Guest Author
You can have the best product in the world, but if no one sees it online, does it even matter?
Social media is where your audience hangs out, discovers new brands, and makes buying decisions. And behind every strong social presence is a smart, agile team making it all happen. Whether you’re launching a new business or scaling an existing one, building the right social media team is key to turning visibility into real results.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the eight essential steps to hire, structure, and lead a high-performing team that not only supports your goals but actually helps drive them forward.
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Short Summary
- Before building your team, define what you want to achieve on social media, whether it’s brand awareness, website traffic, engagement, or lead generation. Your goals should shape your strategy, team structure, and content direction.
- An effective social media team includes essential roles like a Social Media Manager, Content Creator, Community Manager, Analyst, and Paid Ads Specialist. Each plays a unique role in maintaining a well-managed social media presence and driving business outcomes.
- Successful team members need both technical and soft skills, from content creation and data analysis to adaptability, time management, and communication. Look for well-rounded candidates who can keep up with fast-paced digital trends.
- Start with a content strategy: know what you want to say, choose the right platforms, and figure out how you’ll keep people interested. Tools like SocialBee let you plan and schedule posts, see what’s working, and keep everything in one place. You can also work with your team, approve content, and manage it all from one tab instead of jumping between platforms.
- Support ongoing training through courses, conferences, and feedback loops. Celebrate wins like audience milestones, and use failures as learning opportunities to strengthen your team’s collaboration and long-term success.
Table of contents
- Why do you need a social media team?
- Steps to building your dream social media team
- 1. Define your goals and objectives
- 2. Identify key social media roles and the skills you need on your team
- 3. Choose your recruitment strategies
- 4. Foster team collaboration and culture
- 5. Invest in training and development
- 6. Create a solid social media strategy
- 7. Monitor and analyze your social media performance
- 8. Celebrate wins and learn from failures
- Frequently asked questions
- Ready to start building your social media marketing team?
Why do you need a social media team?
You need a social media team because managing social media well takes more than just posting occasionally. It involves planning content, engaging with people, and paying attention to how posts perform.
How a team looks depends on the type of business. In a small business, the social media team might be just one or two people handling everything. In an agency, the team is usually larger and more specialized, with people focused on strategy, content, community management, and analytics. For big corporations, social media teams often work closely with other departments like marketing, PR, and customer service to keep messaging consistent and handle larger audiences.
Working together, the team makes sure the brand stays active and connects with the right audience. They help build relationships, increase visibility, and handle any issues before they become problems.
Without a dedicated team, social media can easily become unorganized or inconsistent, which can hurt the brand’s reputation. So having the right people focused on social media helps the business grow and keeps communication smooth.
Steps to building your dream social media team
Creating a winning social media team requires a strategic approach. Here are the steps to building your social media team:
- Define your goals and objectives
- Identify key social media roles and the skills you need on your team
- Choose your recruitment strategies
- Foster team collaboration and culture
- Invest in training and development
- Create a solid social media strategy
- Monitor and analyze your social media performance
- Celebrate wins and learn from failures
1. Define your goals and objectives
Before you build or restructure your social media team, get clear on what you actually want to achieve. Your goals should guide the team,not the other way around. Start with these two questions:
- What are our business goals?
- How can social media help us reach them?
Here are some common social media goals to consider:
- Build brand visibility
- Drive traffic
- Build trust and credibility
- Re-engage and convert
- Generate leads
Goal 1: Build brand visibility
If your priority is getting your name out there, your team needs to focus on consistent, engaging content. Think regular posts, short-form videos, and behind-the-scenes footage. Bringing in a content creator or event videographer can help produce content that feels more authentic and professional.
Influencer partnerships can also work well here, especially when the content is personal or educational (e.g. tutorials, testimonials). These types of posts are more likely to be trusted and shared.
Did you know that 92% of brands had planned to invest in influencer marketing in 2024? (AdAge)
Goal 2: Drive traffic
If the goal is to bring more people to your website or product pages, your content should include clear CTAs and links. You’ll need someone focused on writing compelling captions, designing attention-grabbing visuals, and tracking what drives clicks.
