What Does a Social Media Manager Do?
By Latisha Sexton
If you are new to the online marketing world, you may be wondering, “What is a social media manager, and what does a social media manager do?
That is an excellent question!
A social media manager is like a virtual assistant, but whose expertise is….
You guessed it!
Social Media!
The purpose of this blog is to help you understand what a social media manager does and a few things that they DO NOT do.
What a Social Media Manager Does
There is so much that a social media manager does and the list will vary slightly for each social media manager that you encounter. Some offer other Virtual Assistant (VA) services alongside their social media services. However, today you will learn basic tasks that a social media manager does and how they can help you in your business.
Scheduling social media posts
The biggest reason that most businesses or entrepreneurs hire a social media manager (or SMM) is to post to their social media platforms. This includes Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest, etc. A business owner may need to spend less time on social media and more time working on growing their business or they may understand the importance of social media in business, but not know how to use it effectively.
A SMM will either manually post or schedule a post using a scheduling system (ex. Hootsuite, Later, Buffer, etc). The posting schedule will be based on whether the SMM is also doing the social media strategy or executing tasks given to them by the client.
Curating and/or Creating Content
What does a SMM post?
That depends on their agreement with their clients. Some clients send their social media managers all of the content and that SMM will schedule or manually post the content.
However, some clients need content created or curated for them.
This sounds easy to some people, but a good social media manager doesn’t just post anything that they find on the internet.
It takes time and market research. They should be posting something that is relevant to your brand, your services, and your audience.
For example, if your brand is about being a Vegan (Vegan recipes, Vegan lifestyle, etc) and your SMM posts a picture promoting…chocolate milk…then that is definitely not your brand’s message.
Good content creation and curation takes time. It will require the SMM to become familiar with their client’s brand, voice, and image. No one should look at a social platform and be able to tell that the brand itself didn’t post that. It should flow seamlessly.
Engagement
A social media manager can also be hired to engage with the client’s audience!
This can include engaging with people who already follow you, responding to comments on your posts, engaging in Instagram stories, answering DMs (direct messages), and commenting on relevant accounts or under relevant hashtags for Instagram.
Again, this may seem trivial and not time-consuming to some, but a good social media manager will embody their client’s voice and brand. The engagement should be thoughtful, genuine, and in the voice of the client. It should be more than just an, “Oh, I love that!” or “That’s cool!” Good engagement should bring more engagement. It should ask questions and start a genuine conversation with your audience.
Account Setups
A SMM may also do business account setups. They can set up your business on whatever social media platform that you request. The account should be set up with copy that is your voice and highlights your brand. It should be completely optimized and SEO (Search Engine Optimized- aka Google can find you) friendly.
Account Audits
Some social media managers may offer account auditing. What this includes will vary between social media managers, although typically it will be tips on how to optimize your profile, SEO tips, content tips, and maybe even a short strategy call.
As you can see, a SMM does a lot!
Not only can they help businesses get their time back, but they can also use social media to build brand awareness, generate leads, and set businesses up as authorities in their industry.
What a SMM Does Not Do
First of all, a social media manager DOES NOT always do marketing
What this means is that general social media managers DO NOT handle sales.
Wait, what? Isn’t that the point in hiring someone to manage your social media platforms?
Well, no, it isn’t.
A general SMM typically does not guarantee a ROI (return on investment) for the client. They are only trying to increase traffic to your site/blog/products/etc. Of course, this does typically bring leads; however, the selling comes from YOU.
Your product/service/whatever you are offering should be so amazing, that once the traffic hits, the sales happen. But, it is not a SMM’s job to actually deliver the sale.
Facebook Ads or Funnels
Now, this one can be a service offered by a SMM, but these would be considered high-end services, and not every SMM can or will offer these. You may find someone who offers Facebook Ads, but not funnels (although the two really go hand in hand).
Buying Fake Followers & Engagement
This is where some may disagree. However, a great SMM will not buy fake followers or engagement to grow an account. It isn’t authentic. These “followers” will not be your ideal clients. And most people can see a fake or bought account from a mile away!
In Conclusion…
There are a variety of ways that a social media manager can help a business grow. Not only that, but hiring a SMM will help busy and overwhelmed entrepreneurs reclaim their time so they can focus on building deep relationships and connections that will grow their business, build their brand, and increase their online authority.