Roles we recruit
Seven practices, 27 functions. Start at the practice when you cannot yet name the title; go straight to the function when you can.
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A social media manager runs your social program end to end: the calendar, the channels, publishing, replies and the report that ties social to traffic, pipeline and brand search. Follower counts are easy to show, so we screen for what social returned, a calendar they kept for a year, and posts written for your buyers rather than for other marketers.
Social either becomes a channel the business can measure or stays a stream of posts. Each stage below has a signal that predicts it, and we test for that signal before you meet anyone.
The ramp, and the test behind each milestone
Weeks 1 and 2
Every account, its history and its numbers, plus time with sales and customer success to learn what buyers ask and where they spend time online. Keeps publishing while the audit runs.
On track looks like a short audit of each channel and a view of which ones your buyers actually use.
How we test for it before you meet them
A short exercise in our screen: three posts for one of your channels from a brief. We score whether they sound like your buyer's world, not like a marketing account.
Weeks 3 and 4
A content calendar tied to launches, campaigns and sales themes, with formats for each channel and a publishing rhythm that does not depend on one person's spare hour.
On track looks like posts going out on schedule for a month, with the next month already planned.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask to see a calendar they kept for at least a year and what happened when a launch moved. A former manager confirms the rhythm held.
Weeks 5 to 8
For B2B, a lot of reach runs through people rather than the company page. Sets up executive and employee posting with drafts, a light review and a schedule people keep.
On track looks like two or three executives posting regularly with drafts the manager prepares.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask how they got a busy executive to post every week, and what the posts returned. Vague answers get a follow-up.
Weeks 9 to 13
A monthly report that ties social to website visits, sign-ups, influenced pipeline and brand search, with what to stop and what to double, not just reach and likes.
On track looks like a monthly report the head of marketing uses in planning, with one channel cut or doubled.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask for a report they wrote and which decision it changed. Reports of likes and follower growth alone are where we dig.
After day 90
Strong managers start testing paid amplification, creator partnerships and community, and make the case for budget with their own numbers. Plan for that growth, or it walks.
On track looks like a proposal for the next quarter's budget backed by the program's results.
How we test for it before you meet them
We ask where they want social to be in a year at your company. A plan tied to pipeline is a good sign for the role and for tenure.
Five responsibilities. If the seat only makes posts and video, it is a content creator; if it only sets direction, it is a strategist.
What goes out on each channel and when, tied to launches, campaigns and sales themes.
Native posts for each platform, written and scheduled, with the formats each channel rewards.
Comments, messages and mentions answered, and conversations routed to sales or support.
Drafts, light review and a schedule so leaders and staff extend the brand’s reach.
A monthly view of traffic, sign-ups, influenced pipeline and brand search, with what to change.
Three neighboring seats absorb work people assume belongs here. Drawing the line wrong is how a social hire ends up making video all day or writing strategy decks nobody uses.
That seat ownsWhat the brand says on social and why: audience research, channel choice and content pillars.
Hire it instead whenyou have someone publishing and nobody deciding what social is for.
That seat ownsNative posts, short video, carousels and graphics made for each platform.
Hire it instead whenthe plan exists and the bottleneck is making enough good content.
That seat ownsThe spaces where customers talk to each other: a forum, a Slack or Discord group, user events.
Hire it instead whenthe goal is customer retention and advocacy rather than reach and pipeline.
The title stays the same; the program does not. Pick the one that matches where social is today.
Takes social from whoever had a spare hour to a steady program with a calendar and a report.
Runs LinkedIn, executive posting and social campaigns tied to demand generation targets.
Manages a creator or coordinator, an agency or both, and owns the social budget.
The questions we ask in our own screen. Use them in yours; the warning signs are as useful as the answers.
