Questions to Ask Before Hiring a Social Media Manager
You have a meeting tomorrow with an agency or a freelancer. You've narrowed down your options, and now you're about to spend 45 minutes in a conversation that will determine whether you sign up for something that works or commit your budget to six months of disappointment.
Most businesses waste this conversation. They ask about packages. They ask about pricing. They ask what's included. By the time they get to those questions, they've already missed the ones that reveal whether this person can actually do the job. Here are the questions that matter, and what to listen for in the answers.
"Can You Show Me an Account in My Industry That You've Grown From Scratch?"
You're looking for a specific account, a starting follower count, and real numbers. Follower growth over a defined period, engagement rate improvement, or a business outcome - a restaurant that filled more tables on a quiet Wednesday, a beauty clinic that saw booking enquiries increase after the content changed.
Be sceptical of accounts that were already large when the agency took over. Growing an account from 200 followers to 3,000 in 12 months is a different skill set from maintaining one that already has 20,000. Ask how big the account was when they started managing it.
Red flag: they show you their own agency account as an example of their social media work.
"What Does Your Content Approval Process Look Like?"
You should see every post before it goes out. A content calendar showing the planned posts for the coming 2 to 4 weeks, with time for you to review and request changes before anything is scheduled, is the minimum.
The red flag answer is "we post directly to keep things timely." Timeliness matters, but not more than accuracy and brand alignment. Content that genuinely needs to go out immediately - a last-minute special, a breaking update - can be approved by phone in minutes. Everything else should go through a calendar.
If you're not seeing posts before they go live, you're not managing your own brand. You've handed it over entirely.
"Do You Organise Photography, or Do We Need to Provide Images?"
This question has no universal right answer. What matters is that they have a clear process. The best answer is that original photography is included, produced by a photographer they brief and coordinate. The second-best is that they have a preferred photographer they can introduce you to and manage on your behalf.
The answer to avoid is "we can use images from your website" or "you can send us photos as you take them." For any business in food, beauty, hospitality, or fitness, original photography is not optional. It's the product. Asking you to supply your own images is asking you to do half the job yourself.
"How Do You Handle a Post That Gets a Negative Comment or a Complaint?"
You're looking for a clear escalation process. Do they flag it to you before responding? What's the turnaround time? What happens when a comment requires a factual correction from your side?
The wrong answer is "we delete negative comments." Deleting legitimate complaints damages your reputation more than the original comment did. A negative comment that receives a professional, thoughtful response demonstrates that your business takes feedback seriously.
A blank look is also a red flag. Community management is a real function that requires a real process. If they haven't thought about it, they're not doing it.
"What Metrics Do You Report On and How Often?"
Monthly reports are the minimum. The metrics worth tracking are reach, engagement rate, follower growth, website clicks from social (tracked in GA4), and - for businesses with booking systems - any attributable enquiries from social traffic.
The weak version of reporting is a screenshot of total likes and follower count. That tells you almost nothing about whether the social media work is producing business results. If their reporting package only covers vanity metrics, ask whether they can connect social activity to website traffic. If they say that's the client's job to track, they're separating their work from its impact - which makes accountability impossible.
"What Do You Do When Something Isn't Working?"
This question reveals how they think. You want to hear that they test different content formats, adjust posting times, change the content mix, and make decisions based on what the data says. You want a specific example of a time they changed course based on poor performance data.
The wrong answer is "we'd post more consistently." Posting more of what isn't working is not a strategy. A social media manager who cannot describe a specific instance where they changed direction based on results has not managed performance-driven accounts.
"How Many Active Clients Do You Currently Manage?"
You're looking for a number that allows real attention to your account. A solo freelancer managing 25 clients at $400 a month cannot give your account genuine thought - the maths don't allow it. An agency should tell you both the total client count and the team size managing those accounts.
"We scale our team as needed" without a specific current ratio is not an answer. Ask: how many clients does each account manager look after right now?
"What Would You Do in Your First 30 Days?"
The right answer begins with listening, not posting. Auditing your existing accounts, reviewing performance history, understanding who your current audience is, looking at competitor social presence, and having a proper onboarding conversation with you before a single post goes out.
The wrong answer is "we'd get started on content straight away." Starting on content before understanding the audience and the brand produces generic work that fits no one specifically. A good social media manager treats the first 30 days as research, not production.
Three Questions to Ask Yourself After the Meeting
Did they ask more questions than you did? A social media manager who spent the meeting talking about their services without learning much about your business will produce content built around their templates, not your brand.
Did they talk about your business or their services? The ratio matters. A 45-minute pitch that spent 40 minutes on the agency's credentials and 5 minutes on your business is telling you how the relationship will go.
Do you feel like they understood what you actually need - not just what you asked for? A good social media manager hears "I need more followers" and asks "what would you do with them if you had them?" That question is the difference between a strategy and a follower count.
Adelaide Socials manages social media for hospitality, healthcare, retail, and professional services clients across Adelaide. If you're comparing agencies, get in touch and we'll tell you directly whether we're the right fit.