While some companies do all that they can in order to hire a very good social media managers, others fire the ones that they have since they see the professional as not being necessary. Unfortunately, there are even some marketers that recommend firing the person because all that he does is just sit around browsing through Facebook pages and posting on social networks from time to time. This is basically a gross misunderstanding of this job position.
There are different social media mangers out there that do not do much the entire day and that simply do post from time to time. They need to be avoided and you should fire yours if that is what his real job description is. A good social media manager can really help you increase sales and promote brands. However, that is only possible when he actually does what he is supposed to do.
Various Job Aspects Connected With Social Media Managers
Among the really big companies we see that the social media manager is considered as being really important and that is obvious since social media is nowadays a huge communication channel that is perfect for marketing. The best social media page will let people interact with the companies, making them seem more human while also being able to promote deals, discounts, promotions, news and products.
Social media stands out as what could be labeled as cross department platform. It basically covers everything that the firm does. The manager will need to have knowledge about:
- Marketing – this is pretty obvious.
- Sales – this is important when replies are written to customer enquiries.
- PR – without PR knowledge, the work done on a social media work would not be as great as it could be.
- Customer Service – that is, again, obvious since responses to complaints and requests count a lot.
Social Media Manager Daily Tasks
This is why you are here as you want to be sure that you properly understand what the social media manager needs to do. While there are differences from one company to the next, there are some things that are common and that should be mentioned.
A huge part of the job is to identify the suitable social media and then use it properly while following trends. That automatically includes a need to have marketing knowledge and the manager needs to spend a lot of time in checking the competition.
Managers have to track absolutely all social media pages that are managed. They have to analyze insights and figures. The analysis is incredibly important because of the fact that it enables the manager to identify different important elements like the best post timing, posting rates and what posts improve the efficiency of the page.
The last of the obvious job parts is giving life to pages while animating respective communities. Content that is posted needs to be high quality and appealing to target audiences. Social media managers need to be properly anchored in reality while coordinating absolutely everything that is done on the covered social networks.
Contrary to what you might be tempted to think right now, the manager has his work cut out for him. Most people believe that he just sits around doing nothing but the reality is far from this belief. A really good manager is the key to having a proper online presence and this is true for all social networks covered from Facebook to Pinterest.
Social Media Mangers Need To Constantly Learn
The industry constantly evolves. Just like a blogger needs to read as much as possible and take blogging tips into account, the social media manager needs to see what works for others and what campaigns are not at all successful. If something happens in the industry, the manager needs to know about it. That is something that is difficult. Before you say that the manager does not do work, see if he spies on the competition and if he is up to date with what happens in the entire industry. You may be surprised to hear him speak about the new studies and trends that appeared in the past 7 days.
Social Media Manager Limitations
As we can easily imagine, there are also limitations that need to exist. The manager cannot simply do everything that he wants and after all, he is a part of a team. In most companies he is integrated in the marketing team.
The problem is that there are various situations in which the manager also needs to be a part of another department. For instance, since he does need to coordinate all the things that are done on social media pages, the manager will have to have direct contact with different departments. There is always a need to have someone monitor such an activity because of management reasons.
No matter where you place the manager inside your team, make sure that you have someone monitor what is done. It is great if the person doing so has management and marketing knowledge. At the same time, it is important that the limitations are not too strong. For instance, if the manager needs someone else to approve all posts or comments, you are faced with an online management process that is not at all effective.
As a very simple example to consider, it is very important to respond to a negative message as soon as possible. If the manager needs to wait, this will create a problem. Freedom to act as fast as necessary is a necessity. Delays lead to lowering brand confidence.
Social Media Managers Do Not Just Copy Campaigns
We noticed this belief among so many different company owners that do not actually understand the importance of social media. The truth is that we cannot use a recipe that would be guaranteed to be a success. There are too many companies that ask the managers to build one strategy and then keep following to the letter. Alternatively, it is also possible to have the company impose a strategy on the manager. Remember the freedom aspect that we mentioned above!
When a campaign is created, the manager needs to first talk with design and marketing teams. This is because the manager has to properly understand what the target audience is and what is expected of him. There is also a need to have a proper understanding of the operation of the company. The more knowledge the specialist has about the firm, the better the online campaigns that would be created.
Social media strategies constantly change. They are never the same. Something that worked great in the past will not be effective in the future. Make sure that the social media manager knows everything about what will happen in the future so that the communication strategy can be updated based on various modifications that happen inside the company.
Tips To Help You Make The Most Out Of The Activity Of The Social Media Manager
If you want to be sure that your company will be properly represented in the online world, the most important thing that you have to do is hire a social media manager that has a lot of experience and that actually knows what needs to be done.
There are too many people that call themselves specialists while the truth is that they only know about one side of the job. For instance, there are many that know exactly what should be posted in order to create great engagement but do not actually know how to talk with potential clients while answering to comments and complaints.
If you already employ a social media manager and you are happy with the work that is done, you still need to be a little objective. Talk to him and see if there are some things that he is not really knowledgeable about. You can offer him the opportunity to simply go through training so that his knowledge is increased.
Department Communication Counts A Lot
Before we end this article, we need to add some words about the communication between your company departments. If the social media manager does not know about an important change that happened, he might make a mistake in the promotion of the firm on social media channels. This is definitely not something that you want to be faced with because of the simple reason that it could have been avoided.
Constantly monitor inner department communication channels. Whenever some information does not reach the manager, make sure that you learn why that happened. It is very important that you take this into account since such situations have to be avoided, as much as possible.
Never Underestimate The Necessity To Have A Social Media Manager
The truth is that there are too many companies out there that have a simple member of the marketing department take care of social media channels. This is not the best way to promote your company online. You do need a specialist and you should never trust any person that tells you something else.
