What Does a Social Media Manager Do?

A social media manager plays a key marketing role in today’s digital world. Over the years, this role has evolved into something much more complex. They are expected to have a wide range of skills, from creating engaging social content to managing platform expertise across different networks. The work includes research to identify trends and finding ways to convert followers into loyal customers.

As social media continues to grow, social media manager jobs are expected to grow by 10% by 2028, with 33,700 new jobs being created in the next decade. It’s a good time for aspiring professionals to enter this field. Those who succeed are experts in outreach, influencer marketing, and customer service, and they understand the impact of AI and digital marketing strategies. If you’re looking for a successful career, this role offers many opportunities, especially if you are good at adapting to the fast pace of social media management.

What is a Social Media Manager?

A Social Media Manager is responsible for managing and crafting a brand’s online presence across different social media platforms. This role involves strategy development, planning, and executing social media campaigns that align with the company’s business objectives. A Social Media Manager also plays a vital role in boosting brand visibility and engagement by consistently monitoring trends and analyzing performance to make informed decisions.

A good Social Media Manager is skilled in creating engaging content, whether it’s text, images, or videos, to capture attention and drive engagement. They use their creativity to develop innovative content while keeping up with current social media trends and emerging platforms. Strong communication skills, including excellent written and verbal communication, are key to interacting with the audiences and fostering a positive online community. By collaborating with teams across marketing, sales, and customer service, they ensure that all social media efforts align with the company’s goals.

In this role, analytical skills are just as important as creativity. A Social Media Manager tracks and measures the effectiveness of campaigns, using data to optimize strategies and identify areas for improvement. Familiarity with social media platforms, tools, and analytics is essential to keep everything running smoothly. They must be able to manage multiple tasks, meet deadlines, and thrive in a fast-paced environment. Essentially, they are the voice and face of a brand, responsible for curating and updating social media accounts while ensuring consistent branding and messaging.

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What Does a Social Media Manager Do?

A social media manager plays a key role in helping a company’s brand grow and succeed online. They are responsible for creating and maintaining the company’s social media networks. They do this by producing content and innovating new ideas to keep things fresh and engaging. Social media managers also respond to questions and comments from the audience, ensuring they stay connected with the company’s voice while following the guidelines set for the brand.

They measure the success of their campaigns by analyzing metrics and using various tools. This helps them understand what’s working and what needs improvement. Their work is often done daily, which means they need to stay up-to-date with digital marketing trends and industry news. A social media manager also collaborates with creative groups, marketing, and public relations teams to make sure that the content aligns with the larger company goals.

In larger organizations, they may collaborate with a social media director and other departments like sales and lead generation to convert engagement into revenue. Their work in campaigns is essential to driving promotions and growing the company’s presence online. Social media management is an in-demand position, often requiring a bachelor’s degree in marketing or public relations. On platforms like Glassdoor, a social media manager can earn an average salary of around $59,000 in the U.S.

Key Tasks of a Social Media Manager

A Social Media Manager has many crucial tasks to handle, all of which contribute to online success. One of the main responsibilities is to create and schedule posts across various social media channels like Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, and Threads. They need to ensure the content resonates with the audience and reflects the brand’s visual identity. This includes curating engaging content such as images, videos, and even gifs, all while staying up-to-date with world events and trending topics. The manager will use tools like Hootsuite or Buffer to schedule posts, reducing workloads and ensuring posts are made at the ideal times—like the busiest Wednesday mornings.

Managing a content calendar is another key task. It helps in planning the campaigns for days or even weeks, ensuring that the content is relevant and aligned with the brand’s goals. The manager must also engage with the audience by responding to comments and customer queries, building a relationship with them. They’ll track the performance of each post and measure results, using analytics and data analysis to prove the ROI and determine what works best. Measurable goals are set for each campaign to ensure that objectives are met and the strategies are optimized for better results.

In addition, a Social Media Manager plays a significant role in collaborating with other departments like marketing to align social media efforts with broader business goals. They also need to review and analyze competitor activities and research market trends to spot new opportunities for growth. Through communication and collaboration with key stakeholders, they ensure that everyone is informed and that the brand stays ahead of the curve.

Check out our latest post on “What is a Social Media Influencer?” to learn how influencer partnerships can be a valuable stepping stone for your experience.

Skills You Need to Be a Great Social Media Manager

Writing

To be a successful social media manager, you need to master many skills that help you engage and grow your audience. Writing is one of the most important aspects of this role. From creating posts for LinkedIn and Facebook to crafting image captions and video descriptions, it’s essential to write in a way that speaks to your audience. Your writing should always be clear, direct, and easy to understand.