Strong hooks, teaser copy, and trackable links in Stories, bios, or captions all contribute here. Your team should regularly test and refine what content types are actually moving people to take action.
Goal 3: Build trust and credibility
Trust takes time and consistency. If this is your focus, your community manager plays a big role. They should be leading conversations, replying to comments and DMs, and sharing real feedback from customers.
UGC (user-generated content) is especially useful here – photos, testimonials, or reviews posted by real customers can make your brand feel more approachable. A 2023 Statista study found that 4 in 5 Gen Z consumers trust UGC videos when deciding what to buy.
Goal 4: Re-engage and convert
If you’re losing potential customers at the last step (abandoned carts, unfinished signups) your social media team should work closely with your strategist or performance marketer to run retargeting campaigns.
These might include ad reminders, time-limited offers, or social posts aimed at pulling people back in. This often requires collaboration with a designer and someone who knows how to analyze user behavior and campaign results.
Goal 5: Generate leads
For businesses focused on growing an email list, booking calls, or getting new signups, lead generation should guide your content strategy. Your team should know how to create high-converting ads, forms, and landing pages and how to promote them across channels.
Example: A fitness trainer might offer a 10-day workout plan in exchange for an email signup, or run a limited-time promo for new clients, like the one shown in the Exclusive Fitness Studio post.
Once your goals are clear, you need to make them measurable. This helps your team understand what success actually looks like.
Examples of social media KPIs:
- Increase engagement rate by 5% within six months
- Gain 1000 new followers
- Drive 200 leads from Instagram
- Boost link clicks by 10% compared to last quarter
A strong social media team knows what they’re working toward and how to track whether it’s working.
2. Identify key social media roles and the skills you need on your team
A good social media team needs more than just people who can post content. You need a mix of creative minds, strategic thinkers, strong communicators, and data-savvy social media team members.
Below are the essential social media team roles to cover, and what skills each one brings to the table:
- Social media manager
- Content creator / designer
- Community manager
- Social media analyst
- Paid advertising specialist
Social media manager
Your social media manager oversees everything. From campaign planning and calendar management to team coordination and brand tone, this person keeps your social media efforts aligned with business goals.
Soft skills needed as a social media manager:
- Organized and good under pressure
- Cross-functional thinker (connects marketing, sales, and content under the social media management umbrella)
- Strong communication skills
Note: In a 2024 survey by Statista, 56% of respondents reported that communication was the top soft skill their companies prioritized.
Hard skills needed as a social media manager:
- Experience with scheduling and publishing tools
- Platform knowledge across Instagram, LinkedIn, X, TikTok and other social media channels
- Familiar with reporting and analytics dashboards
Content creator / designer
They create the visuals, write the captions, and often shoot or edit the videos for your social media posts. Their job is to make content that grabs attention and fits each platform’s style and audience.
Soft skills needed as a content creator:
- Creative thinking
- Attention to detail
- Ability to adapt voice and tone
Hard skills needed as a content creator:
- Design (Canva, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop)
- Video editing (CapCut, Premiere Pro, TikTok native tools)
- Understanding of social media trends and platform-specific formats.
Note: According to Backlinko, 37% of marketers consider visuals their “most important” content type. Hire someone proficient in Canva or Photoshop to create stunning visuals.
Community manager
The social media community manager is the front line of your brand. They reply to comments and DMs, start conversations, and make followers feel heard and valued.
Soft skills needed as a community manager:
- Empathy and emotional intelligence
- Patience and problem-solving
- Friendly, brand-aligned tone
Hard skills needed as a community manager:
- Experience managing social accounts or communities
- Customer support
- Social listening and moderation experience
Social media analyst
The social media data analyst looks at the numbers to understand what’s working and what’s not. They help your team make smarter decisions based on performance and trends.
Soft skills needed as a social media analyst:
- Analytical mindset
- Clear communicator (especially when explaining data to non-technical teammates)
- Detail-oriented
Hard skills needed as a social media analyst:
- Proficiency in Excel/Google Sheets (data analysis & reporting)
- Experience with social media analytics tools
- Knowledge of platform-native insights
- Familiarity with Google Analytics
- Experience with A/B testing and campaign optimization
Paid advertising specialist
They manage ad campaigns across platforms like Meta, LinkedIn, and TikTok. This includes building the ads, monitoring performance, and adjusting based on results.
