Social Media Manager: what he does and what are his skills

When speaking about Digital Marketing and how companies decide to take care of their online presence, it often happens to hear the figure of the Social Media Manager. If for a long time this profession was considered marginal, today the situation has definitely changed. The companies that aim at being present on social media have realized that they need a specialized figure as well as a professional with certain skills in the field of marketing, together with a strong overview: the Social Media Manager.

What does a Social Media Manager do?

I will not tell you that the Social Media Manager does not surf Facebook all day, also because yes, it is very likely that he does. Instead, let’s try to better frame this figure and try to understand who is a predisposed person to fill this role.

“The social media manager deals with the management of a company’s social channels through the programming of an editorial plan optimized to communicate products, services and curiosities of a business.”

The tasks of the Social Media Manager therefore include that of declining marketing strategies on social media, managing channels and company profiles, devising the contents to be published online and gathering insights on performance. Given the number of these activities, it is probably more correct to say that a Social Media Manager is first of all a person who, thanks to his personal aptitudes and characteristics, is able to fill a dynamic role that involves knowledge and application, not of one, but of several skills.

The 5 skills of the perfect Social Media Manager

Let’s try to summarize together, in five essential points, the characteristics of a perfect Social Media Manager.

#1 He is a curious person, up to date and tech addicted

A Social Media Manager cannot but be a curious person. I challenge any Social Media Manager not to have been diligently looking for an invitation to join Clubhouse. The brand new social network based on the use of the voice is accessed, for the moment, by invitation only, and the meetings organized within it, called “rooms” or “thematic rooms“, are an excellent arena to listen to discussions on the more varied issues. But a Social Media Manager is also someone who knows the tools of the trade like the back of his hand. That’s why he surrounds himself with reliable sources to consult or direct contacts that allow him, for example, to know in advance when an update of the Apps he uses daily will be released and what these new features will involve in his everyday work. Below, the two possible news regarding Instagram are a perfect example.

#2 He loves writing and sharing

Basically, the work of the Social Media Manager is based on sharing. He shares ideas, starting points and advice with his team and with the client. But it also “shares” in the strict sense: a post on Facebook or a photograph on Instagram. This is why it is important that behind a Social Media Manager there is a person who strongly believes in the spirit of sharing, who believes it is important to communicate with others in a clear and transparent way, and who loves to write and tell about himself, even on social networks. Who has made this concept a real case study is certainly the Social Media Manager of Unieuro, who lately on social media is making a lot of talk about himself for his extroverted personality and his ironic and over the top approach. Here, there is a desire to write and tell oneself, and how!

#3 He values ​​the content

When a company needs to communicate its story, product or advertising campaign online, the Social Media Manager, in line with the shared communication strategy, will respond by drafting an editorial plan. The plan will consist of messages and content that will reflect the brand’s values, thanks to the use of a studied tone of voice, respected in every word. At this stage, the objectives and KPIs to be achieved are no less important. In addition to adopting an ad hoc tone of voice and a coherent visual identity, a Social Media Manager always knows which format is the most suitable for satisfying a client’s requests. That is why in order to generate interactions he will recommend the use of a video or a static image, while to bring traffic to the site he will prefer a carousel.

#4 He observes and analyzes

A perfect Social Media Manager observes and analyzes the work done and the content published to understand how effective they have been and in line with requests. To do this, continuous reporting is required. But be careful: creating reports does not mean filling the slides of a document and sending it to the customer. Reporting is perhaps one of the activities that comes closest to listening. Only by closely analyzing the data collected (quantitative and qualitative) we can understand whether the contents had the desired effect or not, how they were received by the target and, above all, they indicate if and how to improve.

#5 He is a person who listens

Sometimes a Social Media Manager may also find himself / herself in the role of Community Manager, a figure closely linked to the former. When we dedicate ourselves to community management, we can say with certainty that the activity that is taking place is pure listening to the community and the people who make it up. Trivially, someone calls it “responding to comments”, but I assure you that it is actually about creating, or taking part if they already exist, in real conversations, dialogues of value and exchanges of views with the target audience. An incredible amount of insight can be brought home from this active listening. Just think that by asking the right questions to people, you not only carry on the conversation (increasing engagement) and give a human aspect to the brand that speaks on social networks, but you can collect interesting and useful information for the conception and creation of new content.

At TSW, the approach we adopt is to surround ourselves with professional figures such as Social Media Managers who, in addition to the characteristics described above, are above all curious people, with strong communication skills and healthy creatives. People who have a passion for the work they do and who know how to listen to requests not only from customers but also from colleagues and collaborators.