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Social Media Manager: Role Profile, KPIs and Interview Questions

This page brings together a social media manager role profile, key performance indicators (KPIs) and hiring materials. Use them to agree on content, customer enquiries and expected results.

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  3. After 90 days, review the person against the same KPIs and competencies.

Job profile

Why the role exists

Attract the right audience through social media and turn their interest into customer enquiries.

Result in a year

Social media consistently generates qualified enquiries against an agreed target; the team knows which posts help customers choose the product.

Place in the structure

  1. Reports toMarketing Manager or business owner
  2. Direct reportsNone
  3. Works withMarketing Manager — campaign goals and budget, Sales Representative — enquiry quality and follow-up, Graphic Designer — visual content, Content Manager — assets and publishing calendar, Customer Support Specialist — questions and complaints
Key result areas
  1. Qualified enquiries from social media — Qualified enquiry target attainment100% of planned qualified social media enquiries.
  2. Clicks from posts to relevant pages — Website click target attainment100% of planned clicks through tracked links.
  3. Useful content people save and share — Save and share target attainment100% of planned saves and shares of useful content.
  4. Approved content published on time — On-time publishing target attainment100% of planned posts published correctly and on time.
  5. Timely responses to the audience — Questions answered on time100% of reviewed questions receive meaningful answers within the agreed deadline.
  6. Tested ideas for improving social media performance — Content experiment target attainment100% of planned experiments completed with data, conclusions and decisions.
Requirements

Experience: Experience managing business social accounts, with a portfolio showing results.

Formal: Strong written communication; a relevant degree is optional.

Should know

  • How the audience chooses products and asks questions.
  • Post formats and analytics available on the chosen platforms.
  • Principles of copywriting, visual storytelling and short video.
  • The difference between reach, clicks, enquiries and sales.
  • Rules for using third-party content and securing account access.

Should be able to

  • Build content plans from customer questions and business goals.
  • Write clearly in the brand’s tone of voice.
  • Create simple visuals and short videos.
  • Analyse post performance and enquiry sources.
  • Handle conversations with dissatisfied customers.
  • Brief freelancers and manage deadlines.
Competencies at three levels

Audience understanding

Helps choose topics that answer potential customers’ questions.

  1. Finds customer questions in comments and uses them in posts.basic
  2. Groups audiences by need and selects relevant topics for each.solid
  3. Tests assumptions through customer conversations and adjusts the plan based on findings.strong

Content creation

Turns product knowledge into clear copy and video.

  1. Creates posts from a brief and checks facts and links.basic
  2. Independently chooses formats and shows product benefits in a specific situation.solid
  3. Builds content series and improves delivery based on the target audience’s response.strong

Performance analysis

Distinguishes popular posts from content that brings in potential customers.

  1. Collects post metrics and records data sources.basic
  2. Connects posts to clicks and enquiries, identifying losses between stages.solid
  3. Tests hypotheses, considers data limitations and proposes evidence-based changes.strong

Community communication

Maintains trust and helps the team handle enquiries promptly.

  1. Follows response guidelines and passes complex questions to responsible colleagues.basic
  2. Clarifies complaints, stays calm and follows up on handovers.solid
  3. Reviews recurring conflicts and improves responses with support and the manager.strong

Content delivery planning

Keeps publishing on schedule with a small team’s limited resources.

  1. Maintains the publishing calendar and requests assets early.basic
  2. Allows time for approvals and flags potential delays.solid
  3. Removes recurring bottlenecks and adjusts plans when business priorities change.strong

Team collaboration

Connects promises in posts with the actual product and sales process.

  1. Checks product details with the information owner before publishing.basic
  2. Agrees enquiry handovers with sales and gathers feedback.solid
  3. Finds causes of lost enquiries and coordinates improvements across teams.strong
Builder

Build the profile for your company

Tick what this person does at your company. On the right is the ready profile: copy it or open it in PapaHR.

Social Media Manager

Attract the right audience through social media and turn their interest into customer enquiries.