Soft skills needed as a paid advertising specialist:
- Strategic thinking
- Comfortable testing and iterating
- Focused on results
Hard skills needed as a paid advertising specialist:
- Experience with Ads Manager platforms
- Knowledge of targeting options, budget pacing, and social media campaigns optimization
- A/B testing and conversion tracking
3. Choose your recruitment strategies
Hiring for your social media team isn’t just about finding someone who knows how to post on Instagram. You need team members with the right balance of strategic thinking, platform knowledge, and real execution skills.
There are two key areas to focus on when building your recruitment plan:
Where to find the right people
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach, but here are a few places to start depending on your budget and timeline:
- Job boards: Platforms like LinkedIn and Indeed work well if you’re hiring full-time employees for your social media department.
- Social media platforms: Post your job in relevant groups, such as “Social Media Jobs” on Facebook, and share posts specifically promoting your vacancies.
- Networking and events: Attend industry conferences or online events focused on digital marketing or social strategy. It’s a great way to meet freelancers or agencies face-to-face.
- Freelance marketplaces: If you’re looking for flexible support with social media tasks like content creation, analytics, or ad management, platforms like Upwork are a great place to start.
Note: Upwork and Fiverr are popular platforms for freelancers. In 2023 alone, Upwork had 851,000 active clients (Backlinko).
How to assess the right fit
When people start applying to join your social media team, don’t just focus on their CV. That’s just part of the picture. You also want to understand how they think, how they create content, how they communicate with others, their time management skills, etc.
Start by looking at examples of their work. Check out their portfolio or any social media accounts they’ve managed. You’ll get a better sense of their style, how they write, and whether they understand what makes content engaging.
It also helps to ask a few practical questions. For example, how would they handle a drop in engagement? Or what would they do if a post didn’t go as planned? These kinds of questions show you how they think through problems.
You should also give them a short task, nothing too time-consuming. Maybe ask them to write a few sample posts, plan a mini campaign, or review some metrics and explain what they’d do next. It’s a simple way to see their skills in action.
And finally, think about how they’ll fit into your team. Experience is important, but enthusiasm and a good attitude go a long way.
4. Foster team collaboration and culture
A collaborative social media team doesn’t just happen, it needs structure, intention and a productive work environment.
One of the first things to establish is how your team communicates. That might mean setting expectations around how project updates are shared or what tools are used to clearly communicate task ownership and deadlines.
But tools alone aren’t enough. Real collaboration happens when you create space for it. Regular check-ins (not just status meetings) give your social media team members a place to brainstorm new content creation ideas, share what’s performing well, and flag issues early, before they affect the campaign.
Just as important is building a culture where people actually speak up. If your social media community manager doesn’t feel comfortable pointing out when something isn’t resonating with followers, or if your content creator feels like their input isn’t valued, it hurts the quality of your social media strategy.
That’s why feedback (both giving and receiving) should be a regular part of how your social media department works. Whether it’s through debriefs, async feedback on design drafts, or informal review sessions, the goal is to build a team culture where people aren’t just completing tasks, they’re actively improving how the team works together.
5. Invest in training and development
Trends in social media shift fast. If your social media team isn’t staying up to date, your strategy will start falling behind. Regular upskilling helps your team create better content, use the latest tools confidently, and make more strategic decisions.
Start with online training that fits your team’s needs. For example, SocialBee offers a dedicated course on Udemy – Become a Social Media Manager – which covers both the strategy and day-to-day execution needed to run strong, consistent campaigns across platforms.
You can also encourage team members to join industry webinars and virtual workshops hosted by platforms like Moz, Social Media Examiner, or LinkedIn Learning. These often dive into topics like emerging tools, algorithm updates, audience behavior trends, or even strong copywriting skills, skills every social media marketing team needs.
And don’t overlook events. Conferences like Social Media Marketing World or VidCon offer your team the chance to connect with other professionals, gather fresh ideas, and bring back insights to improve your next campaign.
When your team keeps learning, your social media strategy keeps evolving.
