360-degree feedback is a very effective method of employee review that consists not only of the common reviews from managers and supervisors but also those from peers and coworkers, as well as other staff members. But 360-degree feedback can even come directly from clients or customers. In fact, this type of feedback is applicable on all levels, as even the managers and company leaders can receive it from stakeholders or their subordinates.
Because of this, 360-degree feedback is an incredibly valuable tool, as it gives the employee information from different perspectives. That way, they know it is not up to one person to decide if they are successful (farewell to the good old “That’s because my boss hates me!” argument ????).
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However, modern roles such as social media managers can be more tricky to review. Because digital marketing is a specific field, most traditional 360 feedback questions won’t work here.
Fortunately, we are here to help with 66 questions that will help you execute thorough 360-degree social media marketer reviews.
How to collect 360-degree feedback
There are two primary methods for collecting 360-degree feedback:
- Collecting 360-degree feedback manually and adding the questions you like into, for example, Google Forms and its alternatives
- Automating the process with 360-degree feedback software like Effy AI and Zavvy that offers templates and helps you analyze data for faster and more accurate assessment
360 feedback questions for social media marketers by categories
We have grouped our questions into categories to make things easier for you when you decide to put this article into action and create your own 360-degree feedback review.
Here they are:
Communication
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Since we are talking about social media marketing, conveying brand messages to potential customers and clients is an absolute priority. As such, communication is one of the key skills any good social media marketer should possess. Here are some feedback questions that will help:
- Does a social media marketer consistently demonstrate strong written communication skills through their social media content and messaging?
- Can they communicate key brand ideas and concepts clearly and concisely?
- How well do they tailor communication for different target audiences and demographics?
- How well do they communicate social media campaign objectives and requirements to the creative team?
- How do they respond to customer inquiries, comments and complaints on social media?
- Do they regularly engage with stakeholders to gather insights and inputs for social media content?
Creativity
Having creative and original content delivered consistently is what matters, but only 19% of companies are able to deliver both consistent and high-quality content. Therefore, having a creative marketer in charge of social media campaigns can make a real difference and put your brand before the competition. Here’s what to ask to learn more about their competencies:
- Does an SMM consistently develop original content ideas and tailor them to every platform?
- Are they able to think outside the box without breaking the brand voice?
- Do they use an innovative approach when tackling social media marketing problems?
- Can the SMM demonstrate a track record of success in producing engaging content?
- Do they look into implementing the latest SMM trends into their content production?
- Do they experiment with different formats, visual elements and CTAs to determine the most effective ones for various campaigns?
Content creation
While we have covered content briefly in the Creativity section, when it comes to SMM, there are actual techniques a good marketer should use to make their posts more engaging. Here are six questions that can help you tell if they are doing a good job with content creation:
- Does an SMM ensure their content is relevant to the target audience?
- How skillful is the social media marketer in composing attention-grabbing headlines and compelling copy that captivates the audience’s attention?
- Do they create content that builds trust, drives engagement and leads to conversions?
- Does a social media marketer incorporate eye-catching graphics, images and videos that enhance the overall content and capture the audience’s attention?
- How effectively does a social media marketer address the target audience’s pain points and challenges through content?
- How effectively do they tailor the content to seasonal events, holidays or special occasions?
Project management
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Project management is vital in any industry and can be the deciding factor between good and bad social media marketers. Even if they handle one client, juggling between several social media platforms requires good organization and project management skills. But, if they have multiple projects or clients at once, staying on top of everything and producing quality content regularly becomes even more difficult.
Here are some questions to help you assess their project management ability:
- Can they independently develop strategic plans aligned with company goals for social media campaigns?
- Do they analyze the data and adapt strategies based on the insights and feedback to improve future campaigns?
- How effectively do they collaborate and coordinate with other teams (designers, writers, developers, analysts etc.) to ensure campaign success?
- How well do they manage resources and delegate tasks for optimizing productivity and achieving project objectives?
- How well do they communicate project updates, progress and challenges to relevant stakeholders?
- Do they provide clear direction and support to team members to ensure their success in project tasks?
Organization and time management
Good organization and time management skills are imperative for social media marketers, as they must stay on track with multiple platforms and projects. This is especially true if they cooperate with other teams, as they will have to coordinate with designers and writers in-house while keeping track of influencers and community admins they are in touch with.
Here’s what you can ask to figure out if your SMM does a good job with organization and time management:
- Is an SMM able to manage their time effectively, prioritize tasks and meet deadlines without compromising the quality of their work?
- Do they proactively ensure their SMM projects and campaigns are delivered on time?
- Do they demonstrate a high level of organization and keep track of multiple projects at once?
- How well does the SMM manage content calendars and posting schedules to ensure a consistent and captivating presence across all platforms?
- Do they effectively manage competing priorities and deadlines?
