A Social Media Manager is trusted with monitoring, executing, filtering and measuring the social media presence of a product, brand, corporation or even individual. He/She is responsible for developing, implementing and managing a brand’s or organization’s social media strategy. Their goal is to increase brand awareness, engage with the audience and drive traffic or sales through various social media platforms (like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, LinkedIn, TikTok, etc.). This role is often seen as the “Community Manager” and may also be referred to as “voice of the company” or “Social Media & Digital Manager”. The global social media management market valued at USD 22.57 billion in 2023, is projected to reach USD 27.03 billion in 2024 and USD 124.63 billion by 2032, growing at a CAGR of 21.1%.

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What Does a Social Media Manager Do?

Social Media Managers are responsible for creating and managing brand promotions, company information, and marketing campaigns across multiple social media platforms. They strategically focus on key metrics and utilize tools to monitor performance, respond to inquiries and engage with audiences in line with the company’s voice and guidelines.Daily tasks include producing fresh content, constantly innovating with new ideas and formats and evaluating the performance of these strategies. Social Media Managers typically report to a social media Director (in larger organizations) or the Head of Content or Brand and collaborate closely with other departments such as marketing, public relations and sales to drive lead-generation campaigns that convert to revenue.

Staying updated on emerging digital marketing trends as well as company and industry news is crucial for success in this role. Social Media Managers are in high demand and typically hold a bachelor’s degree in marketing, public relations or a related field. According to Glassdoor, the average salary for a Social Media Manager in the U.S. is over $59,000.

6 Skills You Need to Be a Great Social Media Manager

After understanding the key role of a Social Media Manager, let’s explore the key skills every Social Media Manager should have.

Writing

Social media managers write a lot—sometimes over a dozen posts daily. Each platform needs a unique tone: LinkedIn requires a professional style while Facebook allows for a more casual and fun approach. Knowing SEO copywriting is a big plus. It is important to create clear, engaging messages that resonate with your audience and spread positivity. A social media manager’s job is to strengthen the brand through writing and acting as the company’s voice online.

Some important types of writing include:

SEO Knowledge

SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is essential for social media managers to maximize the visibility of their content. Identify trending and relevant keywords that resonate with your audience. Use tools like Google Keyword Planner, Ubersuggest or SEMrush to find terms your audience is searching for. SEO can have a great impact on your social media content. A good Social Media Manager knows this and strives to integrate SEO into writing copy for social networks. When you embrace SEO as part of your strategy, you can also attract a larger audience with an interest in your products or services, leading to more potential customers. Incorporate keywords naturally into captions, hashtags and bios. Write meta descriptions and titles for blog posts or shared content that are catchy and SEO-friendly. Optimize profiles (bio, description, and handles) for discoverability. Share links to your site in posts, ensuring anchor text and call-to-actions are optimized for search engines. Track how social media drives traffic using Google Analytics or similar tools.

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Content Creation with AI Tools

Use tools like ChatGPT or Jasper to draft captions, blogs and creative posts quickly. Generate graphics or videos with AI tools like Canva AI or Runway. Brainstorm trending topics or campaign concepts using AI-powered insights. AI is a vital tool for marketers with 88% using it to create content, uncover insights, and make faster decisions. Platforms like Meta and TikTok use AI to enhance features and manage activities. This makes AI skills crucial for social media managers. You can also use the technology to improve and optimize many social media tasks such as:

Customer Service: Essential Skills to Thrive in Social Media Management

According to recent research about half of consumers who engage with brands on social media are reaching out about customer care concerns. Engagement varies across social media platforms but many users turn to social media as the quickest way to get a response from a brand. Social media managers need to stay alert on all channels as customers often use platforms like WhatsApp and Facebook Messenger to ask questions or share feedback. If there’s no response especially during evenings or weekends, customers might have a negative view of the brand. 49% of organizations see social customer service as a responsibility of the marketing team. A Facebook IQ survey found that more than half of people are more likely to buy from a company that offers customer service through chat. Messaging channels can cut customer service costs by 60%. Half of consumers say a quick response to their questions affects their purchase decision. 40% expect a reply within an hour on social media and 79% expect a response within 24 hours.

Creativity & Design

A lot of the content you post on social media will be written but creative visual content is also very important especially for platforms like TikTok and Instagram. The right image, video, gif or photo can be shared many times, so it’s important to know how to create content that fits each platform. According to Alison Battisby, a Social Media Consultant, the most valuable skill for a social media manager is video creation and editing. You need to be able to shoot, edit and create an engaging story that captures attention quickly and keeps people watching and engaging. With so many videos online (YouTube has 3.7 million videos uploaded daily), it is important to be creative especially with short videos or reels, and focus on what your audience enjoys. Visual platforms like Instagram and TikTok are growing rapidly, so the quality of your videos matters a lot. Use brand storytelling to communicate clearly with your audience and deliver a strong brand message. For example, ‘Life Brand’ Pleasing, created by musician Harry Styles, uses striking images to promote its collaboration with Disney, creating a collection based on the film Fantasia with clothes, bags and beauty products.

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Research

Social media managers must stay up-to-date with the ever-changing world of social and digital media. This includes new measurement/analytics tools, industry and world trends and tracking what your competitors are doing even daily. Great social media managers set up Google Alerts on popular topics and use tools like Feedly, Ahrefs and BuzzSumo to keep up with trending content. The X Trends sidebar, TikTok’s ‘Discover’ tab and hashtag research are valuable for identifying trending topics. Research helps social media managers identify their target audience’s preferences, behavior and pain points. By understanding demographics, interests and online habits, managers can create content that resonates with followers. Researching competitors’ social media strategies allows managers to learn from their successes and mistakes. By analyzing metrics such as engagement rates, click-through rates and conversions, managers can adjust strategies for better results.