Let me confess something. I used to think that a social media manager was some high-flying journalist who studied mass communication or journalism, etc😅😅. Whenever I saw adverts about a social media manager, I skipped them without much thinking. Until it occurred to me I had more qualifications for the job than I thought.
I respect professional journalists — I have helped some do
their professional tasks — but being a social media manager requires ever-changing digital skills that can only be learned by those who spend much of
their time on the internet studying or following the trends. Simple. It’s not about what they taught you in a brick-and-mortar school five or ten years ago.
Who Is a Social Media Manager?
A social media manager is a professional responsible for managing and overseeing an organization’s presence on various social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and X (formerly Twitter; and I will drop ‘formerly Twitter’ in my subsequent posts. I think everyone now knows Twitter changed its name to X 🤣🤣🤣🤣).
Although it is usually not included,
posting on the company’s website can form part of the daily or weekly tasks for
a social media manager.
Anyway, a social media manager’s primary role is to create,
curate, and publish content. They also engage with the audience, and analyze
performance to achieve the company’s social media marketing goals.
Here are the typical key responsibilities of a social media
manager:
1.
Content Creation
They create and/or source content such as text, images,
videos, and graphics to post on social media platforms. This content is often
designed to inform, entertain, engage, and drive user interactions. It helps if
the content can go viral.
As you can see, creating text involves writing. That’s why
it matters that a social media manager be a
good freelance writer. Companies wouldn’t be happy to see posts with
misspellings, typos or grammatical errors posted on their social media
accounts. Okay, such posts can go viral for these wrong reasons, but then nobody
wants bad publicity.
2.
Scheduling and Posting
They schedule and post content on social media platforms
according to a content calendar, taking into account the best times for
audience engagement. A social media manager knows when to post the prepared
content, guided by the content calendar.
3.
Community Engagement
Social media managers engage with the audience by responding
to comments, messages, and mentions. They build relationships with followers
and foster a sense of community around the brand. This is where good
communication skills come in. A social media manager must be a pro-people
person. That’s another way of saying “friendly, polite, patient…”
4.
Analytics and Reporting
They monitor the performance of social media campaigns using
analytics tools and track key performance indicators (KPIs) like engagement,
reach, impressions, clicks, and conversions. They then use this data to adjust
their strategy and optimize results. Of course, this one requires good
training. I’d advise you to join the Google Analytics Academy
if you plan to become a social media manager.
5.
Strategy Development
Social media managers develop and execute a social media
strategy that aligns with the company’s overall marketing goals. This may
involve setting objectives, identifying target audiences, and selecting the
appropriate social platforms.
6.
Paid Advertising
In many cases, social media managers also oversee paid
advertising campaigns on platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and
LinkedIn. You can call them “paid ads” if you want to look trendy, but they are
simply paid advertisements. They create and manage ad campaigns to reach
specific target demographics and achieve marketing objectives.
7.
Trend Monitoring
Social media managers stay up-to-date with social media
trends, algorithm changes, and best practices to ensure that the company’s
social media efforts remain effective and relevant. How? By always taking
up-to-date digital marketing courses. You can get these courses on Udemy,
for instance.
8.
Crisis Management
Social media managers are often responsible for handling
crises or negative comments that may arise on social media. They must address
these issues promptly and professionally. Again, this requires that you be
friendly, patient, polite and kind.
9.
Content Calendar Management
Parting Shot
Social media managers can work in-house for a company or
organization, be part of a marketing agency, or even work as freelancers. Their
role is crucial in building and maintaining a strong online presence, engaging
with the audience, and ultimately contributing to the achievement of the
company’s marketing and business objectives through social media.
I dare add that a social media manager should be able to
engage social media influencers who can assist in making certain posts go
viral.