Necessary Skills for a Social Media Manager

Are you lucky enough to be a social media manager? If you are, you’re on a fantastic path as social media marketing continues to show no sign of slowing down. In fact, quite the opposite.  What was once seen as a pastime, or a ‘nice’ to do, is now a well-respected and much sought-after career.

As social media continues to grow, so too does the lucrative career of the social media manager.  Do you possess the right professional skills to fulfil this role? What is it you need to have in order to succeed in this role?

Becoming a social media manager

Besides completing social media courses there are other aspects you need to fill if you have any hope of filling this role. These are:

Creativity

This is vitally important as a social media manager considering that social media is primarily visual.  You also need to be a trendsetter and be the one who people want to follow.

Strategic Planning

Meticulous planning skills are important as is being constantly up to date with the industry best practice on when to post.

Tactics and Execution

A social media manager needs to understand the best-practice tactics to use to engage a company’s followers.  Attention to detail is a must in all social media campaigns.

Community Management

Understanding your online community is paramount.  Being able to create, observe and respond to online conversations within your community is a top requirement.  This includes the good and the bad feedback received.

Content Curation

Being able to gather information from several resources is important as is sharing interesting content across your social media platforms to keep your audience engaged.

Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)

Understanding the basic SEO processes is essential so that your keywords can rank highly on Google.

Writing

Besides having something of value to say, you also need to have a way with words to captivate your audience.

Digital Marketing

Social media is evolving faster than ever with super specialised technical advancements.  Staying on top of all the latest digital marketing trends is one of the main functions of a social media manager’s duties.

Analytical

A wide variety of analytical tools are readily available to the social media manager. These provide plenty of data to improve social media marketing campaigns.

Keeping the human element in being a social media manager

Some personalities are more likely to experience success than others as a social media manager. A few personal traits that suit include:

Having a passion for the topic of your social media content, and

Enjoying engaging with, and responding to, positive and negative comments on social media platforms.

Being creative and detail orientated will set your social media campaigns apart from the rest.

Solid experience in online communications is a must for the social media manager. This does not include posting on Facebook or Instagram in your personal capacity.  That era is over.  To get results you must understand that social media has come a long way and is far more in-depth.

Get in touch with the Digital School of Marketing

Keeping abreast of the constant changing world of social media and mobile technology is a regular pastime of the modern social media manager.  Trends in social media move quickly and your platform will undoubtedly fall behind if you miss opportunities to pick up on the ‘next big thing’. The Digital School of Marketing’s Social Media Marketing Course is your perfect entry into the world of social media management. For more information and to register, follow this link.