What does a social media manager do?

While I can’t speak for every social media manager, this is me, and what I do as a freelance social media manager.

A social media manager is the voice of your business

A social media manager is the voice of your business, bringing your brand to life.

To stand out from the crowd. From the competition. It’s about creating and maintaining an instantly recognisable personality across all social media channels, all while aligning with your brand values and your overall strategy.

I’ve seen first-hand how social media can improve and drive the performance of your business, and support you in achieving your wider business goals.

A LinkedIn post, a Facebook ad, a TikTok video – this could be the first interaction a potential customer has with your brand.

So it’s very important that your social media manager understands your business’ personality, and delivers it effectively through every post and interaction. And that’s what I do.

A social media manager understands your audience

It’s my job to get to know you and your business, and where you want to get to, before getting a deep understanding of who you need to speak to, to achieve those goals.

Aka your target audience.

A good social media manager will be an expert in understanding your audience. Knowing who you’re aiming to speak to and how you want to be viewed.

I research, I analyse, and I use my intuition. I get to know your audience on a deeper level – their personality, their desires, and where they hang around online – and put together a strategy that maps out how we’ll reach, engage and convert those people.

This is something I’ve done for a large UK law firm, for a worldwide entertainment company, and an independently owned chain of coffee shops.

A social media manager is a meticulous planner

Well, I know I am. I’ll create a central content calendar, planning days, weeks and even months in advance.

I’ve been a social media manager for 10+ years and over that time I’ve crafted my own bespoke content calendar system into the one I have today.

It’s a simple but essential process that keeps us on top of what’s being communicated and when, and it allows me to give the businesses I work with totally visibility.

Product/service launches, campaigns, seasonal events. Get ‘em in the calendar and it makes for a much smoother process across the board.

If you’re reading this looking for a social media manager to help you plan things out… let’s chat.

A social media manager creates content with purpose and personality

Social media management and content creation isn’t just a conveyor belt of random, boring, beige posts. It’s thought out, it takes planning and it’s all done with good reason.

The content process begins with ideation. Generating ideas in line with a strategy, speaking to the right people, collating all of the info needed.

Then we go from ideation to creation. Producing the right words, capturing eye-catching photos, recording scroll-stopping video. Copy, design, content.

Then it’s reviewed by you, the client, before being planned into the schedule at a time when it’ll have the most impact. Once posted, the job doesn’t end there.

Community management is another responsibility of mine as a social media manager.

That means managing and responding to comments and messages, both reactively and proactively. Inbound and outbound, to get your business in front of more relevant eyeballs.

These back-and-forth conversations are where a relationship is built and strengthened. It shows a human side, builds a rapport and encourages future engagement. Result.

A social media manager reviews, analyses and reacts

How do I know if the social channels I manage are a success? That’s something I get asked a lot. And the answer lies in monthly, quarterly and yearly reports.

A good social media manager will take time out to review progress against the overall strategy – picking out and tracking the numbers and insights that matter.

That could be brand awareness metrics like impressions and reach, content-specific metrics like comments and video views, or deeper metrics like website visits and conversions. It could also be stand-out posts – the posts that have performed the best.

I do that on a monthly basis for the businesses I work with and provide reports in easy-to-understand, branded PDFs, then use the information to inform future strategy.

A post took off? We’ll use that again. A video flopped? Let”s try it in a different format. Those sorts of things.

And I’ll also keep up to date with social platform updates, follow trends, and have my finger on the pulse of the latest news and cultural events.

A social media manager must be someone you trust

If you’re still with me, I appreciate it. I’ll end on this point: A social media manager is someone you can, and must, trust.

Throughout my career, I’ve taken pride in being that person. Hard-working, organised, reliable. Getting stuff done, being good at what I do, and being trusted to deliver the job I’ve said I would.

When it comes to finding your social media manager, make sure it’s someone you feel you can trust, put your faith in them, and you’ll be rewarded.

If you want or need a trusted social media manager for your business, someone who ticks all these boxes, then feel free to get in touch for a chat.

I offer a range of social media services – from one-to-ones and audits, through to strategy setting and complete, done-for-you management – so there’s something for everyone.