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Bringing a new social media professional onto your marketing team is an exciting opportunity to infuse fresh ideas into your digital presence. But even the most talented social media experts can struggle to find their footing without a proper foundation. A well-crafted 30-60-90 day plan provides the roadmap you and your new hire need for long-term performance.

This guide will help hiring managers in social media and marketing communications develop an effective onboarding strategy for their new social media team members. As social media encompasses a variety of roles within universal titles, be sure to adapt expectations to your new hire’s experience level.

 

First 30 Days: Foundation & Immersion

The first 30 days should focus on deep learning and foundational understanding. After all, you’ve spent considerable time finding the right hire. Now’s the time to invest in your team members’ future success.

 

Weeks 1-2: Intensive Orientation

As a manager, commit to comprehensive shadowing during these first two weeks. Your new social media team member should:

• Gain a strong understanding of company culture, mission and values and how they translate to your brand voice and experience.
• Review brand guidelines and style guides to understand your visual identity and tone.
• Read and listen to existing published content to get a strong feel for your brand voice.
• Meet key stakeholders across marketing, sales and customer support to understand cross-departmental needs.
• Become proficient in your social media management system.
• Learn your social listening systems to track mentions, trends and sentiment.

During the initial weeks, encourage frequent check-ins with your new hire, welcome questions and provide resources and contacts on your team to help when you’re not immediately available. The more questions asked now, the fewer mistakes made later.

 

Weeks 3-4: Platform-Specific Knowledge & Gradual Autonomy

As your team member builds confidence, begin transitioning from observation to action:

• Ensure they understand the nuances of each platform in your social media strategy (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn, plus microblogging platforms like BlueSky, X, and Threads).
• Review platform-specific best practices, algorithms and audience demographics.
• Analyze current engagement metrics across platforms.
• Delegate small tasks.
• Provide constructive feedback that guides learning rather than criticizes.

 

Days 30-60: Analysis & Foundations For Strategic Development

By the second month, your new team member should be able to dive deeper into analysis and contribute to strategy.

 

Weeks 5-6: Content & Competitor Audit

It’s easy to keep doing the same thing over and over. Allow your new team member to share their views of the brand and its competitors through fresh eyes. Begin by guiding your social media professional through content audit and competitor analysis:

• Conduct a thorough social media content audit to identify high-performing content and improvement areas.
• Analyze competitor social media strategies across all relevant platforms.
• Identify competitor strengths, weaknesses and content trends.
• Utilize social listening tools to identify industry trends and relevant conversations.
• Deep dive into audience demographics, interests and behaviors

Your role as manager is to facilitate access to data, provide training on analysis tools and help your new team member interpret findings in the context of broader marketing goals.

 

Weeks 7-9: Insights & Strategy Development

As you complete the second month, your team member should begin transforming analysis into actionable steps and strategy:

• Help your new team member understand how social media integrates with your overall marketing funnel.
• Guide them in developing a comprehensive social media strategy aligned with marketing objectives.
• Support the creation of platform-specific content plans.
• Review their content pillars and publishing schedule recommendations.
• Discuss budget allocation across platforms and content types.

 

Days 60-90: Implementation & Optimization

In the third month, pivot from planning into action, with your new hire taking increasing ownership for your social media presence.

 

Weeks 10-11: Content Implementation & Community Management

Support your team member as they begin executing their strategy:

• Provide final approval for content plans and guidelines.
• Ensure they have the resources they need for content creation.
• Oversee initial content scheduling and publishing workflows.
• Guide their community management approach across platforms.
• Help establish a crisis communication plan.
• Monitor early performance indicators.

This is the phase where theory meets practice—be available to troubleshoot unexpected challenges but encourage autonomous problem-solving.

 

Week 12: Performance Analysis & Long-Term Planning

The 90-day mark should culminate in reflection and forward planning:

• Review comprehensive performance reports and analytics against established KPIs.
• Analyze what’s working and what needs refinement.
• Discuss scaling successful content approaches.
• Establish processes for ongoing optimization.
• Set longer-term goals and professional development paths.

By implementing this structured yet flexible approach to onboarding, you’ll transform your new social media team member from observer to strategic leader in just 90 days—setting both your new hire and your brand’s social media presence up for long-term success.

 

Author: Robbie Schneider, SMS

Robbie Schneider, SMS, is a healthcare content marketing leader and social media strategist, and author of Social Media, Sanity & You: A Guide To Mental Wellness For The Digital Marketer.

Robbie has more than 20 years’ experience using traditional and emerging media platforms to connect and engage consumer audiences in the healthcare space. She leads the social media and blog content strategy for Franciscan Health and serves as a board chair with SocialMedia.org Health.

Connect with Robbie on LinkedIn.