Perhaps you are still confused and find it difficult to differentiate a Social Media/Content Manager from a Community Manager? Research has shown that they are quite different roles. However even though. they are both online experts, their roles differ.
A Social Media Manager role is all about the brand (how the org will be seen, perceived, and what it will be known for ) across all Social Media platforms while the Community Manager on the other hand is responsible for driving interactions, connecting with clients/customers, and advocating for the brand(s) they represent. These connections can eventually go beyond online platforms as these relationships can be further developed to be both online and offline thus enhancing stronger support for the organization. So simply put, a Community Manager drives brand love while a Social Media Manager creates the online brand and persona.
However, a Social Media Manager must be vast in the development of content ideas and management wearing the hat of Production Supervisor, Writer, Editor, and creator at different times.
So what exactly does it take for you to be great as a Social Media Manager to stand out in the virtual world we now live in?
Copywriting/Storytelling:
A Social Media Manager storytelling abilities must be second to known. You should be able to draw in and soak your audience in your created world intended to f=drive the brand message home and cause your audience to take action. You must develop the copywriting formula that works for you in effectively positioning your company and telling the story in such a way that will elicit, curiosity, drive participation, and induce purchase.
Design Content (Graphics and Videos):
A key skill required is the creation of graphics and video generation. A Social Media Manager cannot afford to be skilled in only graphics or only video content, As a matter of fact, they should be equally skilled in both. Using yourself as a case study, you will find out that you are more attracted to images than text and in turn attracted to video content more than images/graphics. To buttress this, A HubSpot survey showed that 54% of consumers wanted to see more video content from a brand or business they support.
Design of Digital Products/Use of Automated Marketing Tools:
A Social Media Manager should also understand the development of digital products such as ebooks, webinars, online masterclasses and must be conversant with the use of tools that will aid the development of such digital products. Understanding the basis of Project Management will also shore up your chances of being able to develop and organize highly engaging digital products like Webinars, Boot camps amongst others.
You must be proficient in the use of digital tools such as Socialbakers, Google Analytics, Google Trends, Google Search Console, Google AdWords, Facebook Business Manager, Moz, Hootsuite, Hecate, WordPress, mail chimp, and several others.
Client Interface/Community Engagement:
The Social Media Manager is the face of the company across all online platforms and as such is who the client sees. It is therefore mandatory that the social media manager has great communication skills, sympathy, and empathy to be able to deal with your Social Media community.
In managing the online community, the Social Media Manager works closely with the Community Manager and must be able to guide the community managers team on the right responses to questions that may be asked. A healthy dose of humor isn’t lost here either to be able to effectively facilitate engagement.
Data and Analytics:
The Social Media Manager must be able to generate and be conversant with key performance indicators per marketing campaign. So be it Social Media(Comments, shares, saves, likes) or Business Metrics(generated rates, conversions, and revenue) you must be able to link them up and give holistic feedback on the social media performance as against the organization business goals. Content analytics as well is also key and being able to effectively interpret data and extract relevant information for the growth of the organization is mandatory. Google analytics, ExactMetrics are some great analytical platforms
Monitoring Trends:
Your data and analytics might inform you that reels is performing better than IGTV stories on Instagram, because you are monitoring trends, you switch over to making use of reels for your brand posts. You most as a matter of fact know the what and the why. The ‘What’ will enable you to know what is currently happening and how to leverage on it and the ‘Why’ helps you analyze the root causes of these trends to enable you to take advantage of moving forward. Another trend backed by Hubspot research is that organic traffic improves by up to 157% with added video content
Budgeting:
A skilled Social Media expert must understand budgeting and must be able to effectively analyze if the budgetary spend is delivering on set objectives. Tracking your budget closely will also enable you to know which particular paid advertising post is performing better than the other (AB Testing)
It is also very important for you to understand the basics of excel as this is very valuable in the preparation of budgets. It eliminates calculation errors which can prove fatal for the organization.
In this digital era, the role of Social Media Managers is definitely now in higher demand as organizations can no more take for granted the online presence of their audience which must be harnessed in building sustainable business growth. Nasdaq estimated that by the year 2040, 95% of purchases will be through eCommerce. As business owners or recruitment firms, do ensure you watch out for these top skills when hiring a Social Media manager
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