What Is Social Media Management? What You Need To Know in 2024

A business’s social media presence has the potential to grow or break a brand. If you handle it wrongly, you push your investment down the river. Well-timed posts and timely responses can create lasting audience connections. Combine copy with creative visuals and your consumer engagement will be up the roof.

Look at a case example of Duolingo, Wendy’s, Nike, and Grammarly on how they earn new fans and customers from their innovative social media strategies. It doesn’t happen randomly. This is part of a carefully crafted approach and a well-executed and maintained social media marketing strategy.

As a social media manager, you’re the voice of your brand online. You are responsible for everything from responding to comments to staying ahead of the latest trends in content creation. This may include things like leveraging Instagram Reels for higher engagement, automating marketing campaigns, or optimizing your “link in bio”.

In this article, we’re breaking down all the moving parts that go into making those strategies run smoothly. Use these social media management fundamentals to inform your company’s processes so you can build a follow-worthy presence across the platforms that matter most.

What is Social Media Management?

Social media management is the process of creating, scheduling, analyzing, and engaging with content posted on social media platforms. It involves developing a comprehensive strategy to enhance the visibility and engagement of a business or brand.

A skilled social media manager understands the dynamics of different platforms and exploits them to achieve specific marketing goals.

As a manager, you are tasked with developing content calendars, managing team members, and ensuring each piece of content is purposeful and well-aligned with the brand’s message.

You are supposed to engage in social listening to keep up with trends and monitor what is being said about the brand online. This holistic approach helps build a strong online community and supports the brand in maintaining a positive reputation. Besides, it drives engagement and instills brand loyalty and trust among consumers.

How to manage social media profiles

Managing social media profiles effectively requires a strategic approach that will drive engagement and your online presence.

1. Choosing the Right Platforms

Identify the best platforms that align with the brand’s goals and audience. Research where your target audience spends most of their time and consider the nature of content that performs well on each platform. Something that works on Facebook may not work well on Threads or Instagram.

Tools like Hootsuite and Buffer can provide you with the right analytics to make data-driven decisions.

2. Setting Goals and Creating Content Calendars

Utilize the SMART framework to set specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound goals.

Develop a content calendar to plan what to post, when, and where, and ensure your content aligns with the social media strategies. You can use a combination of user-generated content, promotional posts, and interactive content.

3. Streamlining Post Scheduling and Engagement

Leverage social media management tools like Buffer, CoSchedule, Hubspot, Hootsuite, and Sprout Social to schedule your posts during optimal engagement times. You can determine this through detailed analysis.

Engage with your audience consistently using saved replies for common queries and respond to comments and inquiries on time.

Social media content creation

Creating engaging social media content is pivotal in maintaining an active and interested audience. You can use elements like;

Essential Elements of a Perfect Social Media Post

• Caption. Keep it concise, ideally around 150 characters. Incorporate emojis and special characters to draw attention and add a visual element.

• Call to Action (CTA). Encourage your audience to interact by inviting comments or directing them to your website for more information or to make a purchase.

• Mentions. Increase your post’s reach by tagging relevant accounts, which will enhance your content’s visibility.

• Hashtags. Use targeted hashtags to improve discoverability and connect with specific communities.

• Visuals. Always use high-quality images or videos that reflect your brand’s identity and resonate with your audience.

Strategies for Dynamic Content Creation

• Monitor and Adapt. Review the themes and topics you’ve covered to avoid repetition.

• Diversify Your Content. Employ the four content pillars – educate, entertain, inspire, and promote – to keep your content varied and interesting. This creates a balanced content calendar and ensures your social media feeds remain engaging. You can check how KCB and Cooperative Bank do their social media on Facebook to learn more.

• Engagement Through Competitions and Influencer Collaborations. Run competitions to increase engagement and grow your audience. Mentioning influencers or quoting them in your posts can attract their followers to your page.

Paid social media ads

You are weighing on organic vs. paid social media, right? Don’t worry, either can work.

Organic efforts depend on long-term relationships with your followers, something that doesn’t happen overnight. Your paid social media advertising strategy will help you reach new audiences faster through ad targeting,

The reach and results will depend on your budget, target audience, posting time, and the period your campaign will run. It’s even better if you manage this with a tool.

A strong social media management strategy extends beyond maintaining an online presence. It covers reputation management and enables the brand to gain relevance for years.

FAQs

What is involved in social media management?

Social media management encompasses several key activities including the creation and publication of content, monitoring user engagement and mentions, cultivating a community of customers and influencers, and analyzing and reporting on the results of these activities.

What knowledge should a social media manager possess?

A social media manager should understand the integration of SEO (Search Engine Optimization) with social media to enhance a brand’s online visibility. This includes the strategic use of keywords, hashtags, and content strategies to increase both visibility and engagement on social media platforms.

What qualifications are necessary to become a social media manager?

To become a social media manager, one should have a strong background in marketing and possess skills such as project management and graphic design, organization, excellent communication and copywriting abilities, adaptability, and the capability to work both independently and as part of a team.