Not too long ago, “social media manager” was virtually a non-existent role. But as brands worldwide continue to rely on social media to reach their target audience, the need for social media managers has skyrocketed.
While it may seem simple to share an image and publish a short commentary, managing and building a brand’s online presence requires a fine-tuned strategy and critical skills. Social media managers go beyond simply creating media pages and posting content. They are responsible for managing the company’s brand as seen by the world. So what does a social media manager actually do? What essential skills do they need to fulfill their day-to-day role?
Day-to-Day Responsibilities of a Social Media Manager
1) Creating editorial calendars of relevant content specific to each channel
With the rapidly growing number of social networks to publish on and manage, it’s vital to stay organized and plan for what and when you’re going to share across social media channels. Publishing content and optimizing profiles and posts increase organic reach significantly.
2) Developing and representing the brand with a consistent personality
Creating campaigns with consistent messaging representative of the brand voice (e.g., be serious, responsible, or humorous where and when it makes sense) includes everything from your language and the words you choose to the personality and image your marketing assets aim to invoke. It plays an important role in ensuring your message cuts through the noise and makes a lasting impression on potential customers.
3) Responding to audience questions, comments, and feedback
Thanks to social media, brands have the opportunity to connect with their customers in a new way to enhance the customer experience and encourage brand engagement. They now have the chance to help customers with problems on these platforms and receive feedback — positive and negative. With more than 90% of consumers reaching out to a company on social media, you need to navigate these sometimes rough waters. By providing excellent customer service through social comments, you create a rapport, retain existing customers, and gain new ones.
4) Tracking success through engagement ratings, metrics, and analytics
Social media metrics are important because they help demonstrate a campaign’s success, how well your social strategy is performing, and ultimately if you are impacting your overall business. Metrics keep you mindful of your general social profile and brand health – you won’t know the impact of your social media efforts until you have the data to back it up. Furthermore, reporting results to upper management helps reassess if a particular platform is not producing the acceptable ROI and guides strategy going forward.
5) Participating in visual design strategy and development
While much of your social media content will be written, visual content is also crucial; it has a lasting effect on viewers. The right gif or photo can be shared hundreds or even thousands of times, and you need to understand the types of images that work well on each social network. It’s valuable for social media managers to have general knowledge of design to create visually appealing graphics to complement their posts. Video is also an important component, so it is beneficial to gain skills in that area as well.
Essential Skills Every Social Media Manager Should Have
1) Copywriting skills
Social media managers write a lot, and each social network requires a slightly different writing style. For example, Linkedin requires a more professional tone, while Facebook is more lighthearted and fun. SEO copywriting knowledge is also helpful. Whether you’re writing Instagram posts or Pinterest captions, words matter, and good writing can boost engagement, extend your organic reach, and help you create a memorable brand. You must create messages that your brand’s audience can quickly understand and promote a positive sentiment for the brand. Having a captivating story woven into your posts on social media goes a long way into driving clicks and engagement, and you can’t do this without copywriting skills.
2) Graphic design skills
You don’t have to be a Photoshop guru, but a keen eye for design places you far above the competition. It’s more important than ever for a social media manager to have a good eye for design and the ability to recognize and create images that are on-brand. Social media is inundated with content, and the posts with fine-tuned images are those that stand out. Keep in mind, people remember 65% of a message when it’s accompanied by an image and only 10% when it’s not. Graphic design skills carry over into every aspect of marketing, as well.
3) Communication and customer care skills
As a social media manager, it’s imperative to have strong communication skills that can pivot to accommodate any platform, media, character count, or audience. On any given day, it’s not uncommon to switch between communicating with followers, sharing feedback with the marketing team, or compiling a social listening analysis to share with leadership. You can’t wait for a complaint. Be proactive when engaging your followers — over 72% of people who tweet their complaints expect a response within 1 hour!
4) Research skills
Coming up with a social media plan and strategy requires extensive research. Because the world of social media is constantly changing, keeping up with the current trends and best practices is a MUST. With trends comes misinformation, which is a massive problem on social media today. A social media manager must be able to double-check information before sharing it, no matter what the topic is.
A competitive analysis is also an important aspect for every social media manager who is eager to implement successful strategies. You’ll discover what your competitors are doing differently and how you can stay one step ahead of the game.
5) Creativity to think outside the box
Every social media manager wants to create exciting, valuable, buzz-worthy content. Still, it takes creativity to develop ideas that stand out in the saturated social media space. Creativity helps social media managers:
- Develop innovative social campaigns
- Create visually appealing, multimedia content
- Consider every aesthetic feature of a social post — from images to links to the copy formatting
- Lead productive brainstorm sessions that bring out teammates’ best ideas
- Sharpen and expand their brand’s voice and persona
On par with creativity is having a sense of humor and the ability to improvise in any given situation.
With over 150 years of combined marketing and advertising experience, our team of highly skilled social media marketers will help you grow your business by growing your relationships. Contact us today to begin your journey!
One Response
Really enjoyed this Adia. Looking forward to the next one!