Social Media Management Is More Than Just Posting

Many think that Social media management is just about posting on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and the likes. The role of a Social Media manager goes beyond just posting. While a Social Media Manager is not the face of a brand, they decide how a brand sounds on social media.

Let me give you a backstory as to why I ventured into social media. Many a time I’d get comments about why I chose not to be in the limelight in as much as I have a background in Journalism and “a face for TV’ as many would say. I chose Digital and Social media management because at the time I was an Intern at a renowned media house in Kenya, I felt there were limited opportunities in the newsroom and I struggled to fit in. I remember reporting at some point but I kept making a hash of it because there were so many expectations; I had to look into the camera a certain way, I was required to hold the microphone a certain way and that was a bit frustrating, having had zero practical training at my school. I bet all reporters who started this journey as interns can attest.

After several trials and error, I decided to rethink my decision of becoming a broadcaster and that’s when it dawned on me that I could be a reporter in a different niche. At the time, social media was unfledged and most companies had not embraced online reporting so I had a favorable time learning and understanding the tricks of the trade.

If you are a Social media manager or you’ve been tasked with managing Social media for a company, you need to do more than just post. Often when I mention what I do, a few people would go like ‘oh so you are the one who tweets and posts on Facebook?’ TBH this irks me at times and explaining my job to people who do not understand what I do is vexing.

A Social media manager oversees a company’s social media platforms by developing strategies, implementing, and tracking results using analytics. Social media managers are responsible for communicating with their employers or clients about their strategy and ensuring they are aligned with the company’s goals and vision. Let’s have a look at some of the key responsibilities of Social Media Managers.

1. Developing a social media strategy

A social media manager keeps track of algorithm changes and trends for each social media platform, they come up with better social media strategies and content plans that will adapt to the new updates. A social media manager takes into account changes that are either happening or soon to take place so that they can go back to the drawing board with their employers or clients and change campaign objectives and content to provide continued success concerning their goals.

Take, for instance, TikTok drastically mushroomed in 2020 as most of us if not all were incarcerated at home, TikTok surpassed over 2 billion downloads worldwide. Most businesses decided to resort to this platform to market their brand. Did you take advantage of this opportunity? If not I can assure you your competitor did.

2. Creating a social media calendar

An employee posting at random on your social media profiles, having no plan, will do a disservice to your brand. If that’s your current state of being, I strongly advise that you go back to the drawing board. Social media is not a set-it-and-forget-it tactic. In many ways, this approach can do greater harm than good.

3. Building engagement and protecting the reputation

Social media managers are always on high alert to each message, comment, or review regarding the brand they are representing or managing. Not only do social media managers have experience with triaging but they also are aware of how best to conduct themselves when managing company platforms. Responding to users’ feedback, be it positive or negative is essential and this is another way to show that your brand is listening and taking the feedback seriously.

4. Growing audiences

As your audience grows so does your brand. Bear in mind that the best way to grow your audience is by building trust. With a lot of fake news and fake accounts, your brand reputation could be ruined by just one silly mistake; failing to fact check. If you constantly let your audiences down by posting false or derogatory information rest assured they’ll withdraw. Having a social media manager who is in charge of all your platforms ensures credibility through media monitoring and fact-checking.

5. Analytics

Compiling analytics provides tremendous insights at the end of the month. A social media manager will keep track of records on every post across all platforms to check on performance. This helps assess whether a tactic is becoming fatigued or if the strategy needs to be adjusted. That’s why a social media manager with a great understanding of every platform would never use the same tactics for different platforms.

Social media management is a demanding but enjoyable role if you have the key skills and competencies to navigate the industry. You need to be resilient, creative, and analytical to be able to create and deliver workable strategies for every social media platform. I believe you now understand the role of a social media manager if you are looking to become one, and why hiring a Social Media Manager for your company would guarantee 100 % to your brand and goals as opposed to having a low-level intern or random employee posting content arbitrarily for your brand.