In the age of Digital Marketing, social media has become a key marketing area thanks to its ability to reach and capture customers.
In 2022, social media makes up 93% of marketing efforts worldwide; evidence that Social Media Managers are integral members of any marketing team and are vital in cultivating a company’s reputation, growth, and brand image.
The role of a Social Media Manager is fast-paced and varied, involving many different responsibilities in the space of one day. The main objective is to create and maintain a brand voice, which in turn, creates loyal followers and returning customers.
Day-to-Day Responsibilities of a Social Media Manager
The primary responsibilities of a Social Media Manager include developing engaging content, analyzing campaign performance, and communicating with people via the company’s social channels. Let’s take a closer look at these responsibilities:
1. Develop a Marketing Strategy
One of the primary jobs of a Social Media Manager is developing a content strategy for your company’s website, blog, or various social media channels. The aim of this content is to generate community engagement online. While a Social Media Coordinator may create and promote the content, the Social Media Manager is in charge of developing the strategy and tactics behind the content.
2. Create a Social Media Schedule
Setting weekly and monthly schedules, goals, deadlines, and projections are really important in the role of a Social Media Manager. This involves creating a social media content schedule for you and your marketing team to implement across all social channels.
3. Monitor Social Analytics
The Social Media Manager is responsible for monitoring and analyzing which social campaigns are working and which are not across all social media channels. This data informs and shapes the direction of a company’s social media efforts and ensures the company’s time and money is being spent in the right places and is reaching the target audience.
4. Oversee Community Management
The objective of cultivating a social media presence is to build engagement with your target audience, with a whopping 78% of consumers saying they are more likely to buy from a company after having a positive experience with them on social media. Community Management is part customer service, part listening to the internet, and part being active in discussions that relate to your brand, and it is an important aspect of a Social Media Manager’s role.
5. Participate in Visual Design Strategies
Social Media Managers work closely with the marketing department and graphic designers to create compelling content for their strategized campaigns. Social Media Managers ensure each social media post visually matches the brand voice and image.
6. Report Metrics to Key Stakeholders
Social Media Managers are required to report metrics to the company’s stakeholders or leadership to reassure them that the marketing efforts are making an impact. Stakeholders and company executives like to see how the marketing team is growing followers, generating leads/sales, increasing engagement, and developing creative content and campaigns, and it is up to the Social Media Manager to report this information in a digestible way.
Skills Required to Become a Social Media Manager
To be successful in the role of Social Media Management, you need to possess a knack for storytelling and editing, a keen eye for design, and an ability to analyze customer behaviour, to name a few. Let’s explore these a little further:
1. Writing & Editing
Each social network requires a slightly different style of writing, and for this reason, Social Media Managers require strong and varied copywriting skills. In many cases, a Social Media Manager will have a content writer creating the copy for them. In this case, the Social Media Manager will need to call on their expert editorial skills to ensure the piece of copy is appropriate and will be quickly understood by the brand’s audience.
2. Social Media Expertise
Understanding how to optimize platform-specific content is an important skill for a Social Media Manager to possess. In other words, knowing what type of content works best on what platform. Additionally, being able to forecast the days and times that work best on each platform will help shape the social media content scheduling and optimize return on investment.
3. SEO (Search Engine Optimization) Expertise
Though SEO is not the sole responsibility of the Social Media Manager, it is still an integral part of content marketing and social media marketing. A good Social Media Manager knows this and incorporates SEO optimized copy as part of their social marketing strategy.
4. Industry Knowledge
Social Media Managers must stay up to date with the ever-changing world of social and digital media. This means doing regular research into industry and world trends and tracking what competitors are doing.
5. Visual Skills
Just as a Social Media Manager needs to have strong writing skills, they also must possess a good eye for visual design. The right video or photo can be shared across social channels hundreds or even thousands of times, and a Social Media Manager needs to understand how to create visually appealing graphics to complement the written posts.
Start Your Career Path to Marketing Management at Sundance College
At Sundance College, we provide an accelerated Commerce: Digital Marketing & Social Media Management Diploma program that provides students with the fundamental knowledge of digital marketing, social media marketing, and other contemporary marketing techniques required to be successful in this dynamic industry.
Once the comprehensive classroom portion is completed, students go on to complete a workplace practicum which further prepares them for a smooth transition into the world of modern-day marketing. Graduating students also receive a full range of professional Career Services covering resume and marketing materials preparation, interview skills, and job search techniques.
Visit our website to find out more about our Commerce: Digital Marketing & Social Media Management program or fill out the Request Info form. One of our Admissions Advisors will be in contact to answer your questions and get you started on your journey to becoming a Social Media Manager!