- Do they maintain a systematic approach to organizing data and insights for easy retrieval?
Strategic thinking
While strategic thinking is usually reserved for more executive roles within the company, the fact that an SMM needs to manage several projects simultaneously means they should be able to think strategically. Here are six questions for the strategic thinking part of 360-degree SMM feedback:
- Does the social media marketer understand the company’s overall strategy and goals and deliver posts in accordance with that?
- How effectively can they analyze SMM trends and competitor activities and implement changes based on them in SMM strategy?
- Can they think ahead and be proactive when developing future social media campaigns?
- Do they think outside the box and find less obvious but effective solutions when developing campaign strategies?
- Do they retain a level of flexibility and willingness to adapt their strategy along the way?
- How effectively do they set short and long-term goals?
Building connections
Building and nurturing connections with the audience, influencers and social media pages is exceptionally important for social media marketing. Therefore, a good SMM should be able to build and maintain connections within the field, and these questions will help you determine how well they do that:
- How effectively do they collaborate with influencers, niche experts and online communities?
- Do they take good care of replying to comments, mentions, tags and similar while demonstrating the willingness to build genuine relationships?
- Is the SMM effectively tailoring the content and interactions to resonate with different audience segments?
- Are they able to consistently build relationships with prospects and potential customers?
- How well do they use social media to build brand trust and credibility among the target customer base?
- Are they successful in encouraging user-generated content and engaging the audience?
Data analysis
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Analyzing and making data-driven changes to improve social media campaigns is essential for all good social media marketers. It eliminates guesswork and lets the company focus on what works without wasting resources. Here are some data analysis question ideas:
- How effectively does the social media marketer analyze and interpret data to identify trends and make informed decisions?
- Do they focus on the most critical metrics, such as conversions, ROI, engagement and reach?
- How effectively do they use A/B testing and similar methods to turn raw data into actual results?
- Do they successfully use data to determine which variations perform better and optimize campaigns?
- How effectively do they use competitor insights to enhance social media marketing strategies?
- How well do they communicate the results of their data analysis and present it to other stakeholders in an easy-to-understand way?
Flexibility
We have mentioned flexibility sparingly, but it deserves its own category. No matter how good the initial strategy is, it is destined to fail if the SMM isn’t flexible. That’s because trends change fast in the world of social media, and early adopters are often rewarded.
- How well does an SMM adapt their strategies to suit the trends in the social media world?
- How effectively do they listen to audience feedback and implement it into the social media strategy?
- How well do they adapt to unexpected changes and adjust their SMM approach accordingly?
- Do they implement the latest SMM trends without breaking the brand guidelines and company presence strategy?
- Can they develop new solutions on the go to align the social media presence with the latest events and real-time opportunities?
- How well do they incorporate creative inputs from team members and stakeholders?
Research
Because posting consistently is one of the keys to retaining visibility across social media platforms, excellent research skills are paramount for social media marketers.
Without them, finding new post ideas and backing them up with quality information and multimedia would be impossible. Therefore, research assessing questions should be a vital component of any social media marketer 360-degree feedback review:
- Can the social media marketer find, evaluate and validate relevant information from various sources and do it consistently?
- Can they think critically and assess the reliability of the information they encounter?
- Can they understand the importance of fact-checking and verifying the information before posting anything?
- How well do they implement their findings and turn them into engaging social media posts?
- Does a social media marketer use surveys, polls and similar built-in social media research methods to derive original information from the audience?
- Do they stay updated on social media trends, algorithm changes, competitors and audience needs?
Performance
Last but not least, we have performance. It’s needless to say that everything else on this list is not important unless the social media marketer actually delivers where it matters.
However, focusing on performance alone can lead to faulty conclusions, which is why organizations use 360-degree feedback in the first place – otherwise, one look at spreadsheets would be enough to conclude if someone is a good employee. Here’s what to ask to find out more about SMM performance:
- Is the social media marketer capable of maintaining a track record of success in meeting and exceeding KPIs?
- Do they consistently measure the impact of their social media campaigns and activities and compare them to company goals?
- Do their SMM activities translate into actual results, such as improved conversions, boosted brand awareness and visibility?
- Do they demonstrate a deep understanding of the target audiences and build authority and trust with them?
- Is an SMM managing to get an edge over the competition regarding social media presence?
- How well do they cultivate a sense of community among their social media followers?
Final Thoughts on Assessing Social Media Marketers
This article provides you with more than 60 360-degree questions that follow under 11 categories. We hope you now have enough ideas to get you started and build your own 360-degree social media marketer review.
Fortunately, a good 360-degree feedback software will help you get started and design quality reviews and surveys without wasting hours. With it and our examples, you won’t have to do everything from scratch, and you will get actionable insights once you collect all of the data, which will let your SMM act upon receiving the results and improve their performance going forward.