Create your Career as a Social Media Manager
Who is a Social Media Manager and What is their Role?
As a social media manager, you might be asked to moderate, monitor and sometimes also create content on social media sites, such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest or Snapchat.
Monitoring means controlling engagement and followings, as well as responding to audience comments and moderating them.When it comes to the content, your task will most likely be posting relevant material such as videos and images or quotes, or write texts to ensure a stronger engagement of the client’s audience.
If you are hired by a company, your essential skill for this role should be the ability to communicate the company’s brand in a positive and eye-catching way to attract the target audience. This role also involves strategizing and executing digital marketing campaigns successfully and gathering the data results to determine if the intended purpose has been achieved. Sometimes, SMM (social media manager) can’t work alone; they need to cooperate with a team of experts, usually comprising the web/graphic designer, content manager, and digital marketer.
Here are some useful tips for a successful SMM:
1. Formulate an Engagement Strategy
An effective social manager should listen, respond and engage a brand’s audience. You should pay attention to how you react to organic leads as they usually appear in the comment section of the posts. Also, you should have the adequate product knowledge to respond to the questions correctly. Facebook comes in handy if you are looking to increase reach and promote content.
2. Identify the Target Audience
Identifying your target audience enables you to use the gathered data to customize your message. Facebook provides numerous ways for SM managers to explore their audiences and identify products and services they are interested in.
3. Create a Conversion Strategy
Effective social media marketing is only useful when ads generate leads that can convert fans to customers. You achieve this by creating a marketing plan that shows the steps required. Advanced forms of Facebook marketing customize ads for particular audiences and use landing pages to generate traffic.
Who needs a Social Media Manager?
Both, small and big companies need the services of a manager for their social pages due to the growing use of Social Media channels for advertising. Celebrities also hire these professionals to manage their pages as they have become the primary method for them to build brands. Instagram, for example, provides a platform for celebrities to interact with their fans in a safe environment.
Requirements and Attitudes of an Efficient Social media Manager
The managers should have a mix of real skills and good mannerisms. Here is a list of some requirement every SM manager should have.
1. Community Engagement
Facebook and Twitter, among other platforms, have become the go-to channels for customer service. As such, a person tasked with this job should have conversational skills and empathy when responding to complaints launched by customers.
2. Copywriting
It is an essential skill in SMM as you are responsible for creating sensible Facebook posts and profiles that generate clicks and engagement. Various copywriting techniques help enhance this skill.
3. Design
Posts that are accompanied by images, especially on social media, tend to receive more engagement than others. As such, design is becoming an essential skill for a wannabe SMM.
4. Public Speaking
The invention of additional tools like Facebook Live and Instagram Live compels marketers to be well-versed in public speaking. Studies show that Facebook Live videos are more likely to appear on a News Feed than recorded videos. Live videos also increase interaction with the target audience.
5. Adaptability
Recent marketing trends are changing rapidly; hence, the need for a Facebook page manager to be adaptable. When you discover a new trend, adapt to it quickly to keep ahead of your competitors.
Where can you search for a job?
Marketing and advertising agencies offer this type of jobs where an individual is responsible for managing more than 15 accounts. As such, you need a diverse set of skills and experience in different industries like interior design, manufacturing, and healthcare, among others.
Organizations and individual companies also look for Facebook page managers who can work in-house. Medium to large corporations handle plenty of traffic, so the manager is given the role of creating content and responding to the community.
Where can People or Companies Find You if You Work as a Freelancer?
Most managers prefer advertising their services on freelancing websites or setting up agencies where business owners select the freelancers by specialization, location, and budget. Here are the most popular freelancing sites:
• Fiverr: It is the largest freelance platform for small firms working on a budget. Business can hire professional on an hourly rate that is as low as £5. The site charges a fee of 20% to buyers and sellers.
• Upwork: It is also designed for small business owners but it is more expensive than Fiverr. It uses an effective matching algorithm that enables companies to access a pool of experienced freelancers.
• Freelancer.com: The platform helps companies find marketing professionals who can help a business grow. The company cites that 95% of its customers rehire freelancers.
• PeoplePerHour: Businesses are required to provide detailed descriptions of their projects for freelancers to apply. Users can also choose freelancers based on their expertise, i.e., from entry to expert level.
What’s the Cost of Hiring an SM Manager in the EU and US?
You want to change a rate that coincides or is close to the industry standard. In the US, the managers get a pretty attractive perk of $48,614, according to PayScale.com. Other job sites like Glassdoor maintain an average of $54,238 while Indeed recommended a salary of $50,489. In the UK, the average salary of an SM manager ranges from £25,357- £28,168 a year.
What are the Average Costs of a Hiring Manager for a Company and a Private Person
This cost depends on several factors, which include the length of the campaign, the number of accounts to manage, whether the manager is setting up new channels or using the existing ones, the target market and additional services like customer service. Small businesses should expect to pay £400-£2,000 every month the campaign runs if it is hiring a manager for all the services listed. Different rates apply if the business is hiring for one or two services. Large companies should expect to part with £2,500-£10,000 for all the services for every month of the campaign period. Most SM campaigns run for six months.
Famous Social Media Managers
With renowned brands embracing the role of SM marketing, the demand for managers is at an all-time high. Laura Olin is one such famous Facebook page manager. She is the mastermind behind the most prominent platform- the Barack Obama presidential campaign. She created Obama’s presence from scratch and supervised Michelle Obama’s and Joe Biden’s pages from April 2011 to January 2013.
