Businesses have increased their investment in social media in recent years. Social media marketing is a way to generate leads and build brand awareness. Companies now look to social media managers to manage their online presence.
What Does a Social Media Manager Do?
A social media manager’s role will vary depending on the organisation and its size.
In smaller companies, a social media manager may be responsible for many tasks such as graphic design, video editing and copywriting, which is typically part of a content creation team in larger companies. They will work with multiple teams in larger companies and oversee them all.
These roles tend to be very busy and will have a lot of tasks to do no matter what size the organisation is.
Social Media Manager Responsibilities
There are various responsibilities with the role. A typical job description can include the following:
- Creating campaigns for marketing (product launches, awareness campaign)
- Building content calendars to plan ahead. Scheduling content to be posted. You must be organised.
- Take responsibility for all social media accounts. Choose what content works best on each social media platform.
- Identify influencers for marketing.
- Create weekly/monthly reports.
- Creating content for each platform.
- Overseeing content and providing approval or feedback for content teams.
What Skills Are Needed to Become a Social Media Manager?
The following are skills you will need to master:
1. Writing
There is a lot of writing involved when you’re a social media manager. Your role will see you constantly writing content for social media such as Instagram posts and Twitter. You will need to know which tone to take on each platform.
You should also be writing content that sticks to your brand guidelines. After all, you are acting as the voice of your brand.
2. SEO
Most major companies will have a separate SEO team for their content, but you should have SEO knowledge for social media.
As you will be writing a lot of copy, you need to optimise it to have the best chance to be seen. With the help of SEO, you can attract a bigger audience.
3. Research
In this role, you need to keep up with the latest trends and news. You should have excellent research skills to keep up with your industry and find out about your competitors.
4. Social Media
This is of course obvious, but a great social media manager should have excellent social media skills. If you aim for a job at a large organisation, you will need to have a few years of experience.
5. Customer service
Customer service plays a big role in a social media strategy. A lot of customers look to social media accounts to ask questions about a product or a service. Everything you do on social media reflects on your brand. As a social media manager, you need to understand how your brand’s voice comes across.
6. Organisation
You will be creating a content calendar as a social media manager. You will need to organise your posting and schedule them all to post in advance to save time. Many platforms help with this, which can significantly help with organisation.
Learn To Become a Social Media Manager
There are multiple paths to becoming a social media manager. You can learn social media skills in various areas. The following are some paths to becoming a social media manager:
Certifications: Several courses are certificate-based and provide more in-depth training than online courses. They may also be a bit more expensive.
Online Courses: You can work at your own pace to learn about social media marketing in online courses. You will typically learn about different topics, and at the end of the topic, there’s usually a quiz to test you on what you have learned.
Internships: A lot of businesses offer internships to students or entry-level employees. They can be unpaid, but it’s great when they’re paid! Doing an internship can give you a lot of valuable experience in the field. You will get hands-on in your training and learn from more experienced employees in the office.
Learn more about digital marketing roles here.