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Why should you hire social media developers? The short answer is that you want to utilize social media to engage your current and prospective stakeholders. For a business, that means existing and potential customers. Government organizations and non-profit organizations might use social media to engage citizens and other stakeholders.
Social media can help you increase your reach considerably. E.g., you can send your outbound marketing materials to a wider audience using social media. You need to proactively manage your social media marketing strategy. Therefore, you need to develop relevant applications and undertake effective social media-based outreach campaigns. You need competent people for this including smart developers.
Quality developers will help you succeed. On the other hand, below-par programmers can derail your project.
Finding the right social media developers can be hard. Labor statistics indicate that the demand for such developers is high. As such, competent developers earn a high median salary.
You need to make the right hiring decisions. Hiring freelancers might seem like a good idea, however, it exposes your project to risks. Hiring smart software engineers from a trustworthy company like DevTeam.Space is a better idea.
You need to first understand the skill requirements, which are as follows:
Primary skills needed for social media developer jobs
Social media developers should have a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology, or related fields. Let’s assume that your project involves both web and mobile development. Based on this assumption, developers need the following primary skills:
- Good understanding of social media platforms;
- Proficiency in web development including front-end and back-end development;
- JavaScript, HTML, and CSS skills;
- Knowledge of JavaScript-based web frameworks like Angular, React, etc.;
- Proficiency in one of the prominent programming languages used for back-end web development, e.g., Python, Java, or Golang;
- Experience in Android development;
- Experience in one of the leading programming languages used for native Android development, e.g., Java and Kotlin;
- iOS development experience;
- Proficiency in Swift, the popular language for iOS development;
- Understanding of the differences between SQL and NoSQL databases;
- Knowledge of advantages offered by MySQL-vs-MongoDB;
- Understanding of the differences between MongoDB-vs-PostgreSQL;
- Familiarity with the web and mobile app UI design practices;
- Experience in using IDEs (Integrated Development Environments) like Eclipse, Android Studio, and Xcode;
- Familiarity with testing tools like Espresso and XCTest;
- Knowledge of version-control tools like Git.
Note: You might have specific requirements, e.g., you need insights from vast data sheets. You might plan to use sophisticated data science tools. Naturally, you will need developers with data science experience. Mention these additional requirements in your job ad.
Other software development skills needed by social media developers
Social media developers should have the following additional skills:
1. Application security skills
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Social media developers should understand data security and privacy well. They need to assist you in designing and implementing robust security solutions. Developers need to know the following:
- How to implement modern solutions like digital signatures and multi-factor authentication (MFA);
- Processes and steps to incorporate data encryption;
- How to identify and mitigate the important application security risks;
- How to support security and compliance testing efforts effectively;
- Steps to implement firewalls, antivirus, etc.
2. API development skills needed by social media developers
Social media developers might need to develop APIs. Therefore, they need to know the following:
- Differences between GraphQL and REST APIs;
- RESTful API development processes and steps;
- Experience in using API development and documentation tools like Postman and Swagger;
- How to secure APIs using authentication, quotas, encryption, and throttling;
- API testing;
- How to design API endpoints;
- Steps to host APIs using a cloud platform;
- Best practices to create rules for API requests and responses.
3. Cloud computing knowledge
Social media developers should have sound knowledge of cloud computing. They should know the following:
- Different kinds of cloud computing platforms, e.g., IaaS (Infrastructure-as-a-Service), PaaS (Platform-as-a-Service), and MBaaS (Mobile-Backend-as-a-Service);
- Offerings by the top cloud providers like Google Cloud Platform, AWS, and Microsoft Azure;
- Differences between the prominent cloud delivery models like public cloud, private cloud, and hybrid cloud;
- How to choose between the top PaaS platforms;
- Cloud services like analytics, databases, etc. that are offered by cloud providers;
- DevOps tools that are offered by cloud computing providers;
- How to choose the right MBaaS platform.
4. Knowledge of social media platforms
Social media developers need a thorough knowledge of the social media space. Depending on your requirements, developers might need specific skills, e.g.:
- How organizations create outbound marketing materials;
- Techniques to create effective social marketing messages;
- Usage of different digital marketing channels;
- How organizations use sales tools in conjunction with social media marketing;
- Best practices for developing product descriptions;
- Control concepts used with social media marketing;
- How organizations build creative assets in multiple formats for social media marketing;
- Best practices for creating relevant web content for email campaigns;
- How to use platforms like the Sitecore platform;
- Tools and techniques to market innovative products using social media;
- How businesses increase the reach of their white papers using social media;
- Effective social media marketing practices to write effective product descriptions for logging products.
5. Code review skills
You will need verification and validation processes in any social media development project. Code review forms an important part of this. You can detect defects early with the help of code review. Look for developers with code review experience. They should understand the important code review strategies.
6. Software engineering and software development methodologies skills
Social media developers should have a good understanding of software development processes. They should know software engineering well. Programmers need to understand testing and DevOps, furthermore, they should know coding guidelines. Developers need familiarity with the agile methodology.
7. Software architecture skills needed by social media developers
Social media developers need a sound knowledge of software architecture. Using software architectural concepts helps them to deliver functional requirements. They can also deliver non-functional requirements like performance, scalability, maintainability, and testability by adopting a robust software architecture.
Developers should know the architectural decision-making processes. They also need knowledge of relevant architectural patterns.
8. Competencies needed by social media developers
Social media developers need the following competencies:
- Passion for excellence: Organizations need programmers with a passion for excellence to get optimal results from their social media efforts.
