At Planable, building a successful social media team came down to two key things: clarity and autonomy. From the start, we were intentional about defining what success looked like on each channel and aligning content goals with broader marketing objectives. Once that clarity was in place, we focused on hiring people who genuinely get social — not just how to schedule posts, but how to craft stories that resonate, ride trends with purpose, and move the needle on brand and engagement. One strategy that made a huge difference for us was creating a clear approval and collaboration process. It sounds simple, but when multiple stakeholders are involved — from brand to product and content — it's easy for social to become a bottleneck. Using our own product (Planable!) allowed us to streamline that feedback loop and empower the team to move fast without losing quality or consistency. My advice? Don't treat social media like a megaphone — treat it like a conversation. Build a team that's creative, curious, and close to the community. Give them the tools and trust to move fast and adapt. And lastly, make sure they're part of the bigger picture. Social media isn't just about distribution — it's often where your brand lives.
Social media is more than just platforms and departments. It is culture, timing, tone, psychology, and data, all in motion, all at once. So from day one, I was clear about one thing: I didn't want managers. I didn't want TLs. I didn't want hierarchy. I wanted a team that thinks like creators, analysts, community builders, and brand stewards. Just smart people with sharp instincts and mutual respect. And if we talk about the strategy, it is very simple. Let each person play to their strength. -The one who writes like a human -The one who catches trends quickly -The one who turns feedback into strategy -The one who designs thumb-stopping visuals -The one who hears the audience, not just listens -The one who knows when to post, pause, and push -The one who turns messy analytics into sharp insights -The one who keeps us relevant without chasing every shiny thing Just clear lanes with fluidity. No one boxed in. Everyone trusted. My advice to others? Social media moves too fast for static job descriptions. So hire for a point of view, not a platform. Because in the end, what lasts is curiosity, creativity, adaptability, empathy, and ownership. That's how you build a team that doesn't just execute, but evolves.
The secret sauce to our social media success? We treated it like a campaign, not a chore. We built repeatable systems, content calendars, templated creatives, platform-specific strategies, and assigned ownership with crystal-clear KPIs. Then, we gave our team room to experiment. That combo of structure and freedom is what made the magic happen. One strategy that truly made a difference: We created a "swipe file" of top-performing posts and competitor wins. This gave our team a constant source of inspiration and benchmarks, which boosted output quality and saved loads of time. If I could offer one piece of advice? Treat your social team like a creative R&D department, not just a content mill. Let them test wild ideas, track performance, and build on the wins.
One important strategy that has worked for myself and my social team is to set aside time for creativity. Our days are busy, and most of us tend to push aside our creative time. I encourage my team to set aside time each week to browse TikTok, Reels, and Shorts to see what's trending and how we can incorporate it into our own social media strategy or our clients' social media strategies. Add it to your calendar and create a task to ensure you don't forget about it. These creative sessions are what make your work stronger and better.
Choose the Right Team Structure Building and managing a successful social media team takes thoughtful planning and flexibility. One of the strategies that helped us was choosing the right team structure. There are three main ways to structure a social media team: Centralized, where the team works independently and handles everything; Hub and Spoke, where a core team leads social media but works closely with other departments; and Holistic, where social media is part of everyone's job across the company. For us, the Hub and Spoke model worked best. We have a small core team that manages strategy, content, and paid ads, but we also collaborate a lot with customer service, product, and sales teams. This way, our messaging stays consistent, but we get valuable input and help from other experts inside the company. It keeps things coordinated without putting all the pressure on one team. My advice to others is to consider your company's size, culture, and goals before selecting a structure. Don't be afraid to mix and match or evolve as you grow. Furthermore, ensure that you establish clear communication channels and foster teamwork across departments. That connection helps everyone feel involved and strengthens your social media efforts. I also recommend checking in with your team to adjust roles or processes when needed. That flexibility, combined with the right structure, makes all the difference in building a team that's both productive and happy.
