Clearing Up Common Misconceptions About the Role of Social Media Managers
In the fast-paced world of digital marketing, the role of a social media manager is often misunderstood.
It’s more than just posting content or chasing viral fame. It is far more strategic and analytical than one might think at first glance. Yes, it may look like your social media manager is playing on their phone all day; but in reality they are reviewing analytics, conducting outbound engagement, editing content, and researching. Lots of people don’t quite get what social media managers do. Let’s clear up some common misconceptions.
Social Media Managers Are Not Your Sales Team
Don’t hire a social media manager without having a sales team and process in place. Closing sales leads is not in our job description, nor should it be! Your social media manager helps generate sales traffic, especially in this age of customer loyalty on social media. Consumers are discovering brands on social media and looking at the brand’s content as a first step in the research stage. Your social media manager’s job is to pull leads into your sales funnel. And it is up to your sales team to help the lead along the journey from there.
What people think we do vs. what we do.
Your Social Media Manager Is Not Your Influencer
Influencer, user-generated content creator (UGC), photographer, and videographer are all names that often are misplaced on a social media manager. It’s unreasonable to expect your social media manager to be all these people! A social media manager is only one person; you need a whole team to be successful on social media, which is why hiring an agency can be a strategic and cost-effective decision. Contact us to find out if outsourcing is right for you.
Social Media Managers Can’t “Make It Go Viral”
Social media managers don’t have control over everything on social media. Most notably, we cannot make a post go viral, even if we wanted to, which we don’t. A viral post looks cool but is really 90% vanity metrics. Would you rather have post views/likes OR traffic to your sales landing pages? Social media managers care about metrics that matter, like profile views! Our work is effective if leads are viewing your profile to research your brand through your content or to click the link in the bio to purchase or learn more. Those metrics move your brand closer to your goals.
Social Media Managers Are Not Graphic Designers
While social media managers can design beautiful, eye-catching content that aligns with your current branding, they cannot create the actual branding guidelines for your business. It is not your social media manager’s job to create a brand kit; this is an asset you should have in place before hiring a social media manager.
Social Media Managers Are Not Your Customer Service Team
While social media managers are in charge of monitoring and managing DM’s, it is not their job to run your social media customer service. Think of your social media manager as the front desk receptionist who will answer common questions and forward the question to the responsible party. Social media gives brands an effective vehicle to create one-on-one connections with their customers, and these interactions matter! We recommend you invest in customer service internally so your social team has someone to hand off warm leads to.
Your Marketing Manager Is Not Your Social Media Manager
Social media is incredibly fast-paced, and each platform is changing constantly. It is not your marketing manager’s job to keep up with these algorithmic changes and create a strategy that aligns with your overall marketing goals; that is a social media strategist’s job! Your marketing manager is in charge of so many other marketing tasks, it’s unreasonable to expect them to also manage social media. That is the fastest way to waste time, money, and effort on your marketing because it’s difficult for one person to execute all your brand’s marketing efforts effectively.
Social Media Managers Are an Essential Part of Your Marketing Strategy
Again, the algorithms and social media landscape are always evolving, so a social media manager is an essential part of staying current and strategic. Guessing on social media won’t cut it! You need a real strategy and consistent management to get real results on social media.
To learn more about what Team FWC does for our clients, check out our service page or read our latest blog post.
And if you are ready to level up your marketing efforts, you need to schedule a discovery call.
