5 skills every social media manager must have

Behind every successful social media campaign is a talented, savvy social media manager, whose goal is to make the company’s digital brand well represented.

This includes marketing, customer service, content curation and analytics, just to name a few.
But it doesn’t stop there.

To be a successful social media manager in today’s online wilderness you must be a jack-of-all-trades.

To help you on your way, we have compiled 5 skills that every social media manager must have:

1. Creativity

You have a strategy and a list of goals you want to achieve. Now it’s time to get creative. What content will engage your audience? How will you harness visual content to promote your message? As a social media manager, it has never been easier to create visual content for your business. Design apps like ‘Canva’ or ‘PicMonkey’ allow you to edit photos, add text and filters. If video content is best suited for your business, apps like ‘Filmora’ or ‘Videorama’ allow for clip-editing, soundtracks and animated text.

 


2. Organisation

This sounds obvious but is often overlooked. Are you sticking to your goals? It is important to stick to your plan and make sure your content is reaching your audience when you intend it to. Try scheduling posts to make sure you are always on track for success. Alternatively, if you’re finding yourself swamped in emails or struggling to keep on top of general administrative tasks, check out this list of apps to help you power your productivity.

3. Copywriting

A catchy heading to promote your blog post or the perfect caption to go with your Insta post; these are a couple of ways successful copywriting combined with appropriate engagement tactics can lead to audience engagement. The way we interact on Facebook differs from Twitter or Instagram, so too should your copy. Remember that people are skimming through content quickly, so strategic structuring of your text is vital to draw attention to your content.

4. Customer service

Are you following conversations about your brand online? More importantly are you responding to negative comments about your business? Jay Baer famously claims that customer service is a spectator sport, and he couldn’t be more spot on. Tools such as ‘Google Alerts’ and ‘HootSuite’ allow you to manage your reputation online and listen to what is being said about your business. For a more in-depth explanation about how to keep up with discussions about your brand, have a read of our post on social listening.

5. Analytics and SEO

You need to know what is working and what isn’t. You can use analytics to evaluate your goals and adjust where necessary. Audience engagement is what will make your business grow. If you are a new business owner, chances are SEO can seem daunting. Where to start? What to do? If this is the case, check out the 10 SEO tools marketers should be using. It is a beginner’s guide to make you feel at ease.

 

Honourable Mention – Pop Culture Awareness


A good social media manager should be up to date with all current trends and stories. Pop culture plays a huge part in getting content shared. A certain style of meme can be popular for a few weeks and then fizzle out.  Find out what trends are popular and what is engaging the public. Hashtags are another great way to stay on top of what is relevant and scour the internet for user generated content.

 

What do you think makes a successful social media manager? We’d love to hear in the comments.

Sean graduated from Murdoch University in 2017 and went from intern to Account Manager with Coffey & Tea. He also contributes to Social Media Perth.