What does a social media manager do and why do you need one? Here’s a look at what these professionals do and how to find a good one.
Social Media Manager responsibilities might appear straightforward. And at its most basic, it is. You’ve likely done it personally, meaning managing an account seems straightforward.
In its simplest terms, the role of a social media manager is to create graphics, caption them, build a posting schedule, engage with followers and analyze data.
But they also have to know all there is to know about the various platforms, including Facebook, Instagram, X, TikTok and emerging platforms.
You’ll also find that a social media manager who understands the full digital marketing landscape and how social media fits into that landscape is invaluable. Because it’s one thing to understand social media, but it’s something else to have clarity around how it fits into a full marketing plan.
As you evaluate whether hiring a social media manager might be right for your business, consider these skills that a professional could bring to your business.
Once you find a quality social media manager, you can experience incredible benefits. On the simpler side of things, you’ll get more time in your day since you won’t be worried about creating content and responding to your audience. But the most robust benefits can include greater ROI from your marketing.
The benefits your company reaps can vary, but here’s a look at some of the most common.
Currently, you might find yourself just creating social media posts for the sake of keeping your platforms active. But once you expand your team with someone who specializes in the work, you’ll see the marketing channel thrive and flourish with greater creativity and expression.
Social media was never intended to simply be a broadcasting agent. Instead, it should be about two-way conversations with your audience. But to get that, you need someone dedicated to listening to what the audience has to say and crafting messages that encourage engagement.
And as you get engagement, you’ll likely see greater reach as well because social platforms are more likely to favor posts with strong engagement in the algorithm of what to show to others.
Maintaining post frequency alongside other responsibilities is challenging. It might feel as though social media is always on the back-burner instead of being a strategic priority.
A social media manager will ensure that you are posting with enough frequency to see value and keep your brand top of mind with your consumers.
With someone dedicated to keeping your social channels fresh, you’ll see greater post frequency and more strategy around posting timelines and scheduling. That way, your posts get greater engagement as well.
If you don’t have time to post to social media, you likely don’t have time to sit around and review post analytics. Dedicating personnel to social media – whether full-time, part-time or a contractor – you now have someone focused on reviewing your analytics to look for the greatest opportunities and insights into what’s working and where you have room to grow.
Alongside that, you’ll also have a better grasp on what your audience demographics look like, which could help inform your marketing strategy plans and customer buyer persona.
Analyzing down to the post can tell you what types of content and messages resonate best with your audience.
The deeper you look into your analytics, the more likely you’ll be to see results from your social channels.
Many brands struggle to measure specific ROI from social media. That’s because, unless you manage an e-commerce business, tying sales to social media is complex.
But that doesn’t mean social media has no value. Instead, you might look to social media to provide leads, interaction, insights into what your audience wants, etc.
Value doesn’t have to be about the bottom line. Your social media manager can provide clear insights into what you’re getting from your social channels outside of sales.
But then can also help you use tracking methods to see what website traffic, conversions and sales are coming from your social channels. How you define value is up to you and your business structure.
Good customer service can influence whether your audience chooses to purchase from you or not. The more responsive you are to their needs, the more they are to be loyal to you.
Responding to inquiries – whether good or bad – will help build goodwill with your audience.
Having someone dedicated to watching your social channels and responding to your customers can ensure that you answer questions quickly to improve relationships with your customers.
A benefit that comes out of post frequency and engagement is greater brand recognition. That’s because you’ll be reaching your audience more often, which can keep your brand name top-of-mind.
Social media managers can also keep your branding consistent to offer clarity to your audience about who you are to provide brand recognition at a glance.
When engaging in a clear social media strategy, you’ll likely see steady social channel growth. Many people who manage social media but don’t have a specialization in it find the process frustrating because they do tons of work and see little reward.
Once you hire a dedicated person with the right skillset, you can start to see growth to begin competing more in your industry.
Once you’ve read up on what hiring a social media manager can do for your business and decided you need one, it’s time to start the process of finding a quality professional who can do the job well.
Here’s how to find a quality strategist who can help you grow your social media while encouraging engagement with your followers.
Your industry, company format, and existing staffing will all impact how you handle hiring a social media manager. For example, you might find that you’re ready to bring on another full-time employee. Or you might feel it best to hire a part-time or freelance manager. Some companies with broader marketing needs choose to work with an agency that can oversee more aspects of their marketing plan than just their social media.
Your needs will dictate what you’re looking for. Write down your goals, such as increasing brand awareness, building a community or generating sales. These goals will impact which social channels you join. And they can impact how your social media manager approaches your project.
Some professionals choose to focus on all aspects of social media while others serve specific niches. Knowing more about what you’re looking for can help inform your social media manager as to what to expect from you.
Build your budget so you can evaluate just how involved your social media manager will be with your organization or whether you have funds to run social media ads or partner with influencers.
Each marketing team and organization outlines what it wants from a social media manager differently. Spend some time outlining what you want from your professional. Some tasks you might want to gain specialty for include:
Outlining your needs will help you write a more effective job description and set expectations for your new role.
With a clear understanding of what you’re looking for, you’re now prepared to write a job description. This will help you outline what you want from your professional. It will also guide applicants in knowing whether they have the right skillset for applying, which can help you reduce the applicant pool to only those who you might consider for the role.
State how much experience you are looking for. This will tell applicants whether the role is junior or senior. More junior roles should have a good mentor or experienced marketer at the helm to help train and prepare the social media professional.
Outline what you expect the professional to bring, such as social media scheduling software or analytics platforms. Are you expecting that the professional will shoot video or photos for your social platforms, or will you provide that to them?
Make it clear what social media channels you expect the social media manager to manage and your posting frequency, though you should be open to adjusting your strategy based on the professional’s recommendations.
Use your network to build a pipeline of applicants. This might include putting the job description in your email newsletter or posting to your social media channels. You can use local LinkedIn and Facebook groups to gain awareness outside of your existing following. Use job boards, such as Indeed, to gain further exposure.
Review your applicant pool to see which ones match your qualification requirements. Make a short list to prepare for interviews.
Once you have a short list of qualified applicants, schedule interviews with the top candidates. During the interview process, you might request that the applicant complete a test, such as writing a two-week content plan for one of your social channels.
Make sure that part of the interview process includes assessing the applicant’s soft skills. You can train the applicant how to complete the day-to-day work, but you can’t train them how to be responsive to messages or care about the quality of their work.
You should also evaluate the applicant’s fit for your culture and values. That way, they don’t burn out quickly and then regret joining your organization. Poor culture fit can lead to rapid turnover in a position, even a contract or freelance position.
You can’t evaluate a team member on something you haven’t set clear expectations for. Make sure you have an onboarding plan.
Your onboarding should include training the professional on internal processes, orientation on your tools (if you don’t need the professional to have their own tools), clear expectations, alignment on the roadmap for your social media channels, etc.
Spend some time going through your brand guidelines to protect your brand voice and ensure alignment on collateral that your new team member creates.
New Light Digital has supported businesses in a variety of industries with managing social media channels. Whether you’re looking to grow your following, increase engagement or turn your following into a sales engine, our team is ready to help.
Get a quote now to find out how you can transform your online results by bringing on a skilled team of digital marketers with deep know-how in social media and other online marketing tactics.
Further reading:
Email design matters: learn how to craft designs that look great, boost engagement, and drive conversions.
Personalization in email marketing is key to boosting conversions. Learn the essentials and improve your email performance.
Zoho One offers HIPAA-compliant CRM, marketing, chat, finance, and invoicing—your all-in-one business solution.