I want to start by saying that building a social media team has certainly changed over the years, and is mostly customized based on the needs of those who utilize it. What worked in 2015, or even 2020, doesn't cut it in 2025. Platforms, audiences, algorithms...everything evolves, and so should your approach to team-building. When I built and managed a successful social media team at a major research university, we weren't just posting content. We were working daily with our editorial team, producing thought leadership, jumping into trending moments, supporting 50+ accounts, and doing it all with somewhat limited resources. That required hiring differently: prioritizing adaptability, curiosity, and creative thinking over flashy resumes. One strategy that made all the difference was to lean into cross-functional collaboration. Our team didn't live in a silo, we embedded ourselves with researchers, comms, PR, web, even video and design. That allowed us to tell better stories faster, with more accuracy and relevance. It also built trust across departments, which is a massive unlock for any social team trying to move at the speed of culture. My advice for anyone building or managing a social team today would be to treat your team like a startup. Give them ownership, clear priorities, and permission to test, fail, learn, and iterate. Social is no longer just a megaphone; it's R&D, brand, community, and frontline comms all rolled into one. You need people who aren't just channel managers, but strategists and storytellers who understand audience behavior and platform nuance. Also, get comfortable with using AI as an accelerator, not a replacement. It's a cheat code if your team learns how to wield it well. Lastly, celebrate wins, both big and weird. Viral post? Celebrate it. Smart clapback in the comments? Celebrate it. Monthly analytics that show real community growth? That too. Social can be exhausting, but it should still be fun, and there's something to learn from every post, comment, and reply.
How We Hired I picked new team members from the comments under our posts. Folks who helped others and stayed calm in the heat received a call. Each person ran a test page for ten days while the rest of us watched in silence. They wrote captions, replied to trolls, and logged every choice in a shared doc. After the trial, we discussed hits and misses, and then they joined the main page. Every three months, we trade seats, so the writer checks the stats, and the data handwrites the copy. This swap keeps everyone sharp. Key Habit We run an Early View Room on Telegram. Fifty loyal fans see each post fifteen minutes before it goes live. A small script in Google Sheets counts likes and warning words. If the count appears incorrect, we either fix the post or remove it. Slipups fell to near zero. Reach went up by a third. Big lesson: build a tiny space to fail in private, learn quickly, and then publish with calm. Slow, steady moves win the AI race happening all around us today.
Building a successful social media team, like building any high-performing team, starts with identifying the right competencies. Not just skills on paper, but the deeper qualities that drive performance. I've always approached hiring and team development by looking for candidates who demonstrate core competencies like adaptability, creative problem-solving, collaboration, and learning agility. Social media changes constantly, so adaptability is non-negotiable. I sought out individuals who were not only technically strong but who thrived on change, stayed curious, and could pivot quickly as platforms evolved. During interviews, I paid close attention to how candidates approached past challenges and how they sought out solutions when faced with uncertainty — a real indicator of learning agility. One strategy that was key to our success was creating competency-aligned development paths. We didn't stop at hiring for potential — we invested in continuous learning tied to the competencies that mattered most. For example, we provided cross-functional projects to build collaboration and analytical assignments to strengthen strategic thinking. This kept the team growing together and sharpened the very competencies that would carry them forward. My advice to others? Don't hire for resumes, hire for competencies. Define what success looks like in the role; not just tasks, but the behaviors and capabilities that will drive results. Then, structure your hiring and development process around those. When you align your team-building approach with clear competencies, you set yourself up for long-term success.
Chief Marketing Officer | TV Host | Author | Board Member at Street Level Marketing Show
Answered a year ago
As a social media expert, author, and now the host of Street Level Marketing—while also serving as the Chief Marketing Officer for Tim Moran Auto Group—I've learned that building a successful social media team starts with clarity and culture. I built our team around a clear mission: create content that converts by connecting with people emotionally and delivering real value. But it's the culture of trust, creativity, and fast execution that brought that mission to life. I empowered my team to take ownership of their lanes—whether that was video, copywriting, analytics, or engagement—and backed them with the tools, data, and freedom to experiment. Our strength came from blending strategy with speed: daily briefs, fast testing, and constant feedback loops. One key strategy that made all the difference was establishing a "content-first, campaign-second" mindset. We didn't wait for big sales or announcements to post; we created a consistent stream of value-driven content that built loyalty, not just clicks. My advice to others? Build a team of storytellers who understand data, and teach them to think like media producers. Social media is no longer just about brand awareness—it's your frontline sales and trust channel. Treat it like your most important media property, because that's exactly what it is.
