Common Social Media Questions and Answers All Marketers Should Know

What do family barbecues and professional networking have in common? The fact that someone will ask you, “How do I go viral?” or other social media questions like, “Do you just post on Instagram all day?” #No

Most people know that social media is great for business, but sometimes those at the top don’t always understand exactly how it works. Whether it’s the C Suite you need to speed up, the hiring manager, or your nosy Aunt Meg, get ready for these answers to the most asked questions on social media.

19 Frequently Asked Questions on Social Media

1. Who is a social media manager and what does he do?

A social media manager is someone who manages social media for a brand or multiple brands.

The responsibilities of a social media manager may cover social media marketing strategy, content creation, performance analysis, social media listening, community management, and sometimes customer service.

Together with their team, they also plan organic and paid campaigns, develop a content calendar, and build connections with other brands and influencers.

Sometimes social media managers are referred to as digital marketing managers, community managers, or brand builders.

Large companies usually hire full-time social media employees or enter into long-term contracts with agencies. Small businesses may only have the budget to hire one full-time person, resulting in them becoming a “jack of all trades”social media manager. These versatile marketers often do everything from strategy to video shooting and everything in between. Or they can hire freelance design, production, or writing experts to help.

2. How much does social media marketing cost?

How much is the car? Depends if it’s a Kia or a Mercedes. The same goes for social media marketing: you can spend a lot or a little. But the amount you spend is no guarantee of how quickly you will reach your goals. After all, both Kia and Mercedes can take you to the same place at the same time.

Running tons of ads or hiring an experienced agency to manage your accounts can lead to faster growth. But money cannot replace strategy. No matter how much you invest in social media marketing, you need to know your target audience, set measurable goals, create a content strategy, test different types of social media content, and more. You also need to understand social media ROI to know how much you can spend promoting your products and services on social media and still make a profit.

Even if you manage everything in-house, you still need to cover your (or your team’s) time, as well as:

• software/tools for creating and managing content,
• product or payment for influencer marketing campaigns,
• advertising cost.

Not sure what you should be spending? We have a guide on how to budget social media for companies of all sizes.

3. Is being a social media manager a real job?

I hope by now most people realize that social media work is a real job. As of 2021, 91% of companies with more than 100 employees use social media marketing.

The public expects most companies to have a presence on social media, so a full-time job to manage these accounts is a real possibility. In addition to working directly for a company, social media managers may also work for agencies that represent multiple clients or work as freelancers.

Content creators who used to be called influencers are also social media managers, but they focus on building their own brands rather than companies. This used to be considered a one in a million chance of success, but is becoming more common and financially viable as the creator economy continues to evolve.

4. How can I get more followers, especially on a new account?

Consistently post quality and relevant content that your target audience wants to see. Experiment often to find out what types of content work best.

But how to do that? Stick to a focused editorial calendar and change content regularly.

In the meantime, if you can’t look at “0 followers”at the start of a new account and you have the budget to do so, consider running ads to get your first couple hundred followers.

In previous years, pay-per-like campaigns were cheap, but in 2021 they have skyrocketed to an average of $0.52 per like. In 2022 and beyond, you can get more bang for your buck while continuing to grow your audience with retargeting campaigns.

5. Is buying followers so bad?

Yes. Do not do that.

Need proof? We’ve done some experiments and the results are clear: Buying followers damages your reputation and can potentially result in your account being blacklisted. Some services are outright scams, while others deliver what they promise – thousands of followers – but those followers are fake, don’t comment or like, and they don’t do anything to increase important metrics like your engagement rate.

Want to spend money to grow your followers legally? Congratulations, it’s called advertising. Here’s how to get the most out of your social media ad campaigns as a beginner.

6. How do you go viral?

A person doesn’t just “go viral”.

The black gate leading to the social media elite isn’t just guarded by a few viral posts. There is content that does not sleep. Analysts are always vigilant. It’s a bustling wasteland riddled with Instagram videos, selfies, and sponsors. The air there is intoxicating. With a film crew of ten thousand people, you couldn’t do that.

As Boromir said in The Lord of the Rings, “That’s stupid.”

Perhaps Boromir would have felt differently about going to Mordor if he had a guide like this one on the best social media trends to go viral.

7. Which social media platforms should I use?

The only correct answer is: “Not all.”You can be successful with one social media channel, but no more than three or four main channels to focus on. (If you don’t have a big team to handle something big, then by all means go for the gold.)

When choosing which social platforms to use, look for matches that:

• where your audience hangs out
• have advertising or other promotional opportunities
• match the types of content you want to create

Whether you’re creating new business accounts or testing your performance, knowing which platforms to use depends on up-to-date statistics for each platform. Lucky for you, we’ve got a free Social Trends 2022 in-depth report with all the demographics you need to decide where to focus your time this year.

8. How many people use social networks?

As of the first quarter of 2022, 4.62 billion people use social media, which is 58.4% of the world’s population. It’s also an 8% increase from 2021, when just over 50% of the world’s people were on social media.

9. What is the most popular social network?

Facebook with 2.9 billion monthly active users. Next comes YouTube with 2.5 billion monthly active users, followed by WhatsApp (2 billion) and Instagram (1.47 billion).

As the parent company of Facebook, Instagram, Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp, Meta reaches 3.64 billion monthly users. This is 78% of the 4.6 billion social media users in the world.

Technical questions on social networks

10. How to create a good social media strategy?

There is no universal social media strategy. Your strategy is specific to your business. But is there one thing that is the same for every successful social media strategy? Do whatever it takes to serve your audience.