6. Create a solid social media strategy
If your social media team is posting without a clear plan, you’re unlikely to see strong results. Creating a social media strategy doesn’t need to be complicated, but it does need to be clear.
Start by figuring out who your audience is. Your social media strategist or brand manager should know who you’re speaking to, what they care about, where they spend time online, and what kind of content they actually want to see.
Once you know your audience, decide what kind of content makes the most sense for them. Choose platforms based on where your audience is most active. For example, Gen Z audiences might be more engaged on TikTok, while B2B decision-makers are often on LinkedIn.
Next, your social media manager and content team should work together to define the core parts of your strategy:
- Choose a mix that fits your goals. For example, use short-form videos for product demos, user-generated content (UGC) for building trust, and carousels for educational posts.
- Decide how you want to sound: friendly and casual, informative and professional, or something in between.
- Create a realistic schedule and stick to it. Maybe it’s three posts a week, or daily stories, depending on your capacity and goals.
It also helps to break this into a simple framework like:
Goal → Audience → Platforms → Content Types → Frequency → Metrics
PRO TIP
SocialBee helps you manage everything across your social channels from one dashboard. You can create and schedule posts, assign them to team members, and approve them before they go live.
Easily share drafts and leave comments, so everyone can review and suggest edits before publishing.
SocialBee also makes it easy to stay connected with your audience. You can reply to comments, mentions, and messages across all platforms in one place, without switching between apps.
Not sure where to start? SocialBee’s AI assistant, Copilot, can build a complete social media strategy for you. It recommends what to post, where to post it, and when, so you can launch with a clear plan from day one. Plus, with a built-in AI content generator, you can create captions and images in seconds.
With SocialBee, your team can move faster, stay organized, and focus more on creating great content.
7. Monitor and analyze your social media performance
If your social media team isn’t reviewing results regularly, you’re guessing, not optimizing. Tracking performance helps your team stay on top of what’s working, spot weak points early, and continuously improve your social media strategy.
To keep your social media marketing team aligned with your performance goals, make sure you’re tracking the following metrics monthly:
- Engagement rate
- Click-through rate (CTR)
- Follower growth
- Conversion rate
- Cost per lead (for paid campaigns)
To track your performance, you can use platform-native tools like Instagram Insights or third-party social media analytics tools like SocialBee.
PRO TIP
Tracking performance across multiple social media platforms can quickly become chaotic, especially when you’re juggling content, reporting, and feedback loops.
SocialBee solves that by bringing everything into one place. It gives your social media team access to platform-specific metrics like engagement trends, audience demographics, and post-level analytics for Instagram, TikTok, Pinterest, and more.
Need to report on progress? SocialBee’s advanced reporting tools let you generate clear PDF reports that are easy to share with clients, teammates, or stakeholders. You’ll spend less time chasing down data and more time optimizing what actually works.
Track your social media metrics and collaborate with your team with SocialBee!
8. Celebrate wins and learn from failures
It’s important to acknowledge achievements and analyze setbacks. These boost team morale and serve as a foundation for continuous learning.
Here are some ideas to celebrate your social media team:
- Celebrate milestones, like reaching 10K followers within eight months.
- Hold regular reviews to discuss what worked, what didn’t, and what everyone can do to improve efforts.
- Promote learning opportunities where team members can discuss challenges and insights.
Frequently asked questions
Ready to start building your social media marketing team?
Building a winning social media team requires careful planning. You’ll need to hire someone with the right skills and experience to help you craft social media strategies that drive engagement and conversions.
Social media isn’t a one-time thing. It’s ongoing. This means you’ll have to monitor metrics and discuss what’s working and what’s not. Social media professionals should be able to promote a positive community and handle negative comments professionally.
Need more help with your social media efforts? Start your 14-day free SocialBee trial to plan, schedule, and analyze your content, all from one place. With built-in collaboration tools, your social media team can leave feedback, assign roles, and stay aligned every step of the way.
SocialBee: Your AI-powered social media management tool
About the author: Kristina is a content writer and editor at uSERP, with a passion for building long-lasting relationships with B2B and B2C clients through content and SEO efforts. Her work has appeared in Medical News Today, Healthline, and GetYourGuide, and when she’s not working, she’s either at a café or exploring new places with her husband.