To form my social media team, I opted for a direct outreach model instead of traditional hiring. As a heavy user of X, LinkedIn, Instagram, and occasionally Facebook, I identified individuals with strong engagement and authentic followings. I contacted 20 such individuals, received responses from most, and interviewed those who were interested. Ultimately, I selected four standout candidates. Their existing presence and audience helped generate organic business quickly. Our team consistently meets performance targets. Their competitive salaries are justified by the strong return on investment.
Today, our social media "team" is made up of custom AI agents—trained over the past year using data from our most authentic, high-performing posts. We've taught them to create content in our voice and aligned with what our audience actually wants to see. But before AI, our strategy was simple: tell real stories, not just show off work. We focused on case studies that unpacked not just results, but why we made certain design choices and how they impacted our clients. Then we repurposed that into short-form video and graphics with emotional resonance and strategic clarity. Strategy that worked: We leaned into narrative. "Here's how we helped a women-led startup compete in a male-dominated industry"—that hits harder than a generic project showcase. People want to see themselves in your story. Advice to others: Build a foundation of content that feels real before automating anything. Whether you're human-powered or AI-supported, authenticity is still your best growth strategy.
We didn't start with a massive budget or a big agency, we built our social media team in-house, focusing on clarity, ownership, and bottom-line impact. Instead of hiring based on just creativity or followers, we looked for people who understood both audience psychology and data-driven iteration. One strategy that made a huge difference was building a centralized content library and brief system. This included brand voice examples, audience personas, proven post formats, and a performance breakdown of past campaigns. It reduced guesswork and made onboarding and collaboration far faster, even freelancers could plug in and contribute effectively in days, not weeks. We also gave team members clear KPIs aligned to growth or conversion, not likes or impressions. This shifted the mindset from "posting content" to driving meaningful engagement that moved business metrics. For example, switching from polished carousels to raw, founder-style behind-the-scenes videos increased engagement by 230% in one quarter and led directly to 7 qualified B2B leads. My advice: Avoid managing creatives with vague instructions. Build repeatable systems, track what actually drives results, and treat your social team like growth marketers, not just brand decorators.
We built our social media team around the product, not the other way around. At Taskade, we made sure social wasn't siloed. The team had direct access to our launches, user feedback, and internal experiments. One strategy that worked well was building a repeatable content engine tied to our product cycle—shipping features, capturing community reactions, and turning those into short, authentic posts that showed progress and momentum. My advice: involve your social team in product and support channels early. Let them see what real users are saying, what's shipping, and what's working. Great content doesn't need to be viral. It just needs to be real, consistent, and aligned with what your team is building.
Celebrate the Small Wins Loudly Social media is often a fast paced and high pressure space. That is why we made a conscious effort to recognize and celebrate even the smallest wins. Whether it was a meaningful comment from a customer, an influencer mention, or a reel that exceeded expectations, we made sure to highlight it. One game changing strategy was creating a #SocialWins channel on Slack, where every team member could share victories and the lessons behind them. It kept morale high and reminded us that every post has value. My advice: If you want to build a high performing team, fuel them with recognition. People do not just want to work; they want to feel appreciated and acknowledged.
Building a successful social media team has been a learning journey. For me, it started with treating the team not just as "content creators" but as a true extension of our brand voice and customer connection. One strategy that really contributed to our success: giving the team ownership and space to experiment. Instead of micromanaging every post, we focused on clear brand values and messaging principles, and then trusted the team to find creative ways to express those. This allowed them to stay agile, adapt to trends, and engage authentically with our audience. My advice to others...hire for curiosity and adaptability, not just platform skills. Social media changes fast. The right mindset and willingness to learn will take your team much further than expertise in a single tool or channel. And always keep the feedback loop open, your team is on the front lines hearing what your customers care about every day.
Having a great team comes down to making sure everybody gets along. It's not just about finding people who have the great skills that we need, it's about finding people who have the right personality to fit with other team members. We always look for people who are adaptable and who are excited about change, not scared of it. Experience definitely matters, but it's more important that people are able to be creative and think on their feet. One thing that has worked particularly well for us is ensuring members can work across a broad range of disciplines. So we don't have people who just work on one thing, we want people who can not only work closely with social media, but also who are good with customer service and so on. My best advice is to be encouraging. Encourage team members to come up with their own ideas, to celebrate others, and not be afraid to take risks.
