Entry-Level Social Media Talent: What to Expect

We see it all the time – businesses hiring junior talent to own and operate their entire social media ecosystem… then wondering why the new hire is miserable and the channels aren’t taking off a few months down the road.

If you’re hiring junior-level social media talent and don’t really know what’s reasonable to ask of them vs. what will require some additional coaching/oversight, here are a few tips:

The following are social media-related tasks you can absolutely hire entry-level talent to handle:

1. Scheduling posts
2. Pulling social performance data
3. Content calendar maintenance

The following are social media-related tasks you absolutely cannot expect entry-level talent to handle:

1. Concepting, designing, and writing posts
2. Providing social performance insights (the WHY behind content performance, or lack thereof)
3. Establishing and/or maintaining a social content strategy that ladders up to your business goals

Marketing/business leaders, you've gotta know that when you hire "an intern" or "a kid" or a "new grad" to independently own and operate your social media presence, you are setting them up to fail and yourself up for disappointment.

Not because they're inept – many of them probably know more about social platforms than anyone else in the building – but because they haven't had a chance to learn what good social strategy really looks like in the context of a larger marketing machine.

Knowing how something works is very different from knowing why it works. The "why" allows for repeatable success... and it comes with time.