Social Media Intern: What is the cost of hiring?

Why hire a social media intern?

The need for new staff can affect your existing team and bottom line. A great social media intern hire can help your business by:

• Working with your marketing staff to create and implement social campaigns
• Developing content calendars
• Creating engaging written, image-based and video-based social content

Deciding between a full-time vs freelance social media intern

Freelance social media interns are practical for employers and businesses with a small online presence that doesn’t require an extensive amount of management. Since the company doesn’t need frequent oversight of its social media pages, the owner may save on overall costs by hiring a freelance social media intern instead of a full-time employee. This also frees the owner from having to pay benefits and vacation time. 

For businesses that require frequent updates and management of their social media pages, a full-time employee may be the way to go. Full-time employees typically have lower hourly costs than freelancers, and employers can hold them to a higher standard with responsibilities in the workplace. 

What are the ranks of social media interns?

Social media interns are at the bottom of the food chain when it comes to the hierarchy of their profession. Some of the positions in the field include:

• Social media intern: Interns are responsible for researching and reporting on relevant trends and creating new social media accounts on popular social media websites, such as Twitter and Facebook, for their employers. 
• Social media manager: In addition to monitoring the traffic on their social media pages, managers often communicate directly with the business’s intended audience.
• Social media director: The director is the leader of the social media team. They create the social media strategy, monitor the effectiveness of their efforts and promote their company’s brand. 
• Chief marketing officer: On top of other marketing teams, the chief marketing officer oversees and manages all the strategies employed by the social media interns, managers and director.

Where to find social media interns

To find the right social media intern for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

• Search online for established social media interns: Many freelance interns or those with prior experience promote themselves on various sites to find work.
• Post a help wanted sign in your window: Posting help wanted signs is a good way to find quality candidates in your area who may be interested in the position.
• Promote or hire from within: Some of the employees in your business may already have the skills required for the position. Interview a few potential candidates to find a good fit. 
• Post your job online: Try posting your social media intern job on Indeed to find and attract quality social media intern candidates. 

Skills to look for in a great Social Media Intern

A great Social Media Intern candidate will have the following skills and attributes as well as work experience that reflects:

• Education or certification in a communications-related field
• Knowledge of how certain social media platforms work
• Ability to read and process analytics information
• Excellent project manager
• Knowledge of Photoshop
• Able to work independently

Writing a social media intern job description

A thoughtful description is important to finding qualified social media intern candidates. A social media intern job description includes a compelling summary of the role, a detailed list of duties and responsibilities and the required and preferred skills for the position.

When writing your social media intern job description, consider including some or all of the following keywords to improve the visibility of your job posting . These are the most popular search terms leading to clicks on social media intern jobs, according to Indeed data:

• Social media
• Internship
• Marketing
• Marketing internship
• Social media intern
• Marketing intern
• Social media marketing
• Intern
• Social media manager
• Social media internship

Interviewing social media intern candidates

Strong candidates for social media intern positions will be confident answering questions regarding:

• How to create engaging content for a new audience
• How to curate and manage content from outside sources
• Reading and analyzing traffic and sales reports and adjusting campaigns in response to them

Need help coming up with interview questions? See our list of social media intern interview questions for examples (with sample answers).