Every candidate we put forward is scored on these five, and the scores travel with the shortlist, gaps included. Four out of five with a named weakness beats a clean sweep you cannot verify.
| What we score | Weak evidence | Strong evidence |
|---|---|---|
| What social returned | Followers, reach and likes only. | Traffic, sign-ups or pipeline tied to social, with the method behind it. |
| Writing for your buyer | Posts that would fit any brand. | Posts in the buyer’s language that earned replies from the right people. |
| A calendar that held | Posting in bursts around launches. | A year of steady publishing, confirmed by a former manager. |
| Executive and employee posting | Company page only. | Leaders posting regularly from their drafts, with results to show. |
| Reporting that changed decisions | Monthly decks of vanity metrics. | A report that cut a channel, doubled a format or moved budget. |
Public US benchmarks, read October 2026. Self-reported pay runs far below Salary.com’s employer-reported band: Built In’s median base for social media managers is $71,500. Price on scope: a manager who owns strategy, reporting and a budget sits near the Salary.com band, one who mainly publishes nearer the self-reported figure.
Each bar runs from the 25th to the 75th percentile, the middle half of reported pay.
Base salaryWages including commission (BLS)Median base salaryAverage total pay, base plus variable
Social Media Manager
Salary.com base benchmark
$100,500 to $124,350 base
Social Media Manager, self-reported
Built In, self-reported
$71,500 median base$94,240 average total
Social Media Strategist
Salary.com base benchmark, neighboring seat
$68,783 to $84,739 base
Public relations specialists
BLS, the nearest official occupation
$56,260 to $100,370
Social Media Manager bar and Social Media Strategist: Salary.com base salary, 25th to 75th percentile, United States, as of October 1, 2026. Social Media Manager dot and ring: Built In median base salary and average total compensation (base plus additional cash, self-reported), reviewed October 4, 2026. Public relations specialists: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025, annual wage at the 25th and 75th percentiles (SOC 27-3031), all industries; O*NET notes the occupation may specialize in social media. Public aggregates, not ZaphyrRecruit placement data.
A social media manager runs a company’s social program: the content calendar, publishing on each channel, replies and community, executive and employee posting, and the monthly report. In B2B the job is to turn social into a channel the business can measure, tying posts to website visits, sign-ups, pipeline and brand search rather than reporting followers and likes on their own.
Salary.com puts a social media manager at $100,500 to $124,350 base, with a median of $112,760 (October 2026). Built In’s self-reported figures are much lower: a $71,500 median base and $94,240 average total pay. The gap follows scope. A manager who owns strategy, reporting and a budget sits near the Salary.com band; one who mainly schedules and publishes, nearer the self-reported figures.
An agency suits a launch or a channel you are testing. An in-house social media manager pays off once social is part of how buyers find you: they learn the product and the buyer, work with sales and leaders every week, and answer conversations the same day. Many teams keep one in-house manager and use an agency or freelancers for video and design. We recruit the in-house seat.
Agree the measures before they start: website visits and sign-ups from social, pipeline influenced in the CRM, brand search trends and the reach of executive posts. Reach and engagement still matter as early signals, but they should lead to one of those outcomes. A good manager proposes the measures themselves and reports what did not work as clearly as what did.
For most B2B companies, LinkedIn carries the most weight, especially through executives and employees rather than the company page. YouTube, X, Reddit and niche communities matter depending on where your buyers spend time. A good social media manager starts from that research and is willing to stop a channel that does not return anything, rather than staying everywhere at once.
Look for someone who has run a calendar for at least a year, written for a business audience, set up executive posting and produced reports that changed decisions. Consumer social experience transfers in part, but B2B buyers and sales cycles are different, so ask for examples of posts that reached the right people and what happened after they did.
Ten working days from a signed brief to a shortlist of three to five calibrated candidates, each with our writing exercise scored and their reporting reviewed. Interview speed decides the rest: good social managers rarely run one process at a time, so a decision within a week of the first interview keeps them. Most can start two to four weeks after accepting.
Tell us which channels matter, who posts today and what social should deliver this year. We come back within one business day with how we would run the search and what the seat pays.
We build shortlists from people doing this work now, often before a seat is advertised. Set up a job alert for social roles, or send your CV and we will come to you when a seat opens.
The social media manager is one of six seats in this function. If the gap sits elsewhere, start there.