Duties
  1. Understand audience questions and reasons for choosing the product.
  2. Build a publishing plan around business goals.
  3. Write copy with a clear next step for readers.
  4. Brief designers and review finished assets.
  5. Film and edit simple short videos.
  6. Publish approved content and check links.
  7. Answer comments and messages during agreed hours.
  8. Pass enquiries to sales and complaints to the responsible colleagues.
  9. Tag links and connect enquiries to posts.
  10. Test content ideas and explain results to the manager.
  11. Manage paid promotion where skills and budget allow.
  12. Select creators for sponsored content.
  13. Agree placement terms and check content goes live.
  14. Arrange shoots with employees and customers.
  15. Host live sessions with company experts.
  16. Develop a private customer community.
  17. Coordinate freelance writers and video editors.
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Social Media Manager KPIs

  1. Qualified enquiry target attainment — Qualified social media enquiries / enquiry target × 100%. Mistake: Counting repeated messages from one customer as separate enquiries.weight 30% · month
  2. Website click target attainment — Tracked link clicks / click target × 100%. Mistake: Inflating clicks through personal visits or bot traffic.weight 20% · month
  3. Save and share target attainment — Saves and shares / target saves and shares × 100%. Mistake: Boosting reactions with entertainment unrelated to the product.weight 15% · month
  4. On-time publishing target attainment — Error-free posts published on time / planned posts × 100%. Mistake: Inflating post counts by splitting one approved piece into several.weight 15% · month
  5. Questions answered on time — Questions meaningfully answered on time / questions reviewed × 100%. Mistake: Counting an automated greeting as a meaningful answer.weight 10% · month
  6. Content experiment target attainment — Experiments with conclusions and decisions / planned experiments × 100%. Mistake: Counting experiments without data, conclusions or decisions.weight 10% · month
Calculator

Work out the KPI bonus

Enter how much of each target was met, in percent, and the bonus at 100%. You can change the weights.

KPIWeight, %Achieved, %Share
Qualified enquiry target attainment
Website click target attainment
Save and share target attainment
On-time publishing target attainment
Questions answered on time
Content experiment target attainment
KPI total
Bonus
Sum of weights

The weights are an example. They should add up to 100%.

Interview questions

Scorecard

Run the interview and get the result

Score each answer from 1 to 5 and the total is worked out by competency. Keep this page open on your phone during the interview.

Audience understanding

Describe choosing topics for an unfamiliar product. What did you learn about the audience, what did you do and what happened?

✓ Listen for: Customer question sources, tested assumptions and a link between topics and results.

⚑ Red flag: Relies solely on personal taste or copies competitors.

Tell me about a post that attracted the wrong audience. How did you notice, what changed and what was the outcome?

✓ Listen for: Signs of unsuitable enquiries, sales feedback and changes to topic or presentation.

⚑ Red flag: Treats any follower growth as sufficient success.

Content creation

Describe explaining a complex product in a short post. What was the goal, what did you personally do and how did you assess results?

✓ Listen for: Clear illustration, fact checking, personal contribution and response from the right audience.

⚑ Red flag: Cannot explain the choice of copy or format.

Describe an unsuccessful video or post. What was your goal, what did you change afterwards and what happened?

✓ Listen for: Specific causes, revised presentation and comparison of results.

⚑ Red flag: Blames the platform’s algorithm alone.

Performance analysis

Tell me about rising reach without enquiries. What did you check, what did you change and what happened?

✓ Listen for: Checks of audience, links, offer and enquiry handling; conclusions drawn from data.

⚑ Red flag: Only suggests publishing more posts.

Describe testing a social media idea. How did you choose a measure, compare results and decide what to do next?

✓ Listen for: Testable assumption, comparable conditions, data limitations and a specific decision.

⚑ Red flag: Chooses a favourable metric after seeing the results.

Community communication

Tell me about a public customer complaint. What happened, how did you respond, who helped and how did it end?