• Writing needs to be snappy and engaging—a headline should catch the reader’s attention within seconds.
• Make sure your posts are fun and light when appropriate, but also maintain a professional tone when necessary.
• SEO copywriting can help your content show up more often by using keywords that boost visibility and enhance brand awareness.

Copywriting knowledge is crucial, especially when planning out the types of content for different platforms. Whether you’re working on structured text, short blurbs, or subtitles for videos, it’s important to format them for easy scanning and consumption by your audience. This includes using bullet points or numbering to make key information easy to digest.

In my experience, a great social media manager must always have a deep understanding of the audience and the company they represent. If you know your audience, you can use the right tone, whether you want to create a positive sentiment around the brand or just promote the message in a fun way that resonates. Staying ahead of the trends and tools, like social media tools or AI tools, helps make the writing process quicker and more efficient, ensuring you deliver content that boosts your brand’s reach.

Research

Social media managers play an essential role in the ever-changing world of social media. They must constantly stay up-to-date with industry trends and world trends to remain competitive. Research skills are at the core of their daily activities, from tracking popular topics to exploring new tools like Google Alerts and Feedly. They rely on resources such as BuzzSumo and Ahrefs to track competitors, analyze content, and discover the trending content that engages their audience.

A great social media manager can also leverage social media analytics tools to monitor measurement metrics and uncover insights about target audiences. For example, tools like the Social Competitor Analysis Tracker can help track competitors’ performance and understand how to promote content effectively on platforms like TikTok, which is known for its Discover tab and X Trends sidebar. By using these research skills, they can pinpoint trending topics, conduct hashtag research, and make informed decisions about the best ways to engage with audiences, especially Gen Zers and other key social media demographics.

Customer Service

Being a Social Media Manager means being the voice of the brand online. One of the key responsibilities is providing excellent customer service across different social media platforms. Whether it’s reaching out to customers or answering customer-service questions, Social Media Managers have to be vigilant and ready to respond quickly, even during nights and weekends.

You need to be proactive in engaging with users and solving customer care concerns through channels like Facebook Messenger, WhatsApp, or direct messages on other platforms. A timely response can boost engagement and improve the customer experience (CX). Responding to a complain with helpful resources or addressing a rave can really make a difference. Additionally, using tools like Hootsuite or Khoros can help you stay organized and keep track of the engagement stats and impressions from each interaction, helping brands offer value to their consumers. Every customer interaction should feel personal and valuable, whether it’s a message, a comment, or a live chat.

SEO Knowledge

Being a Social Media Manager is more than just posting updates on social networks. One of the key skills needed is a good understanding of SEO. A social media strategy should always consider SEO optimization to improve visibility and rankings on search engines. By integrating SEO tactics into your social media posts, you can drive more traffic to your website and boost your impact. Here are some tips to help:

• Keyword research is important for choosing the right long-tail keywords and short-tail keywords that attract a larger audience.
• When writing copy for social media, focus on adding keywords in your content to boost its visibility on search engines.
• Integrate SEO with content strategies like using infographics or writing blog posts that drive engagement and traffic.
• Don’t forget about the power of content marketing and promote your products or services through social media to increase exposure and engage with potential customers.

These steps can help your content perform better in SERPs, driving more attention to your posts. SEO Evergreen Tactics and understanding how algorithms impact social media should always be part of your planning.

Creativity & Design

Being a Social Media Manager requires more than just posting content. One of the most instrumental parts of the job is designing content that attracts the right audience and keeps them engaged. This means being able to generate creative juices for crafting eye-catching imagery or video content that stands out on crowded social media pages. A successful social media design strategy often involves blending creativity with simple yet effective design concepts.

• Master the art of visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok, where video marketing is rapidly growing. Short-form video content is now crucial for attracting the audience’s attention and building brand recognition.
• Keep content platform-specific, such as using Instagram for highly visual posts or TikTok for fun, engaging videos. It’s all about narrowing down your content ideation and designing it to fit the platform’s unique vibe.

The social strategy you build should always be paired with quality content that reflects the brand’s message. Whether you’re crafting a compelling story through images, videos, or even gifs, you need to ensure the creative steam is flowing to keep content fresh and engaging. Just like the iconic Harry Styles collaboration with Disney, always aim to make your designs something your audience will remember and share across social networks.

Conclusion

A social media manager plays an important role in helping businesses grow and engage with their audience. In a fast-paced and exciting environment, they use their key skills to manage various social media channels. By understanding the latest technologies, they can help businesses attract and convert new customers.

In the U.K., a social media manager can expect an estimated salary of around £35k per year, while in the United States, it’s approximately $59k, according to Glassdoor and Indeed. These professionals bring knowledge of the latest trends and the ability to work with the C-suite team, which includes leadership. Their skills in content creation, strategy, and analysis make them invaluable to companies seeking growth.

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