The role of a social media manager: responsibilities, tasks, and career development
A social media agencyencompasses a wide range of roles. Much like in a beehive, each role possesses specific skills working towards a common goal. The social media manager, in particular, managesreputation a brand's or company's online social networks. But what exactly do their responsibilities entail? How does this differ from a community manager ? Why hire such an expert to develop a social media communication strategy ? So Bang takes a closer look at this essential role in social media marketing.
What is a social media manager?
By definition, a social media manager manages and develops a brand's visibility and awareness on the web and social networks. In fact, this means they play a major role in developing and implementing a social media marketing strategy.
Whether working within a social media agency like So Bang or as a freelancer, the job of social media manager requires numerous and solid skills in communication and web marketing.
Social media manager vs community manager: what's the difference?
Social media manager (SMM) and community manager (CM) are often confused. It's true that these roles have very similar titles. Furthermore, their core business revolves around social media. In fact, in very small businesses or startups, the two positions are often interchangeable. However, in theory, and particularly within a social media agency, SMM and CM perform different functions.
The social media manager (SMM) develops and implements a social media strategy. They create and distribute the content they have designed. Conversely, the community manager (CM) focuses more specifically and exclusively on the dissemination of messages. Thus, the two roles are complementary, but the social media manager has more responsibilities.
In short, the social media manager is a bit like the conductor in charge of implementing the digital communication strategy on social networks. Community managers, on the other hand, are more like the musicians responsible for performing the score they've been given.
The responsibilities of the social media manager
The social media manager has multiple responsibilities.
Regarding social media marketing strategy, its scope of action can be summarized as follows:
- Identify the target audiences and their needs for the brand
- Select the best social media platforms that will generate the most leads (engagement) within the target community. For example, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Viadeo, Pinterest, YouTube, blogs, forums…
- Analyze the positioning on the web and social networks
- Define the editorial line to follow on the different platforms
After a thorough study of these strategic directions, the social media manager sets up a social media plan to increase the brand's presence on the web.
His tasks include: SEO optimization, identification of influential bloggers, creation and publication of editorial content or management of creative projects (videos, photos, animation) and also customer loyalty.
In terms of monitoring and online reputation, here are the objectives of the social media manager:
- Increase customer satisfaction: the social media manager moderates community interactions by responding to questions and criticisms
- monitor the evolution of your online reputation and generate regular reports
- follow social media trends to continuously optimize message dissemination processes
- Prospecting: he must implement actions to obtain new clients by developing, for example,inbound marketing (content strategy)
What are the qualities of a good Social Media Manager?
To succeed in the field of social media management, several qualities are required of those who practice it, such as:
- a mastery of the marketin which he operates: offers, services, products of the brand for which he works
- a good understanding of how social networks work and their technological evolutions (innovation, new practices, influence)
- Analytical and reporting , coupled with a perfect command of web analytics, monitoring, and online reputation management tools
- strong writing skills to create impactful content
- a curiosity constant
- Being multi-skilled means being a web marketer, quantitative and qualitative analyst, and expert writer specializing in SEO (natural/organic search engine optimization).
- demonstrate a high level of responsiveness
- knowing how to identify relevant content that will generate optimal visibility and reach among followers
- have a good understanding of your community regarding the timing of your posts on social media
- Be authentic in your interactions with your audience and followers to spark debate and generate engagement
- Having empathy means being able to put yourself in your audience's shoes, understanding the tastes and expectations of your subscribers.
What salary can a social media manager expect?
Beyond the theoretical knowledge it requires (recruitment usually at the Master's level), the job of social media manager is largely learned on the job. This means that the level of remuneration depends heavily on experience.
Thus, depending on their experience but also the reputation of the agency they work for, the salary of a social media manager can today range between 30 and 40K€/year for a junior and between 45 and 65K€/year for a senior profile.
Evolution of the profession: towards web analysts
Social media is an industry where guesswork and instinct are increasingly less acceptable. Now more than ever, everything hinges on data analysis (likes, fans, shares, views, traffic, etc.).
As a result, the social media manager role is increasingly evolving towards profiles capable of collecting, and above all analyzing, a large amount of data from various tools (Google Analytics, Hootsuite, or Linkfluence). The goal: to help them better understand user behavior on social networks, detect trends, anticipate crises, and so on.
The social media manager will then base the social media strategy on all these indicators and adjust it if necessary.
With all this information in hand, you're finally ready to entrust your social media accounts to a social media manager. At So Bang, we believe that the success of a company or brand on social media largely depends on the level of expertise of the professionals responsible for managing them.
Thanks to our expert social media management teams, our agency supports each client in developing a perfectly tailored digital marketing strategy, aligned with user behavior on social media platforms. To learn more about our social media management expertise, contact us.