By BloggerKhan

My profession is Management and Marketing and it revolves around outsourcing, ecommerce and marketing on the internet. Wise men say identify what you are passionate about and then see if ...

The world of online marketing has changed dramatically in the past decade. Social media has appeared and gained so much popularity that careful planning and execution of a social media strategy is now a must. The title ‘Social Media Manager’ (SMM) is now a job title and their area of expertise includes Facebook, Twitter, Linkedin, Google +, Pinterest, Instagram, SnapChat, and more. Facebook has over 1,8 billion active users, Linkedin over 450 million, Twitter over 300 million, Instagram 600 million as of December 2016. Naturally, businesses want to reach this audience to grow their business. This is where the Social Media Manager takes center stage.

What does a Social Media Manager do?

The simplest answer is that he/she manages various social media accounts for a company or client. In reality, they do much more than that. Here’s a breakdown of the tasks performed by a Social Media Manager:

• Prepares the company’s social media strategy

• Sets up accounts on target social media networks

• Manages and writes content for social media

• Creates graphics to accompany written content

• Schedules and follows the reach of posts after publication

• Plans and uses the advertising budget effectively

• Monitors results and changes the social media strategy accordingly

• Grows the number of followers and manages the community.

• Tries to make social media interactive as much as possible to involve both customers and company staff

Many people have the idea of it being a glamorous job that consists of scrolling through Facebook and Instagram feeds all day. But ask any person spending time on social media in a professional capacity and they will give a very different answer. Not only do they do all of the above but also write each and every single piece of content in a way that aligns with the brand, then adapt it for specific social media sites as they all have their own sets of rules.

SMMs are very resourceful and knowledgeable but also quite skilled at customer service. Fans or followers often ask questions and voice their concerns on social media. Then it is the manager’s job to answer these or forward them to a relevant person in the organization.

Perhaps the most important part of an SMM’s job is sharing or creating content that generates leads and run campaigns that will engage the community. It is not easy to find a person that is skilled in all of the above and that is why many companies hire several SMMs, each for a different segment with one person acting as the overall supervisor.

Where and how to find a good Social Media Manager?

How to find a good social media manager

Should you advertise on CraigsList or some of the other job portals? Should you place an Ad in newspaper classifieds. This is not easy. You need to hire a person who has both technical skills and marketing skills and is a good communicator. Many people claim to know a lot about social media but the activity on their personal or business page shows otherwise. Outsourcing the job may be worth considering. There are many companies offering social media management services, our own http://interloperinc.com/ included. Or, post the job listing on one of the many freelancing portals and wait for the applications to come in.

We recommend several practice runs before hiring one person for the project. Once a post is out there and people start reacting to it, there is no going back. You may hire several people and work with them for a few weeks. Work with them and see how they understand your business, how they understand your customers and how effectively they can send out the content and messages. Then stick with those that are a good fit. If you don’t want to go with a Social Media Management company, then this is a good alternative. It may take two to three months to decide on one or two who are a good fit for you but well worth the time and effort.

Good Luck!

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