✓ Listen for: Calm response, personal data protection, clear ownership and confirmation of resolution.

⚑ Red flag: Deletes valid complaints or argues with customers.

Describe a sudden surge in messages. How did you organise replies, what did you escalate and what happened?

✓ Listen for: Priorities, meaningful replies and timely requests for help.

⚑ Red flag: Leaves difficult messages unanswered.

Content delivery planning

Describe an approval delay that threatened a publishing deadline. What could you control, what did you do and what happened?

✓ Listen for: Early warning, backup content and an agreed revised deadline.

⚑ Red flag: Waits silently until the deadline is missed.

Describe an urgent change to your publishing plan. How did you prioritise, agree changes with colleagues and assess the outcome?

✓ Listen for: Business priorities, revised scope and clear deadlines.

⚑ Red flag: Promises everything at once without adjusting the plan.

Team collaboration

Describe sales questioning the quality of social media enquiries. What did you find, what did you agree and what changed?

✓ Listen for: Review of specific enquiries, shared qualification criteria and follow-up checks.

⚑ Red flag: Blames sales without reviewing the enquiries.

Describe finding incorrect product information before publishing. How did you find the information owner, fix the content and prevent recurrence?

✓ Listen for: Verification with the information owner, correction and a clear approval process.

⚑ Red flag: Publishes unchecked promises to meet a deadline.

Score at least one answer and the result shows up here. ·
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Test task

Social media plan for a small office lunch delivery business · 2 hours

Use this fictional scenario: a business delivers lunches to offices, takes website orders and receives questions about ingredients, delivery and advance orders. Social media should generate enquiries from office teams. Choose one platform and plan five posts for a week. Write one post with a call to action, a short video script and a reply to a public complaint about a late order. Propose one hypothesis and explain how to test it using clicks or enquiries. List information you would request from the business; do not invent missing terms. Submit a document or spreadsheet. No real accounts, publishing or paid advertising are required.

How to assess it

  • Topics address office customers’ questions.
  • A small team can deliver the plan within a week.
  • Post and video explain benefits without invented promises.
  • The call to action helps people move towards ordering.
  • The complaint reply offers a clear next step.
  • The hypothesis is testable; the result’s data source is identified.

Ready job ad

Social Media Manager at [company]

Help [target audience] discover [product] and enquire about buying.

What you will do

  • Manage [social media channels] and plan posts.
  • Create copy and simple short videos.
  • Brief the designer and obtain content approvals.
  • Answer audience questions and pass enquiries to sales.
  • Track clicks, qualified enquiries and content usefulness.
  • Test ideas and recommend improvements.

What we need

  • Business social media experience supported by a portfolio.
  • Strong writing and ability to explain product benefits.
  • Basic filming and video editing skills.
  • Ability to interpret analytics and draw conclusions.
  • Calm customer communication and reliable deadline management.

What we offer

  • Salary: $[salary]; bonus terms: [terms].
  • Schedule: [schedule]; audience response hours: [hours].
  • Location: [city]; working arrangement: [working arrangement].
  • Team support: [designer, product experts, sales].
  • Resources: [tools and budget].

In PapaHR this text becomes a job opening with a careers page and a candidate pipeline.

90-day onboarding plan

Before day one

  1. Set up social account access with two-factor authentication.IT
  2. Collect product information, audience details and previous reports.Manager
  3. Send schedule, team contacts and the first week’s plan.HR

Day one

  1. Explain social media goals, role boundaries and approval steps.Manager
  2. Explain brand voice, common questions and complaint handovers.Mentor
  3. Check access, analytics and published links.New hire

First week

  1. Review previous posts and enquiries with sales.New hire
  2. Agree qualification criteria and audience response deadlines.Manager
  3. Prepare the first content plan and posts with tracked links.New hire

30 days

  1. Publish approved content and prepare the first report.New hire
  2. Review response quality and enquiry handovers to sales.Mentor
  3. Agree performance targets based on resources and baseline data.Manager

