A Hootsuite Guide

GUIDE

How to Excel as a Social Media Manager

2HOW TO EXCEL AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

How to Excel as a Social Media Manager A Hootsuite Guide 

Social media is a complex, digital ecosystem that is continuously evolving. At the helm is our social media manager. Wearing multiple hats, the social media manager is in charge of strategizing and executing on all the social media activities of their business. From marketing, customer service or social HR, social media managers have their fingers on the pulse of both what clients want and what their company needs.

The Many Hats of a Social Media ManagerTo keep up with the modern consumer, brands need to be one step ahead on social media. This is where social media managers come in. These digitally savvy experts have a diverse and demanding role, not only developing their company’s social media strategy, but also executing and monitoring campaigns and activities,

measuring results, proving social ROI, growing their online community, and much more.

This guide will look at the key responsibilities of today’s leading social media manager and help you get ahead:

Social Media Strategy

Monitoring & Engagement

Audience Building & Community Management

Content Creation, Curation & Planning

Measurement & Reporting

Training & Support

3HOW TO EXCEL AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Social Media Strategy

When creating your overarching social media strategy, be sure to develop and incorporate:

�� Key social media goals and objectives

�� Audit of the company’s current social media status

�� Content strategy and calendar

�� Crisis management

�� Analytics and metrics to track progress

Getting started on the basics of your social media strategy can often be challenging. First thing’s first, set goals and objectives. They will be the compass by which all your social media initiatives are directed. Social media goals should always be directly aligned with your company’s overall objectives. This will help you prove the ROI of your social initiatives, and help you get the executive buy-in and support that you need to be successful.

Content Creation, Curation & PlanningThe foundation of all marketing campaigns is content. Creating content that’s relevant and useful to your audience is the best way to keep your business top-of-mind and help build meaningful relationships with prospects and customers.

You’ll need to identify what type of content you intend to post, and how you’ll be using social to promote it. This ties back to knowing your audience.

Following relevant influencers and businesses in your industry to will allow you to curate content that is relevant to your audience. Dig a little deeper and find out what social networks your customers, competitors and influencers are using, and start engaging through the most relevant channels.

Tip: Make sure your social media goals are “smart” – specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time bound. It is vital to make your goals measurable so that you can track your progress

towards each goal. To test how measurable your goal is, ask yourself what it will look like when partially or completely achieved. If you don’t know, go back to your overall company objectives and ensure your social media goals are directly aligned. Check the “smart” acronym again, and make sure you’ve set your goals up to be highly measurable.

“Different social networks attract different audiences. For instance, our Instagram account attracts aspiring photographers; our Pinterest following caters more toward females; Twitter attracts those interested in our product releases and news stories. Knowing this, we share relevant content and grow distinct communities.” Allison Butula, Social Media Manager at Herschel

Tip: When creating and curating content, it’s important to be mindful of your audience’s motivations. When planning each piece of content, be sure to answer the following key questions

to ensure you’re delivering value:

�A How does this content add value for our audience?

�A How will this content help or entertain them?

�A Why will they share this content?

4HOW TO EXCEL AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Monitoring/EngagementAs a social media manager, you need to be proactive, listen, and engage with your audience. Rather than waiting for prospects to reach out to you, proactively engage with those actively mentioning your brand on social. By actively listening through your social media channels, you’ll be able to:

�� Track brand mentions, competitors, key industry terms and relative keywords

�� Identify opportunities as they happen so you can respond in real time

�� Turn customers into advocates by engaging with them and resolving their issues or questions

�� Gain actionable insights into what people are saying about your business on social media

�� Monitor the social media presence of your competitors to stay up to speed

Audience Building & Community ManagementWhile content is core to the success of any marketing campaign, it’s crucial to first understand and effectively target your audience so you can create and deliver relevant and valuable content. In order to develop a long lasting, engaged community, there needs to be consistent, valuable and authentic communication between you and your audience.

Considerations when identifying and growing your online community:

�� Research, understand and invest in your audience

�� Add relevant people to social accounts and lists – follow, retweet, engage

�� Understand what you want to ask your audience and why

�� Identify and get to know key influencers in your industry

�� Give extra love to those interested in your brand – send them a tweet or a shout out on Facebook!

As a social media manager, you’ll also need to identify and manage your company’s social media capacity. Based on the resources available, you’ll need to decide if and how you want to scale and grow your online community and your social media presence. In order to expand, you may need additional support.

Tip: Social media can be noisy and overwhelming. Because of the sheer volume of activity and buzz online, it can be difficult to know what to monitor and when to engage.

One way to manage this is by setting up specific keyword and hashtag search streams in Hootsuite, creating and populating streams with exactly what you are looking to monitor.

71% of consumers who experience a quick and effective brand response on social media are more likely to recommend that brand to others

Tip: If you’re the only one managing your company’s social media efforts, you may need to make a case to your boss for bringing on additional resources. Put together a high level

presentation to highlight your success so far, and showcase how expanding your social efforts will contribute to the company’s bottom line.

Hootsuite Certification allows you to become a pro with today’s leading social media management tool and showcase your skills through recognized industry credentials.

Get Hootsuite Certified Today

5HOW TO EXCEL AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER

Measurement & ReportingIn order to understand the impact of your social media efforts, it’s crucial to identify the right metrics to measure your progress towards your key social media goals. Keep in mind that your social media goals cannot live in a vacuum. Make sure they directly tie back to your company’s overall objectives, so that your social efforts can contribute to your company’s bottom line. This will help you gain the executive buy-in and support that you need to be successful as a social media manager.

Once you have identified the right campaign metrics, you’ll need to report on these in a way that is relevant to your key internal stakeholders. Analytic reports help explain the value that social media is adding to the business, proving the value of your all your hard work!

Training and Support

While HR typically supports employee training and development, social media is new for most companies. As the in-house social media expert, you may also be expected to get your team up to speed on the fundamentals of social media, industry best practices, and platform training. As social media impacts all aspects of your business, you will soon see that it will no longer be the exclusive responsibility of a single person, team or department. Therefore, it’s important to streamline social media skills and knowledge across your team or department, whenever possible.

Tip: Not sure which metrics to report on? Here are a few ideas to get you started:

�A To increase social media engagement report on: Likes, Shares, Comments,

Retweets, Mentions, Favorites.

�A To increase traffic to your website measure: URL clicks and traffic from social media.

�A To increase brand awareness measure: Follower Growth Rate, % Change Over Time in Followers, Twitter Sentiment, Reach by Region, Clicks by Region

Tip: Fundamental social media training and education within Hootsuite University will help any business get up to speed with current social media strategies. Your team can explore

hundreds of videos on areas such as the dos & don’ts of social media etiquette, how to set up social media profiles for business success, best practices from the top social networks, and walkthrough training on the Hootsuite dashboard.

Now that you’ve learned key tips and tricks to getting ahead as a social media manager, it’s important to showcase your expertise and gain industry recognition, so you can stand out from the pack.