’re a restaurant owner, F&B Social’s social media managers can work with you to achieve your social media marketing goals.

F&B Social is the easiest way to hit the ground running with a talented social media manager assigned to you within minutes of you signing up.

Where to find a social media manager

Once you know your social media goals, start your search for a manager.

Finding the right one can be tough. But look in the right places, and you’ll find someone great.

Here are some top places to find the best talent:

Social media groups

Social media groups are a great place to find recommendations.

Freelance sites have their benefits, but tried-and-tested managers can save you time and money.

Join industry groups on Facebook and LinkedIn. Ask fellow restaurateurs for suggestions. Find out who your competitors or peers are using.

Post on your LinkedIn account or business page to find talent. LinkedIn often connects you with skilled professionals.

Look at other brands’ social media

Do any brands impress you on social media? You might love their style, tone, or visuals.

Ask them who manages their social media. Their manager might be a freelancer needing work. If not, they could recommend someone.

Job boards

We mentioned using job boards earlier. They can be helpful. But there’s some luck involved.

Many sites don’t thoroughly vet users. Some people exaggerate or even fabricate their experience.

Be sure to interview candidates carefully. Check their experience. Asking them to write a few posts for you can also help. We’ll explain this in more detail soon.

For now, here are some of the most popular freelance job sites to start with:

• Authentic jobs
• Freelancer
• Guru
• Hubstaff Talent
• People per Hour
• Simply Hired
• Upwork

How to hire the best talent

Now that you’ve picked your platform –  start hiring!

There are many skilled social media managers. But they can be hard to find.

You won’t know if you’ve struck gold until they start. But don’t worry! You can do a few things to attract top talent:

Write an awesome job description

A clear job post attracts the best candidates.

This is your chance to sell your business to top social media managers. Why should they work for you? How will this job benefit them?

A social media manager job description should include:

• Outline of the job

• Daily tasks

• What skills you’re looking for

• Any particular benefits

Your job description should clearly explain the role.

Don’t let candidates misunderstand their duties, your business, project scope, or goals.

Make your job offer exciting! Show enthusiasm and positivity to attract the best candidates.

Make a shortlist

When applications come in, you need to create a shortlist.

Hiring the best talent is tough. You never know until they start working. But here are some key skills and qualities to look for in their CV or cover letter:

Are they creative?

Social media managers must tackle many scenarios with creativity. How will they make your social media stand out?

Do they understand social media for restaurants?

Being a social media fan is one thing. But do they get your restaurant’s goals? Do they know metrics and strategies? Do they understand what you aim to achieve?

Can they manage a team?

As your social media grows, your manager will need to organise writers. They should coordinate news and events. And they must follow up on all leads.

Are they organised?

Running a social media strategy needs good organisation skills. Can they manage your content and schedule?

Ask the right questions in interview

If you think you’ve found the right social media manager, set up a Zoom call or meet face-to-face.

Here are some questions to ask:

“How do you stay on top of social media trends/best practices?”

Your candidate should know the current trends and best practices. Check if they know how to track these. See if they use tools to help them.

”Which channels do you think would work best for our restaurant?”

This helps you see if they know your brand. It also shows if they understand each platform.

”What would be your first steps to growing our audience?”

Don’t expect a full marketing plan. Think more along the lines of focused hashtags, keywords, quality content, and mentions.

Look for candidates who target your audience, not just aim for more followers.

💡 Pro tip: Why not test them by asking them to write a few posts as part of their application?

Social Media Manager Tips for Restaurants

The biggest question for restaurants is whether to hire someone in-house or freelance.

There are pros and cons to both.

An in-house employee is more invested long-term, but they cost more.

Freelancers might be cheaper and more flexible, but they can be tough to manage.

There is a third option!

Social media agencies offer the quality and consistency of an in-house team, with the flexibility and pricing of freelancers.

At F&B Social, we have a team of talented, native English-speaking social media managers ready to help you.

Here’s what you get when you sign up with us:

• A 7-day free trial, plus monthly check-ins to revise the strategy
• A dedicated social media manager who will manage and post all of your content through our content management dashboard
• Access to the entire rest of the team in case your social media manager is unavailable for some unusual reason
• Unlimited revisions
• Static and video content styled and formatted correctly for all major platforms, starting at only $377 per month — check out our pricing plans
• Streamline communications between you and your social media manager by leaving feedback and requesting revisions (did I mention they’re unlimited?) easily through the dashboard. No more emailing back and forth and sifting through Slack threads!

If you think we’d be a good fit, apply here for our 7-day free trial.

Conclusion

Hiring a pro to manage your social media is crucial. It ensures you get the most out of every post.

There are many ways to find a social media manager. First, know your goals. Write a clear job post. Ask smart questions during the interview.

Today, think about your goals and brand. Where are you now with social media? Where do you want to be in six months?

Once you know your goals, you can find your perfect social media manager.