Social media is a huge part of our everyday lives right now – and it has been for at least the past decade. It’s crazy to think about how long some of these sites have existed, like Twitter – I was watching a YouTube video yesterday, and the vlogger remarked upon the same thing. A lot of these sites really are over a decade old now, can you believe it? That’s how long they have shaped our public consciousness, which makes me feel…pretty old, honestly.
While there have been some negative consequences that have come out of this takeover, I think that most of us can agree that overall, it has been a positive development. All of the new opportunities that are out there thanks to it are just a drop in the bucket of a huge wealth of content that we can dip our toes into. Businesses have more chances than ever to really connect with their audiences and generate leads for potential customers. Read here to learn more.
These opportunities are awesome, of course, but they can lead us into some tricky territory. Most notably, social media means that we have to constantly be monitoring our image and ensuring that any content we publish reflects the values of our business. Most companies do have pages that represent their brands, and that’s where social media managers come in.
What is a Social Media Manager?
First, we can take a look at what role they play for a company. Sure, you can look at basic job descriptions like this one, www.coursera.org/articles/how-to-become-a-social-media-manager, but I think that we all know there’s more to it than that. They serve a very specific role for most organizations, so it’s important to know what to expect when you hire one!
As I said above, most brands in today’s day and age utilize the tools at their disposal to garner attention and clicks (with the eventual goal to turn those clicks into conversions). Social media is one of the most effective ways to do so, especially on websites such as Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter. TikTok is an up-and-coming format that seems to be working as well, although the results are not fully conclusive there. It’ll be up to you to decide if you want to use it or not and if the users are in your target demographic.
When we see these fun advertisements, images, or Tweets from brands that we like, rarely do we think about the person behind them. That is of course the goal – they want us to be thinking of the company rather than the one behind the screen. With that explanation, you now know what a social media manager does!
Clearly, their role is pretty important. Social media can be used as a tool to improve brand recognition and reputation. However, if an account is handled poorly, it could end up doing the exact opposite.
How it Works
The main focuses of social media marketing are brand recognition and reputation. So, most of the time, those will be the two main concerns for the social media manager. Hiring a social marketing expert locally, from Shreveport, or from wherever part of the world, communication is very important. Convey your vision and mission for growing your business.
An example of that is when a site changes its policies suddenly (such as, you know, allowing anybody and their mother to get a “verified” checkmark). If that happens, then it will be up to you and your social media manager to figure out how you want to handle it. Really, that’ll depend on your own policies, so the thing to do is just do your best to react quickly to a crisis like that.
The biggest things to think about when you are looking to hire these sorts of services are the credentials of the social media manager. As with any job, this is kind of a big deal – best case scenario, they should have plenty of experience with the internet. This of course should include any relevant social media websites that you are keen to expand your reach too, which you may want to make note of in your job posting.
For anyone existing in online spaces, it’s pretty important to understand some of the cultures there. Social media includes things like “cancel culture” and the works. It’s probably not something to worry about too much, but I bring it up because it may play a role in any sponsorship offers that you make. After all, a huge way that brands get their name out there these days is by working with influencers.
Influencers are one of the biggest parts of online culture right now, so it’s usually pretty profitable to work with them. Some final words of wisdom: make sure to thoroughly check out and understand who you are going to be working with before you do so. It’s tempting to just find someone with the biggest audience, but that’s not always going to work out.
Once you find the right social media manager for you, make sure to discuss the expectations that you have. Explain to them the values of your brand and what you want to get across to the customers and potentials that look you up. At the end of the day, the biggest goal is to increase sales – so, the trick is to figure out how you can do that!
