This post was originally published on April 19, 2021.
Information from this blog post was obtained by Sprout Social.
Social media marketing managers wear many hats. A typical day for a social media marketing manager could include but is not limited to working on copywriting, content creation, studying marketing analytics, running social media campaigns, and even helping with customer service. Being a social media marketing manager requires a very diverse set of skills to handle all of the responsibilities. An effective social media professional needs to possess a variety of skills which all take time and effort to develop. This means that being a social media marketing manager will be challenging but don’t worry because we are here to help you learn which skills can help you either launch or advance your career.
I, for one, love a good challenge and one of the great benefits of becoming a social media marketing manager is that you are never done learning. Today things can change and evolve quickly, technology changes, new programs, and business practices will arise, and all of these things mean that you have to keep up with what is happening in the social media marketing world. Below I have compiled a list of the most important skills to become a successful social media marketing manager.
1. Communication
Now, it’s said that communication is the foundation for any successful relationship and that also applies to the relationship a social media marketing manager has with their business, their team, their clients, and especially their audience. Social media is a communication platform so it’s extremely important to have strong communication skills which are adaptable to any platform, media, or audience.
When you’re communicating on social media you may have to drop everything you’re doing at a moment’s notice to hop on a trending topic or handle a disgruntled customer complaint. You will have to use all tools, including words, videos, infographics, GIFs, images, and emojis to get your message across clearly and engagingly. You have to be able to effectively communicate with your boss, peers, and collaborators. You should be able to speak with any stakeholder about your social media strategy, content distribution plan, and the impact of your work.
Resources to Build Your Communication Skills
TED Talks on Communication: Hear from some of the world’s most inspiring speakers on improving your conversations, digital communications, and storytelling abilities.
Adapt: Utilize tools like The SMMU where executives are consulted and the platform is often focused on increasing the influence and business impact of social media.
2. Writing
This should come as no shock to anyone that one of the most important digital marketing skills is the ability to write well. The best social media managers are excellent copywriters and digital conversationalists who can enhance their brand’s voice on social media. You should know how to write attention-grabbing ad copy that can elicit emotion from your audience. You have to be able to form a deeper bond with your audience through stories with not only words but images as well.
Effective writers can also tailor their writing for different audience targeting and platform optimization. When writing captions, it is important to know information such as the following: you can use up to 2,200 characters in an Instagram caption but data shows that the most engaging length for Instagram captions is between 138-150 characters. Writing is not only important for your social media skills, but it’s also important for your career. If you’re asked to contribute to your company’s blog or provide executives with insight into your strategy, there will most likely be writing involved. You will also need writing skills to convey business emails and presentations.
Resources to Improve Your Writing
Hemingway Editor: This website and app can help make your writing more concise and readable. While it is geared more toward long-form writing, it can also be used for creating impactful social media posts.
Grammar Girl: When I’m not referencing our internal style guide, I’m double-checking thorny grammar questions by Googling “grammar girl” and whatever my question is.
Merriam-Webster’s Twitter feed: Broaden your vocabulary with words of the day, learn the difference between similar terms, and enjoy a little snark when this dictionary Tweets about misused or made-up words in the news cycle.
3. Efficiency and Organization
You will not be able to manage a social media strategy without being able to manage your time wisely. This makes efficiency and organization two necessary skills to have.
As a social media manager, you will have to conceptualize campaigns, but also lead and execute these plans from start to finish. Post-it notes will not suffice if you want to be successful as a social media manager. To accomplish this planning, skilled professionals will implement tools with established policies and processes to keep track of all the moving parts. A social media calendar is one of the best ways to keep content organized and to help plan.
Resources to Improve Efficiency and Organization
Pomodoro Technique and Time-Boxing: You can agonize over the perfect copy all day, but sometimes you’ve got 50 messages to write and a full schedule standing between you and your weekend. Setting aside a limited block of time to work on a task helps to keep things moving.
Prioritizing By Value: Sometimes everything about social media feels urgent, but you have to start with what’s most valuable.
4. Making Connections
One of the main goals of social media is to be social, thus making connections is one of the most important social media marketing skills to have. Establishing and building digital relationships is one of the core aspects of any social media manager’s approach.
Sprout Social found that 64% of consumers want brands to connect with them on social media. When consumers feel connected to a brand, 57% of people will increase their spending with that brand and 76% will choose that brand over a competitor.
As a social media manager, it’s important to hone in on your brand voice. You will need to understand that everyone has a different comfort level when it comes to connection and engagement on social media. The same thing will not work for different campaigns if they have different audiences, demographics, or psychographics. One of the most important things social media managers can do is identify and understand their target audience.
Resources for Understanding and Connecting With Your Audience
CMX Facebook Group, Summit & Resources: CMX is an organization for community professionals to network, grow and thrive.
Sprout Social Index: Their annual report on the state of social is 60+ pages of data on what consumers want on social and what marketers are doing.
Data Report: In this consumer trends report, Sprout Social surveyed consumers to understand their desire for greater connection with the brands they love and with each other and how brands today benefit when they facilitate connection on social media.
5. Data Analysis
The most skilled social media managers look to proven data to guide them in their decision-making. Data is something that needs to be reviewed often and will help shape the success of the social media manager and the social media platforms they are in charge of. An accomplished social media manager will be able to understand both quantitative and qualitative data. Today, social listening is growing in importance so it’s crucial to develop your data skills to understand the full picture and performance of your social media efforts.
Being able to report performance is important but analysis means looking at your data and being able to identify marketing trends, develop suggestions, and communicate a plan of action. Analysis gives you something valuable and tangible to bring to your boss and your team. Data is imperative to set and measure the success of your SMART goals. Using metrics like impressions, reach, and engagement will help you analyze which channels, layouts, and copies were the most successful. Maybe you just need to tweak the image, maybe try a different typeface, or perhaps you just need a catchier title. Data analysis will help you determine what works best for your target audience and then you can maximize the ROI of your social media marketing efforts.
Resources for Building Your Analytical Skills
Index Webinar: In this free webinar, Rachel Samuels of Sprout Social speaks to her CMO and Director of Communications & Content and they share what data they want to see from social media and how to use social data to communicate your business impact.
Data-driven Marketing Series: The Sprout Social Adapt series discusses data-driven marketing to learn how to build a culture, team, and data pipeline for success.
#SproutChat with Joe Wadlington of Twitter: Watch this conversation with Joe to learn more about using both quantitative and qualitative data.
Regardless if you already started your career or are trying to advance your career, these tips will help you to be the most successful social media manager that you can be. No one is perfect but with these tips, you can work to sharpen your skills and work on any weaknesses that you have. Use the resources above to learn, grow, and implement solid skills to thrive in your social media manager position.
If you want to grow your skills or set yourself to be even more successful in your social media marketing career, then check out all the resources and tools we provide for FREE at The SMMU! New to the social media marketing role? Find more on that here in my colleague L'Oréal's post.
Resources
Goulet, R. (2023, March 28). 10 skills every social media manager needs. Sprout Social. Retrieved from https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-skills/
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