If you’re looking to grow your business, chances are you’ll be considering adding social media to your arsenal of business tools.

But having a marketing strategy means having to spend hours of your precious time creating blog posts, looking for content to post on your Facebook Page, sending out tweets to your followers, creating Instagram or Pinterest-worthy images, etc.

Does that sound like a little too much? Then it might be time for you to consider hiring a social media specialist!

But how do you hire one exactly? What questions should you ask to determine if someone’s claim of expertise is legit? Here are 7 questions we suggest for you to ask your potential candidates.

1.  How long ago did you start using social media and why?

Look for professionals who are early adapters and have been building online relationships for more than five years.  Ask your interviewee for links to their social media profiles and look them over for professional activity.

2. Which channels do you recommend for our business?

Make sure that the applicant has actually studied your business, thought about your target audience, the industry that you’re in and the strategies they could employ to grow your business.

3. Do you blog?

If you want to increase both your confidence in your company and its effectiveness, content should clearly be at the core of your marketing strategy. It’s important that your specialist knows how to write and write well. So, ask for the URL to their blog. If they don’t have one, ask for unedited writing samples that they can share. Look for someone who has a way with words and could spark passion and interest almost effortlessly.

4. What social networks do you specialize in? Why are these networks right for my business?

Not every social network is right for every industry and your specialist shouldn’t tell you that you should be in every single one. They should be able to tell you which ones to focus on and why.

5. What relevant metrics do you use for tracking social media success?

Your social media specialist should know not only how to run campaigns and ads, they also need to know how it all ties back to ROI and how your business can generate revenue from it. A good one will be able to show you that they know how to analyze social media metrics and provide solutions to improve them.

6. How would you deal with this situation?

Provide one or more social media challenges that you’ll probably need to deal with or have dealt with in the past and evaluate how they respond to each one. Asking hypothetical questions will show you if the applicant knows how to think strategically and if they know how to apply that strategy in different situations.

7. Where do you feel our social media efforts are excelling or lacking?

A good candidate should be able to identify the areas where your social media strategy is “killing it” and should know the areas of opportunity.

8. Do you have any specific examples of your work from your previous clients?

A portfolio says everything.  A great strategist with a solid experience shouldn’t have a hard time in detailing his success stories when it comes to strategising a social media campaign. It’s also a great way for you to gauge how he handles particular campaigns, and identify where his strengths and probable weaknesses are. Reading reviews or testimonials of his work could help tremendously in your decision process.

A social media expert can provide tons of value to the organization they work with. By asking the interview questions above, you can be on your way to hiring one who can help propel your business to new heights!