Remember all the articles where I talked about why Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and social media in general is so essential for your business and your brand? Truth is, in case it is your business we are talking about, you will most likely not have the time, nor the interest to manage all your social media accounts. And secondly, unless your accounts are managed in a serious manner, it is pointless having them to begin with.
So these being told? What can you do in order to have the time necessary to take care of this? You could, for instance, hire a social media manager. What is a social media manager and what skills should you be looking for? Let’s take a look!
1. Flexibility
First of all, you are looking for a person who does not run on a tight schedule. Being a social media manager is a constant job, it’s like having a baby that you need to take care of 24/7. Now, before running away and saying that you yourself would never want to become a social manager, it has tons of fun sides as well. And although I said it is a constant job, what I really meant is that social media accounts need constant monitoring and managing, not that you need to lie glued to your laptop all day (and night).
2. A good eye
Your social media manager needs to be good with his visuals. People are more willing to read an article if it’s not just made of a block of text containing 1000 words. Adding a photo can relax your reader and give him a break before continuing your article. And having the best photos, according to your target audience (based on their gender, age etc.) is a special job in itself.
3. Good with words
It’s not like you expect your social media manager to post your content 100% but he will be your person of contact when it comes to your audience. Meaning that your person of contact has to be on the same wavelength with you, your company, your ideas and the vibe you wish to transmit to your audience. He/ she will be mostly answering comments from users so their way of speaking has to reflect your vibe.
4. Social skills
Sounds ironic to say social skills when talking about social media, right? But what I mean is that your person has to be customer oriented. As I mentioned above, he will be the person of contact, the face of your company, the reply people get when they post on any of your social media accounts so your person has to be able to respond properly, in a business manner, funny manner or whichever manner you find to represent your brand the best.
5. Understands the importance of social media
Social media is not all about posting and bragging about your company, products or services online. It’s about creating visibility, making yourself known, raising awareness about your brand and lastly but not least, about SEO. And don’t we love a good SEO talk? We sure do. So your social media manager has to be able to grasp how the posts from these platforms affect the overall visibility and place within search engines of your company.
6. Passion for growth
What I mean by this is that you should be looking for someone who is interested in the latest technical news, latest marketing news, basically someone who keeps an eye open at what’s happening on the market. You need a person who can be able to adjust and keep up with the latest changes that mold the market and implicitly, your business needs.
All in all, you need a universal person. Joking left aside, you need a person who can quickly adapt and keep up with changes, can be flexible with his or her schedule, and has a creative spirit and great communication skills. No, you are not looking for a unicorn, just a person who would love this kind of a multitasking job and its benefits, ups and downs included. And as I already mentioned, social marketing is not all about the downs, it can be extremely fun and entertaining.