As companies look to bloggers for social media stardom, more and more people are trying to poach themselves as social media experts. A term that is quite loaded, and often nothing more than an attempt at catching your eye.

To save you the stress of finding out your new brand ambassador is nothing more than a social media user, here are a few qualified skills that you might want to consider before hiring your next big star.

1. Written communication skills
Your social media manager must be able to express themselves clearly and concisely. They must stay on point and be able to change tone to adjust to the community and audience they are writing for - and a sense of humour never hurt anybody.

2. Understanding your brand
The person who is representing your brand online should surely have an intimate understanding of it. Make sure to share your brand identity, business goals and social objectives as far as how you want your brand presented.

3. Creativity and Social Know-How
Your social media representative should know the in’s and out’s of social platforms, as well as understand where your brand will best fit in. Grabbing someone’s attention in 140 characters or less is not always an easy task - so be sure they have the knowledge to back it up.

4. Passion
Don’t underestimate the need for passion. Keeping up with social media, the emerging platforms and the constant need to do more and create more can be tiring. If your social media manager doesn’t have a passion for the medium they probably won’t last long.