The Social Media Marketing Manager role is now an established role in many large businesses. It's featured as one of the main digital marketing roles in the Smart Insights top 12 digital job descriptions template.
In smaller businesses, social media will be one marketing approach of many that a digital marketing manager will be working on, or social media may be a combined responsibility with SEO and content marketing. But in all cases, as social media continues to evolve, so does the role of the Social Media Manager.
Whilst the first Social Media Managers were mainly responsible for setting up and running a Facebook presence or answering customer service queries on Twitter, their roles now encompass many more skills and attributes. Of course, a Social Media Manager's scope of responsibility will be influenced by the size and type of company they work for but their role is still likely to be much more involved than it once was.
As a specialist in earned media/inbound marketing, I've worked for a range of different types of business and have first-hand experience of what seems to be needed to manage social media effectively. I therefore believe that an effective social media manager today must be strategic whilst also being an adept tactician, creative alongside an analytical mind, and focused whilst also understanding how social media fits into the 'bigger picture'. Definitely a blend of the modern marketer as part artist, part scientist.
Here are the seven characteristics as I see them plus some points to where to find out more.
For any key business activity, a solid strategy is essential and social media is no different. An effective social media manager will understand the importance of defining a clear vision and action plan for their company’s social media efforts and how they’ll go about integrating this into the business.
Even if they're not setting the strategy, the social media manager should nevertheless understand and appreciate how social media can be integrated into the business and support the company’s wider business goals.
Further reading: Social Media Strategy planning
Once the strategy is defined, the Social Media Manager must then consider the various different tactics that can be used to implement the vision as part of the roadmap.
As with strategy, the most suitable tactics will be dependent on a number of factors, including:
One of the key tactics the Social Media Manager will be responsible for is the approach the business should take regarding the core social media platforms. To get this right, the following should be answered?
Further reading: Smart Insights social media marketing plan
Social media is not just about sending one-way messages to an audience. It’s also (and primarily) about creating conversations and engaging in a two-way dialogue with followers, fans, advocates and critics.
A Social Media Manager must therefore possess a range of community management skills to enable them to effectively monitor and track conversations and engage with those responding to posts on the company’s various different social media channels.
There are a number of advantages to creating and developing your own online community , but to do so requires community management skills, including:
Further reading: Smart Insight's social media listening
Whether it be writing blog posts, designing unique infographics or creating useful guides or videos, a social media manager must have a clear understanding of what constitutes ‘great content’ in the context of their organisation.
The last point I made ('in the context of their organisation') is an important one. Effective social media managers know their target audience and how to engage with them.
For example, whilst a video involving thrill-seeking bungee jumpers might be great content for Red Bull, it's unlikely to resonate in the same way for a bank or building society, where a smart, simple guide on what and how to use an ISA or obtain a mortgage aligns with both the brand and customers’ expectations.
Further reading: Smart Insight's Content Marketing Toolkit
In addition to original campaigns to support wider business objectives, social media managers should also be aware of how pre-planned or existing marketing campaigns can be ‘socialised’.
A great social media manager will not just add a #hashtag or go with whatever idea or concept is ‘flavour of the month’. Instead they’ll work on producing something in-line with what matters to their company’s audience/ customer base (see point 4. above) and where social media can effectively add value to the campaign.
Further reading: Social media campaign tools
Measuring the success of a social media initiative or campaign is not just about counting the likes on Facebook or the number of @mentions or retweets on Twitter. An effective social media manager will understand that social media ‘success’ should be tied to the business’s higher-level corporate objectives (see point 1. above) and can be measured in a number of different ways using different tools.
Avinash Kaushik recommends that social media be measured using four key metrics :
This framework is particularly useful as it not only provides social media managers with a view as to how content is being viewed, consumed and shared, but also how social media participation is adding value to the company's bottom-line and therefore an indication of return-on-investment.
Further reading: Social Media Analytics
Finally, it’s worth noting that an effective social media manager will look for opportunities to integrate social media within different areas of the business, from marketing and PR, to human resources and internal communications.
This will no doubt differ depending on the size of the business. For small companies, social media is likely to be much easier to integrate into different areas of the business than in a larger organisation, where stakeholder management will be important for building relationships with other key departments.
Some of the key areas where social media can be integrated into the business include:
Social media management should plug into all business functions, from market research to customer service, so that they each have a role with clear goals and responsibilities.
Further reading: Social media 7 steps guide to success
Smart Insights has also written a template covering the top 12 digital job descriptions, providing practical job descriptions.
By Gavin Llewellyn
Gavin Llewellyn (LinkedIn) is an independent consultant. He is a Chartered Marketer who specialises in digital marketing, specifically in social media, SEO and online strategy. Gavin blogs at One Too Many Mornings where he offers advice, guidance and ideas on how individuals and companies can use digital marketing effectively to get found online, build engagement and generate conversion. You can Follow Gavin on Twitter.
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