New to strategy development or looking to add something new to your toolbox? Check out the following resources:

• Free Social Media Strategy Template
• How to set SMART goals on social media
• Social Media Best Practices

Want a complete guide to every aspect of creating and optimizing your social strategy? Try the Hootsuite course on social marketing.

11. How do you calculate the engagement rate?

Your post engagement rate is the percentage of your followers who interacted with that post. Your overall engagement rate is the average engagement for each post received over a given period of time.

To calculate it, take the total number of interactions with your post and divide it by the total number of followers.

(Interactions / Total Followers) x 100 = Engagement Rate

Do you want a label? Try our free engagement rate calculator which includes benchmarks to measure your performance.

So what is considered an engagement?

• Like
• A comment
• Share
• Save (to Instagram)

For formats such as Instagram Stories, engagement can also be a response in a DM, a click on a link sticker, a response to a survey, or other actions in a Story. The interaction options vary by platform, but they have the most in common.

12. How many hashtags should I use?

Each platform has its own rules for this. For example, Instagram allows you to use a maximum of 30 hashtags per post.

But is it worth using them all? Nope.

While the algorithms are constantly changing, our experiments show that using fewer hashtags can actually increase reach by as much as 15%. Instagram now only recommends using 3-5 hashtags, although up to 30 are allowed.

What about Facebook, Twitter and any other network? We have a complete guide to hashtags, including how to find the right ones for you.

13. How often should I post?

The “ideal” publishing schedule changes as often as platforms change their algorithms (which is a lot). What works now probably won’t work six months from now.

You don’t have to change your schedule every week, but you should change something at least once a quarter to see if your activity boosts more or less frequent posting. Your audience’s behavior – how often they are online – and preferences will determine how successful your posting schedule will be. Everyone is different.

Remember: your schedule should be such that you can follow it. Want to post five videos a week but only have time to make one? Be realistic when planning.

Okay, but how often should you really be posting right now? Here is the answer:

14. What are the image sizes for each social platform?

Image specifications have changed over the years as platforms have redesigned their apps and feeds. Check out our full guide to all the current social media image sizes for 2022.

Here is a quick overview of the most popular platforms and formats:

15. What social media tools do I need?

Technically, you don’t really need anything. You can manage your social networks completely free of charge. But having the following types of tools will greatly improve your growth and save you time and money.

Content Planning

This is what most social media managers seek to automate in the first place, for obvious time-saving reasons. In addition to post scheduling, your drive-or-die tool should also allow you to:

• Visually plan content and campaigns,
• Collaborate with your team
• Content optimization for each platform (e.g. tagging correct @mentions, editing media size),
• Allow bulk loading and scheduling.

Content Creation

If you don’t have a support team, you will probably need help. Some of our favorites are Canva for graphics and ContentGems for content curation.

Social media analytics

Once you’ve created and published your content, you’ll want to track how it performs to understand what your audience likes and dislikes. A good social media analytics tool will help you keep track of important data across multiple accounts and social media networks and generate comprehensive reports for your team and boss.

Social Media Manager Interview Questions

Are you applying for the position of social media manager? Test your skills and check out our free resume template.

Already got an interview? Prepare for these social media interview questions:

16. As a social media manager, how do you balance work and life?

Being a social media manager often feels like a 24/7 duty, but thanks to technology, you don’t have to be “connected”24/7. Plan ahead for content, set aside specific times to respond to private messages and comments, and most importantly, use automation so you can enjoy your downtime worry-free.

Start a chatbot to answer customer questions after hours, and use an app like Smart Moderation to look for spam or inappropriate comments while you’re away.

17. How do you feel about trolls?

How a company handles negative comments depends a lot on their content strategy, but as a general rule, everyone knows that you don’t feed trolls.

It’s a fine line between making sure you address all legitimate customer complaints and filtering out trolls who just want to waste your time. In case of doubt? Answer politely and professionally. It may not matter to the troll, but it will protect your reputation among your real customers who are watching you.

18. What social platforms do you have the most presence on and how did you increase them (for work or for personal use)?

Well, I can’t answer that for you. But here you want to surprise your interviewer with case studies, percentages and facts. Sure, you’ve increased Al’s Window Emporium’s Instagram following, but by how much? By what percentage has this figure increased compared to last year?

Facts = results, and results are what companies hire you for. Take the time to gather important statistics about your career to showcase your abilities.

19. We are just getting started and want to quickly increase the number of subscribers. What do you suggest we do first?

Answer: relationship building for cross-promotion and/or influencer campaigning. Have a budget? Run ads.

Connecting with other complementary businesses is the fastest way to create a new unknown account for free. How you do this may vary, but the basic steps are:

1. Identify potential partners (for example, companies in your industry/related industry that are not competitors).
2. Start slowly: follow them, leave thoughtful and professional comments on their posts. Do this for a few weeks (if not longer!) before approaching them or asking for a partnership.
3. Once you’ve established a positive rapport with your comments, it’s time to move on to private messages… or emails. Try to find a contact by email. Use LinkedIn to find a social media company or PR department, or check out their website.
4. Submit a personalized introduction, starting with what cross promotion can do for them. Why should they want to partner with you? What’s in it for them? Approach everything with this mindset and you will be ahead of the curve.
5. So what’s in it for them? Probably money. If your company is more established, merchandising or other promotional opportunities may work instead.
6. If you don’t get a response, keep going.