Today, advertising isn’t fulfilling all the goals for promotion as it used to.
Since everybody is on social media platforms, businesses turn to social media to promote their goods and services.
A social media manager is the one who improves the company’s promotion and revenue through social media platforms.
Those who wish to become social media managers need to know various details about the job.
For instance, duties, training and qualifications, working hours, and required skills.
In this article, we’re going to cover those details and even more.
Article Table of Contents
What Does a Social Media Manager Do
Social media managers handle every aspect of the company’s reputation and engagement in social media.
They deal with social media advertising, deal with customers through web pages or social accounts.
They are responsible for the representation of the company they work for on social media platforms.
They usually collaborate with the executives and deliver the services of the company through social media.
Responsibilities
- Respond to customer requests and inquiries coming through social media channels.
- Design social media accounts to portray the scope of services and other activities the company is involved in.
- Create content for social media accounts, including bios, About Us pages, new releases, updates, descriptive article and more.
- Analyze and manage the success of the social media account to understand what content is trending and relevant and what isn’t.
Essential Skills
Internet and computer skills:
Social media managers should be able to type fast as well as navigate the web.
Customer service:
Even though social media managers don’t communicate face-to-face with customers, they have to handle interactions with customers online.
Writing and grammar:
To write content for social media accounts, managers need excellent grammar and writing skills.
Statistics:
Social media managers need good statistics skills to monitor the success and revenue brought in through social media accounts.
Attentiveness:
This is a vital skill necessary to manage a social media page.
Customers that are put on hold or ignored may not come back or recommend the company’s page to friends.
How to Become a Social Media Manager
The job of a social media manager isn’t easy.
It requires a lot of effort.
However, social media managers don’t need any specific licenses or certifications or across the board requirements.
For instance, a manager in a small company won’t be required to have a Master’s in marketing and three years of experience.
But this might be necessary for a company such as Walmart or Wendy’s.
Training and Qualifications
Although there are no specific requirements for a social media manager, you can acquire some skills that will set you above the competition.
The bigger the company you want to work for is, the more experience, certifications, and training they will require.
There are ways to obtain some certifications for this profession.
You can get some of them by proving your knowledge, but for the others, you will need to attend some classes.
For a less specific degree, you may be required to have some type of degree in marketing in some places.
With more training, your chances of being hired are much higher.
With more experience, your job prospects also grow a lot.
Social media is a rather new field in marketing.
The younger generation knows everything about it.
Although technically speaking, they have more experience with it, they are not professionally trained to handle it.
However, with the huge popularity of social media, it’s a good idea to acquire certifications and training to stand out.
Experience
The difference between experience and work experience is vast.
Some people have a lot of experience with social media but not in terms of work.
Great ways to gain some work experience with social media management are internships or marketing studies.
It’s true that you can get a job without experience, but if there’s somebody who does have it, they will most likely be chosen over the one without any.
Working Hours
Customer complaints or issues can come to a social media manager at any point.
With the right amount of attention to the social media accounts, you can easily fill in a 40-hour week.
Overtime work can take place quite often too.
Some of the things social media managers spend their time include researching, writing, updating, planning, engaging with customers, etc.
You can schedule the research, writing, and updating, but customer complaints can come spontaneously.
Career Outlook
Social media is a fairly new area of marketing, and it’s expected to remain a steady job, with how much it’s used.
The average salary of a social media manager is $51.000 per year.
It can range from $30.000 to $70.000.
With more experience and certifications, you can increase your pay and get a more steady job.
Social media managers should constantly monitor new practices and methods in the field.
Conclusion
Those who are internet savvy may find the job in social media management a great fit.
It’s also suitable for those who are looking to represent the company and take pride in it.
There aren’t many training and education requirements, but certification can be helpful for a better job outlook.
The possibilities in this area are endless, and there is a lot to learn.