This document discusses how to hire the right people for social media roles to avoid disasters. It emphasizes the importance of hiring people who share the company's values and will represent the brand well. Traits of ideal candidates are described such as being caring, understanding good communicators who work well with others. The document provides tips for screening candidates' social media profiles and creating protocols to guide employee behavior and responses to common situations like complaints, trolls, mistakes and more. It stresses looking beyond just social media skills when hiring.

1. Melissa Fach @SEOAware
HIRING THE RIGHT PEOPLE TO AVOID DISASTERS

3. Melissa Fach - @SEOAware
@SEOAware
Social & Community Manager Pubcon
B.A. Psychology & M.A. Mental Health
Consultant, editor, writer.
I like cats  & super heroes.
#pubcon

4. PLANNING & THE BASICS

5. • WHO YOU ARE
• WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN
• WHAT YOUR COMPANY
REPRESENTS
• HOW CUSTOMERS WILL BE
TREATED
ZAPPOS
http://www.zappos.com/d/about-zappos-culture
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6. FACEBOOK RECOMMENDS
https://www.facebook.com/business/news/messaging-strategy
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7. COMPANY VALUES: FOUNDATION FOR EVERYTHING
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8. COMPANY VALUES
Brand continuity is critical!!
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9. COMPANY VALUES
Customer satisfaction remains consistent.
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10. COMPANY VALUES
Ensures consistency for the long-term;
always a good company to work with.
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11. HIRING THE RIGHT PERSON FOR THE JOB

12. “Just having social media skills is insufficient when you’re dealing with
the reputation of the company.” Bernstein
http://bit.ly/1FeN9Sc
BEYOND “SOCIAL MEDIA” EXPERIENCE
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13. Social media management and customer service can be,
and often is emotionally exhausting.
Talking to people all day.
Determining emotion through text.
Fact: THIS IS NOT AN EASY JOB
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14. • Coming up with right reply
• Not offending
• Staying upbeat
• Solving problems
• Answering questions
• Finding answers
THIS IS NOT AN EASY JOB
• Billing issues
• Angry people
• Complaints
• Engaging
• Validating
• Assessing
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15. EXAMPLE: NORDSTROM
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16. Like-minded individuals with very similar values.
Team players.
People that actually care about people.
BIG OR SMALL: 3 THINGS TO LOOK FOR
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17. BEFORE INTERVIEWING…
Check their social media channels.
Ignore drunken pics!
Are they Ignorant, hateful, rude, disrespectful?
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18. BEFORE INTERVIEWING…
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19. DESIRED TRAITS
• Genuine
• Caring
• Understanding
• Easy going
• Good communicator
• Works well with others
• Ability to adapt
• Can control temper
• Self-disciplined
• Hardworking
• Educated (on your field)
• Focused on brand
• Driven
• Analytical thinker
• Ability to learn fast
• Good writer/editor
@SEOAware#pubcon

20. HAS TO LIKE PEOPLE.
“WHAT DO YOU THINK OF PEOPLE?”
Interview Question
TOLERANCE, SELF-CONTROL, EMPATHY,
& TEMPERAMENT.
WRONG CHOICE COULD LEAD TO DISASTER.

21. WHEN TO AVOID
If you wouldn’t want to engage
don’t hire.
Did they trash the company/last
job they left?
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22. WHEN TO AVOID
Did they trash the company/last
job they left?
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23. TWITTER ADVANCED SEARCH
https://twitter.com/search-advanced @SEOAware

24. OTHER THINGS TO LOOK FOR

25. A GOOD SPELLER / TRIPLE CHECKER
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26. HUMOR IS ALWAYS GOOD
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27. HUMOR AWESOMENESS
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28. @SEOAware#pubcon

29. The Interview…

30. TIP: DON’T BE AFRAID OF UNIQUE

31. DID THEY LOOK AT YOUR COMPANY?
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A qualified person will review your site and social
before the interview.
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32. DID THEY LOOK AT YOUR COMPANY?
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Do they have recommendations?
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33. DID THEY LOOK AT YOUR COMPANY?
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Did they look at competitors?
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34. GIVE THEM 3 MOCK SCENERIOS
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35. ASK THEM: WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS?
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36. OR THIS?
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37. ASK THEM: WHAT COULD GO WRONG?
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38. DISCERNMENT IS CRITICAL
@SEOAware
Whether they are creating content or given content:
The ability to see what could go wrong in all
situations is needed.
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39. FOUND THE PERFECT PERSON

40. COMPANY PROTOCOLS

41. PROTOCOLS WILL SAVE YOU…
Time – everyone knows what to do.
Money –train new employees faster.
From excuses – everyone know what to do.
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42. PLAN FOR THE WORST
Create protocols &/or a manual:
• Crisis Management
• Complaints
• Trolls
• User Error
• Support / Help
• Community Support
• Questions
• Requests
• Suggestions
• Billing
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43. WHY? YOU ARE BEING WATCHED!!!

44. PEOPLE ARE DOCUMENTING
Screenshots
Video
Articles
Discussions
The news
(Pubcon presentations)
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45. GOOGLE SEARCH
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46. GOOGLE IMAGE SEARCH
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47. Company protocols should outline behavioral expectations!

48. JOB & BEHAVIORAL PROTOCOLS
• Behavior on personal social
• Logging in
• Responding to community on
personal accounts
• Mistakes vs. offensive
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49. These are tweets
meant to go out on
personal
accounts…

50. PROCEDURES MANUAL / TIPS TO HELP

51. EXAMPLE: DEALING WITH COMPLAINTS
When dealing with complaints or angry people:
Step 1: Validate their feelings.
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52. VALIDATING FEELINGS
“We understand your frustration.”
“We totally understand & appreciate the feedback.”
“Oh no! How can we help?”
“We want to help…we will find a solution.”
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53. ANGRY PEOPLE
Get them offline – message, email, call.
“We would really like to talk to you / look at your
account.”
RESPOND IMMEDIATELY – KEEP THEM OFFLINE
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54. EXAMPLE: WENDY’S
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55. EXAMPLE: BILLING ISSUES
Move to message or DM.
Tell them to contact Jody – provide email & ext.
Immediately email/call Jody - tell her to expect contact.
Log complaint…
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56. Don’t engage with the trolls, you WILL NOT win!
@SEOAware
HAVE TIPS FOR:
•When/how to try and find a solution.
•When to ignore.
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57. START SMALL, ADD TO IT EACH MONTH
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58. UNDERSTANDING CREATIVITY

59. Being creative on a clock is extremely difficult.
Creative people need to be inspired.
Work environment is critical!
Social media is not just 9-5.
FLEXIBLE WORK TIMES/ENVIRONMENT
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60. Social changes all the time.
Employees need time to research/read.
Time & money to explore tools.
Flexible hours / breaks.
SUPPORT TIME FOR LEARNING
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61. Quick Recap…

62. Review company values.
Choose carefully.
Create protocols that will help/save your business.
Create work exceptions for your social team.
LOOK BEYOND SKILL SETS WHEN HIRING
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63. Melissa Fach
@SEOAware
Melissa@seoware.com
@SEOAware
Thanks for coming to our session 
#pubcon