We built and managed a successful social media team by staying constantly active on all platforms, Reddit, Mastodon, X, LinkedIn etc. We ensure that we post every few days and reply to comments, as we realize consistency is key. We focus on sharing relevant topics within our niche like cloud storage, cybersecurity, and online privacy with a mixture of infographics, questionnaires, free tools, articles, etc, to mix things up and keep our audience engaged. Transparency is also a core value for our social media team, so we regularly share product updates and quarterly reports to keep our community informed about Internxt's progress, which has always been well received. My advice is to stay consistent, be transparent, and always listen to your community.
At The Canadian Home, building a successful social media team started with a clear understanding: we weren't just hiring content creators—we were curating storytellers who understood our brand, our audience, and the emotional journey of buying a home. One strategy that proved pivotal was aligning our team around real-time collaboration between marketing, sales, and customer support. This helped our content reflect what our audience was actually feeling and asking. We empowered the team with creative freedom but grounded it in data—weekly performance reviews weren't just about metrics, but learning and experimentation. The best-performing content often came from our openness to try new formats and shift direction quickly when needed. My advice? Build a team that's not only skilled, but also curious. Social media changes fast—your team needs to enjoy the process of keeping up, learning, and adapting. Success comes when the team feels ownership, stays agile, and always remembers who they're speaking to.
Hire for diversity. Social media is a diverse space with billions of people from different cultural backgrounds. There are different generations with different experiences and preferences on how to connect and converse. Your social media team needs to mirror the same diversity. McKinsey reported that companies that hire ethnically diverse teams are 39% more likely to outperform other teams. 66% of customers admit they would buy from brands that show diversity in their marketing materials, according to Sprout Social. We hired a diverse social media team. Our employees speak multiple languages, come from different countries and help us create campaigns with a universal appeal. A recent campaign highlighted the speed and reliability of our hosting services in Asian markets. Our Asian team member, who is also the team leader, suggested we use a cheetah. She explained it was a local symbolism for speed, unlike the Koenigsegg Jesko Absolute we used for a campaign in the Swedish market. We also included phrases in her native language that she suggested and the campaign outdid our projections by 13%. My advice to others is to hire for diversity. Look for differences in culture, age, thoughts, experience and expertise. Besides increased creativity and productivity, a diverse team also avoids PR pitfalls. It is easy to overlook cultural sensitivities with a homogeneous team due to a lack of understanding of other cultures.
At Wylde Blooms Media, I didn't just set out to build a team—I set out to build a creative ecosystem rooted in trust, clarity, and aligned energy. I've worked both solo and collaboratively over the years, and what I've learned is that a successful social media team isn't just made up of talented individuals—it's built on intentional communication, emotional intelligence, and shared creative vision. I built my team slowly and intuitively, starting with freelancers whose creative style and values aligned with mine. From content writers to graphic designers and engagement specialists, I curated a group of collaborators who weren't just skilled—they genuinely cared about the brands we were building. I prioritized systems that respected everyone's time and creative cycles: clear content calendars, flexible workflows, and open communication channels. One core strategy that has contributed to our success is what I call "vision anchoring." Before any content gets created, we zoom out. We ground every campaign in the brand's mission, voice, and energy—making sure that each piece of content feels purposeful, not performative. We ask: Who are we talking to? How do we want them to feel? What transformation are we inviting? That clarity on the why makes the what and how flow so much easier—for both the team and the client. My biggest piece of advice for others building a social media team is this: hire for alignment, not just skillset. Social media moves fast, and the platforms are always changing—but energy, integrity, and the ability to communicate well under pressure? That's what creates longevity and success. Also: lead with clarity, but leave space for magic. Some of our most successful ideas came not from strategy decks but from a casual Slack message or a spark of intuition in a weekly check-in. A strong team needs structure and creative freedom. At the end of the day, we're not just building content—we're building community. And when your team feels seen, trusted, and empowered, that energy shows up in every post.