A decade ago, the role of a social media manager might not have been as vital as it is today. Because now, almost all companies worldwide perform many of their business activities through social media. To handle such powerful media, companies want skillful individuals.

So who exactly are those people?

A glance below at Google Trends shows a sudden rise in interest in the term “social media manager” over the last few years. This new emerging term is becoming exceedingly popular over time.

It wouldn’t be wrong to argue that every company or business today has someone who would look after their social media. It could be a special team, a dedicated person, or even the founder himself. Whoever that specific one is, we call them “Social Media Manager.”

So, looking at it from that angle, you might think, “what’s the big fuss – anyone can become a social media manager?!” You would think it is easy, but the case is not simple. To be good, or let’s say, an awesome Social Media Manager, it is necessary for you to learn and master some (or all of these) skills.

In fact, many experts argue that it isn’t even a job at all anymore; all social media responsibilities and tasks are the collective responsibility of everyone in the workplace. According to Amy Crow, Indeed’s communication director:

“Social media skills are increasingly required across all roles. We are seeing an increased demand for social savvy candidates across the business – from human resources to product to customer service. In addition, we’re seeing this demand span many levels, from executive assistants to senior vice presidents.”

Below are the skills that an awesome social media manager should have.

1. Writing

 

A social media manager should have a good grasp of the language and the ability to express him/herself in writing. A Social media manager may not be directly involved in writing stuff like blog posts. But he’ll definitely communicate with followers on social media through writing.

A social media manager with excellent writing skills can be highly resourceful for the company.

Here’s how. A social media manager is:

• Able to convey an idea clearly.
• Able to maintain a consistent voice when writing on behalf of the company.
• Clearly express his passion and excitement through writing for the business or products(s).
• Maintains high professionalism and avoids embarrassing grammatical or spelling errors. 

2. Graphics Production

 

According to a top market influencer Jeff Bullas, articles with images receive 94% more views than those without. Similarly, tweets with images receive 18% more clicks than those without images. According to recent research from Wishpond, photo posts on Facebook get 120% more engagement than other types of posts.

For businesses that are targeting millennials and teens – images are extremely important. Visual platforms follow and target these demographics – for instance, Pinterest and Instagram – require a near-constant influx of high-quality, original images.

Due to these very reasons, it’s highly critical that a social media manager has these skills to conceptualize and create captivating images for social media and blog posts. 

According to Jay Baer, your ability to think graphically is more important than technical design skills:

“There are a numerous software packages available which help in creation of simple and disposable social media images; so this shift in job skills is less about producing graphics than it is about thinking graphically.”

3. Video Creation

 

Video creation is undoubtedly the most efficient and important way to reach your audience. According to research by Cisco, more than 500 million people watch Facebook videos daily. And it is estimated that four years from now, video content will hold almost 80 percent of all consumer traffic. So social media managers must know the art of creating compelling content.

Some prominent types of Social Media videos mostly include:

• Brief informative video processing text
• Live videos of all social media platforms, i.e., Facebook, Instagram, etc.
• Short, animated pictures without sound, i.e., GIFs
• Instagram, Snapchat, and Facebook stories 
• Short stop-motion videos
• Instagram videos

Again you don’t have to be a ‘guru’ to start with; just a little knowledge about the right tools can make video creation tasks extremely easy. For example, you can leverage social media management tools that include a video annotation feature, allowing for the addition of contextual information such as tags, descriptions, and call-to-actions to the videos. 

4. SEO and Content Marketing

 

A person involved in promoting, managing, and distributing blog content must have a solid understanding of SEO and content marketing. He should have a strong knowledge of social media content, how blogs fit into search rankings, and how all content is operated within the business’s marketing funnel.

Remember, content is the keystone of your SEO strategy, and the social media manager is the gatekeeper and booster of much of this content.

• How is your blog content promoted on social media?
• Does he/she really understand the relationship between exposure on social media and increased search rankings?
• Does he/she know how driving traffic to the company’s website can impact the end results? 
• How he/she responds to these questions matters a lot in your business’s online success.

5. Customer Care

 

 

Posting clever sayings, captivating images, and inspirational content will get you so far if you’re not responding and satisfying customer-service queries.

You can’t just blindly broadcast your content and not reply to the mentions from your customers. You have to take care of and help your customers in every regard. Always remember:

“Being helpful is more important than going viral!”

Each and everything a brand says or does on social media is a direct/indirect representation of the brand – for good or for bad. Also, by adopting a customer care attitude, you collect valuable golden points for being helpful, which might convert into a word-of-mouth promotion about your brand. It will also help you bring better engagement and higher reach.

6. Analytics Knowledge

 

How do you quantify your overall social media strategy, i.e., are you doing well compared to last month? And if you don’t know it, how can you improve it?!

By using the term “Analytics,” we are talking about both social media metrics (e.g., likes, comments, shares, etc.) and business metrics (e.g., conversions, traffic, revenue, leads, etc.). Smart social media managers understand both types of metrics and tie them together to provide an overall view of business goals compared to social media performance.

So reading and interpreting data is a ‘must-have skill’ for social media managers.

7. Digital Advertising

 

Social ads may look like traditional ads, but they have their own unique opportunities and challenges. Unlike traditional magazine, TV, or newspaper ads, social ads compete directly with content created specifically for the user from friends and family members.

Despite this challenge, social ads also offer the ability for unprecedented targeting and the ability to take advantage of online word-of-mouth marketing. A social media manager must understand how social media ads can be utilized to benefit from these opportunities and scale their organic social media effects.

8. Designing

 

Many recent studies have proved that social media posts rich with creative images have successfully outclassed content with more text but fewer images. According to BuzzSumo, blog posts and articles with an image every 75 to 100 words, get twice as many shares as articles with fewer images.

Beyond shareability, images also improve the chance of your audience retaining the content you share. According to Brain Rules, people remember approximately 65% of a message when it is wrapped with a relevant image, compared to just 10% without.

You don’t have to be a champion designer to be an effective social media manager. But it’s good to have a basic understanding of designing – particularly the ability to quickly whip up visual content that looks professional; it can help you tremendously run an effective and engaging campaign.

9. Solid Communication

 

The most vital role of any social media manager is the ability of how well he can communicate. It can be done with great impact only if he/she knows how to present his/her ideas; solid verbal and written presentation skills are needed.

While it’s difficult to find a person who is a ‘master’ in all the above-discussed ‘skills,’ if the social media manager is passionate and curious about learning and can aim to become good – he/she will surely become a valuable asset to the company.

Bottom Line

In conclusion, social media management has become an indispensable aspect of modern-day business. As we move forward into 2023, it is evident that certain skills are vital for success in this field. With a keen understanding of the abovementioned things and utilizing an effective social media management tool, social media managers can drive brand growth and foster lasting relationships with customers in 2023 and beyond.