60 days

  1. Test a hypothesis about topic, format or call to action.New hire
  2. Get sales feedback on enquiry quality.New hire
  3. Remove approval delays and clarify content priorities.Manager

90 days

  1. Present results, conclusions and the next period’s plan.New hire
  2. Review probation period goals and agree future decision-making responsibility.Manager
  3. Gather onboarding feedback and record the review decision.HR

Probation period goals

  1. Establish regular publishing of approved content.By day 90, achieve 100% of the agreed publishing plan for the latest month.
  2. Make social media enquiries visible to the team.By day 30, links are tagged and each handed-over enquiry has a recorded source or is marked unknown.
  3. Handle audience questions independently.By day 90, all reviewed questions from the latest month received meaningful answers within the agreed deadline.
  4. Improve content using experiment results.By day 90, complete 100% of planned experiments, each with data, a conclusion and a decision.

Career path

Social Media Coordinator

Prepares and publishes content from briefs, with a mentor reviewing work.

To move up: Manage the calendar independently, meet deadlines and explain post performance.

Social Media Manager

Owns selected channels, content, community communication and reporting.

To move up: Improve enquiry quality, test hypotheses and coordinate freelancers.

Senior Social Media Manager

Plans social activity across business areas and helps colleagues improve.

To move up: Justify budgets, allocate work and develop team members.

Head of Social Media

Owns the team, budget and social media’s contribution to business goals.

To move up: Learn other channels and budget planning to progress into marketing leadership.

Questions for a 1:1 meeting

  1. Which posts generated qualified enquiries, and what worked?
  2. Which customer questions does our content still answer poorly?
  3. Where do we lose people between posts, clicks and enquiries?
  4. What does sales say about social media enquiry quality?
  5. Which approvals prevent us from publishing on time?
  6. Which messages or complaints are hard to handle on your own?
  7. What hypothesis should we test next, and how will we measure it?
  8. What assets, skills or resources are you missing?

Mistakes in hiring and managing

  1. Hiring based on follower counts in a portfolio.
    Better: Discuss the target audience, enquiries and the candidate’s personal contribution.
  2. Expecting strategy, design, filming, advertising and round-the-clock replies from one person.
    Better: Agree priorities, content volume, response hours and team support.
  3. Demanding sales before establishing enquiry handovers.
    Better: Define qualified enquiries, handling ownership and feedback.
  4. Judging content only by reach and likes.
    Better: Assess audience relevance, clicks and enquiry quality.
  5. Delaying approvals while keeping publishing deadlines unchanged.
    Better: Assign an approver, response deadline and a process for replacing delayed content.
HR in money

What a bad hire costs: Social Media Manager

The same calculation as in PapaHR «HR in money»: the cost of hiring plus the salary for the months the new hire worked at half capacity.

One leaver
A year

In the first months a new hire delivers about half the result, so the company pays the other half of the salary for learning. In PapaHR the calculation uses your real leavers.

Questions and answers

What does a social media manager do?

They plan and publish social content, communicate with the audience and track results. Qualified customer enquiries matter to the business, so the role works closely with marketing and sales.

How does a social media manager differ from a content manager?

A social media manager handles promotion and audience communication on social platforms. A content manager may also prepare and publish website, catalogue or email content. Small businesses can combine the roles after agreeing the workload.

Should a social media manager run ads and create designs?

That depends on the hiring agreement and the person’s skills. Simple visuals may fit the role, while complex design and paid promotion need dedicated time and expertise. Specify these tasks and available support in the job advert.

Which KPIs should a social media manager have?

Choose measures that match your social media goals: qualified enquiries, clicks, useful content and timely responses. Agree targets after reviewing baseline data and resources. Assess sales alongside enquiry handling, which also depends on other team members.

How can I assess someone without experience in our industry?

Ask them to explain portfolio decisions and how they learned about an unfamiliar audience. Set a short fictional task with product details and customer questions. Assess their questions, content clarity and approach to measuring results.

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