- Empathy: Developers need to understand the needs of end-users. They need empathy for this.
- Teamwork: Successful social media development teams are highly collaborative. You need developers who value teamwork.
- Communication skills: The dynamic nature of social media development projects requires developers with robust communication skills.
- Commitment: Social media marketing efforts have high visibility. You need to meet the project objectives, therefore, you need developers with commitment.
- Problem-solving skills: You need programmers with good problem-solving skills for the best results.
How to find the best software developers for social media applications?
You now have a good idea of the skills needed by social media developers. Therefore, you can start the hiring process. Take the following steps:
1. Choose the right platform to hire social media developers
Social media projects are key components of organizations’ digital marketing strategies. Organizations use social media for lead generation, marketing of web-based products, effective social communications, and other key purposes. Successful social media projects help organizations to promote relevant social content such as product offers, promotion awareness, new product lines, etc.
Competent developers help you execute your social media projects successfully. On the other hand, below-average developers can derail your project. You need to make the right hiring decisions.
Do you plan to hire freelance developers? You might have come across several freelance platforms. Furthermore, you might think that your project will benefit since you can get freelancers at a low hourly rate.
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We don’t recommend this approach though. Hiring freelancers for such roles comes with risks. Freelancers work part-time on projects. You might not get enough bandwidth from them. Managing part-timers can be hard, and it’s harder for remote freelancers.
Freelancers can leave your project mid-way meaning you will need to find replacement developers. You can’t get any project management support from freelance platforms either.
We recommend you hire skilled and experienced social media developers from professional software development companies like DevTeam.Space. Our developers work full-time on your project and have a high degree of motivation. We have a stringent vetting process to ensure quality.
At DevTeam.Space, we train our programmers in our AI-powered agile process. We provide project management support. Hiring dedicated social media developers from a trustworthy company like DevTeam.Space mitigates your project risks.
2. Interview candidates
You have chosen an appropriate hiring platform. Subsequently, you have posted your job requirements. It’s time to interview candidates.
Please note that the technical skill requirements that you require from your developer will vary based on your project requirements. You might need appropriate lists of interview questions, and our sets of questions might help. Review the following and choose the ones you need:
- JavaScript interview questions;
- Node.js interview questions;
- SQL interview questions;
- Java interview questions;
- Python interview questions;
- Ruby on Rails interview questions;
- Android interview questions;
- iOS interview questions;
- Software engineer interview questions.
You should ask enough questions from each relevant technical skill area. Avoid asking only theoretical questions. Instead, ask questions that help you assess the relevant experience of candidates.
Ask them about their past projects and check how they solved problems. Describe your project. Ask candidates how they would approach it. Expect specific answers, and don’t satisfy yourself with jargon.
3. Onboard social media developers
Now that you found the right developers, you want them to become productive quickly. Onboard them effectively for this.
Share the relevant project documents with the new developers, e.g.:
- Functional requirements;
- Non-functional requirements (NFRs);
- Technical solutions.
Explain your project to the new team members. Describe the requirements.
New developers need access to the project’s technical environment. Grant them this access including access to the code repositories.
Introduce the new developers to your existing team members. You should explain their roles and responsibilities. Explain the project plan, project schedule, milestones, and the work approval process.
You should set up a communication process to regularly interact with the new developers. Establish accountability to safeguard the project’s success.
Interviewing tips for hiring social media developers
We offer the following interviewing tips for hiring social media developers:
1. Hire sufficiently experienced developers
Social media programmers need considerable software development skills. They also need a good understanding of social media, digital marketing, etc. You need developers with enough experience.
2. Hire separate developers for important skill areas
You might find it hard to hire individual developers with expertise in web development, native Android development, and native iOS development. Consider these work streams separately. Hire different developers for these work streams.
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3. Hire a competent team leader if you hire a remote team
Remote teams can help you considerably. Many organizations have benefitted from hiring remote developers, and you might gain by hiring them too. Hire a smart team leader, however. Such a team leader will help you manage the work of the remote team.
Sample interview questions when hiring social media developers
You should ask questions that enable you to evaluate the relevant skills of candidates, e.g.:
1. Describe how your work helped a company enhance its social media marketing efforts.
Answer:
In response to this open-ended question, developers might talk about their past projects. They might describe the gaps they saw in the social media marketing efforts of their organization. Programmers should explain how they developed effective apps/tools to improve their marketing efforts.
2. Describe a few challenges you faced in a past project.
Answer:
Developers might talk about the uncertainties they saw in a company’s social media marketing efforts. In response to this open-ended question, they might talk about the conflicting viewpoints of different stakeholders. They might describe how they contributed to the resolution of these challenges.
3. Explain how you extracted insights from past social media campaigns.
Answer:
In reply to this open-ended question, developers might describe the requirements for actionable insights. They might talk about the different platform-specific APIs they utilized. Subsequently, they might talk about the analytics programs they developed that allowed the client company to gain valuable insights. Programmers might also talk about the analytics tools they used.
Submit a Project With Zero Risk
It takes considerable effort to develop a company’s social media applications. Successful developers need significant experience in managing social media strategies and tasks. You need to find high-quality software developers to get these social media projects right. Why take the risk of hiring anything but the best social media developers?
DevTeam.Space is a community of experienced field expert software developers. All of our dedicated developers have been vetted and trained in our AI-powered agile process.
We provide only the most suitable developer or development team with the relevant expertise for your project. If you would like to learn more, simply fill out our DevTeam.Space product specification form and one of our experienced account managers will get in touch to answer any questions you might have.
