What does the day-to-day look like for a social media manager?
To help you know what the day-to-day life of a social media manager looks like, we asked social media managers and other social media experts this question to learn about significant elements of their daily work. From data analysis to hashtag monitoring, social media managers use an array of skills in their everyday tasks.
Here are nine elements of the day-to-day work of social media managers:
- Data Analysis
- Community Engagement
- Responding to Emails
- Analyzing Competitors’ Performance
- Finding New Clients
- Planning
- Creating a Content Grid
- Researching
- Hashtag Monitoring
Data Analysis
“Most of the functions of social media management are similar to those of traditional marketing professionals. Much of social media management is reviewing KPIs to evaluate just how social media posts are performing. The goal of social media marketing for most companies is to increase the organic reach of a company’s posts, so it’s important to have a good idea of how each post is expanding beyond a company’s account. Reviewing results from A/B testing, seeing what posts are encouraging interactions from your current customers, and which ones are attracting new ones are all part of a social media manager’s daily analysis of active posts, so they can make informed decisions about what will post next on a company’s account.”
Kyle Risley, Lift Vault
Community Engagement
“One important aspect of managing a social media account is community engagement. This involves following like-minded businesses and liking and commenting on their posts. This also involves responding to comments that your followers leave under your posts. In addition, you definitely need to respond to DMs if customers have questions.
If you do not act social on your social media account, people could see your brand as not particularly reliable or as unfriendly. Responding to comments or showing support for other businesses on social media may not always seem like a big deal. Still, in the end, it can say a lot about the character of your brand.”
Drew Sherman, RPM
Responding to Emails
“A social media manager’s day can never be complete without checking and responding to emails from time to time. Social media managers have to approve content, get research done, see which designs suit the posts, and determine if the content actually aligns with the company values. All this communication is done mostly via email. Social media managers have to look through every small edit and mistake to see if it is fixed in the right way. As soon as the editors and designers are done with the task, they send it. And to get it done on time, replying on time is as important.”
Anthony King, Transport Executive
Analyzing Competitors’ Performance
“Aside from regularly monitoring the performance of the business, social media managers also review and analyze competitors’ performance. Knowing the status of other companies allows social media managers to create compelling content that matches or outshines a company’s closest competitors. Moreover, it gives them the chance to emulate best practices and apply them to the business for growth and development. It also helps them avoid common mistakes that can potentially tarnish the company’s reputation in the digital arena.”
Adam Garcia, The Stock Dork
Finding New Clients
“For many social media managers, especially part-timers and freelancers, marketing yourself to find new clients is an important part of the job. Expect to spend at least 30 minutes up to an hour every day on tasks that help you find more clients, which include nurturing leads, working on your portfolio, and making your personal brand more appealing. Activities like acquiring certifications and working on lead magnets, such as a website, would also fall under this category.
Though separate from their other duties, finding new clients is an important part of a social media manager’s day-to-day responsibilities. It helps them maintain a consistent stream of work and demand better rates as they grow their career over the long term.”
Milo Cruz, Freelance Writing Jobs
Planning
“The foundation of a social media campaign’s success is its social media managers. Every social media manager has a daily routine that includes planning out their entire social media campaigns and projects. Everything needs to be planned thoroughly and presented properly in order to be effective, from searching news websites for ideas to creating social media postings. Social media managers are accountable for identifying the gaps in their opportunities and making the required adjustments. For any strategy to be effective, it must first be evaluated and a professional framework must be created. Without it, a business won’t be able to draw in customers, and all efforts would be in vain.”
Michael Garrico, Total Shape
Creating a Content Grid
“Creating a content grid is a major day-to-day task for managers. These experts are in charge of each post, story, and video that’s posted to the social media feed, and they need to ensure all content is on brand. The grid needs to flow together seamlessly in a way that’s organized yet appealing to viewers. Depending on how much content is needed, this could take up to 2-3 hours per day.”
Christy Pyrz, Paradigm Peptides
Researching
“Social media managers do more than just create posts. They also need to perform a significant amount of daily research before they get started for the day. Social media managers often search news websites and social media to find out about breaking news and trending topics related to the company’s industry. For example, a social media manager working for a beauty brand could search TikTok or YouTube for the latest juice from renowned beauty influencers. They might decide to stitch or duet the video on TikTok or add clips on their YouTube video to add context and commentary.
Offering a fresh opinion on trending topics is one of many ways social media managers keep their content relevant and drive engagement. We live in a 24-hour news and social media cycle, so hopping into a conversation as soon as it pops up is vital for the success of new social media campaigns. While social media managers don’t exclusively post trending content, it is a major part of the job.”
Dustin Ray, Incfile
Hashtag Monitoring
“One crucial element of daily life for social media managers is hashtag monitoring. In the Instagram and Twitter-verses, hashtags directly linked to your company are sure to pop up all over the place. You need to respond to the most important ones as necessary and remove yourself from the less than desirable. This task is critical to staying in the conversation and maintaining control over your brand.”
Sasha Ramani, MPOWER Financing
Stukent’s Mimic Social simulation gives students hands-on experience as social media marketers and helps them develop the abovementioned skills that real social media managers use in day-to-day business.
To get FREE instructor access to Mimic Social and learn more, click the link below!
