The Definitive Guide: How To Become A Social Media Manager

Hands up if you are obsessed with social media. Most of us are. Imagine if you could get paid to spend all day on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter…

We all know what social media is, and some of us are more familiar with it than others. As the voice of the company, you’ve got to be creative, have great communication skills, excellent customer service and a sense of humour. Most of us live and breathe social media - it’s a second nature to many, and now it’s a vital part of a company’s marketing strategy.

What is a Social Media Manager?

• Job Description

  As a social media manager, you’ll be in charge of running all social media channels and monitoring the activity. You’ll be creating strategies that engage the audience. You’ll need to know the latest trends, keep up to date with news in your industry, and create content that can be shared online. It can be a challenging job role, but rewarding at the same time, and it will never be dull.

• Hours of Work

  You can expect to work usual office hours Monday – Friday 9-5. Your exact working hours will depend on the company that you work for. Some companies will require you to work longer hours. You might have to work evenings or weekends if you are approaching a deadline.

• Main Responsibilities

  So, what will your main responsibilities be as a Social Media Manager?
  
  Duties typically include:

  • Setting goals and developing strategies to achieve them
  • Managing all social media accounts
  • Creating and managing online competitions
  • Responding to customers online
  • Creating or outsourcing blogs, vlogs and other multimedia content
  • Developing discussions on social media
  • Managing and training staff
  • Liaising with clients
  • Using tools such as Hootsuite to manage multiple social media accounts
  • Monitoring social media activity
  • Writing reports

Key Social Media Manager qualifications

Do you have the qualifications to get the job?

A degree isn’t vital, but it’s definitely preferred - and there is a lot of competition out there, so it’s a good idea to get the right qualifications to impress the employers. Some relevant degrees you could look into applying to are digital marketing, media studies, public relations, business studies, journalism or advertising.

How to become a Social Media Manager?

Now that you know what a Social Media Manager does, how do you become one?

You could begin your career at a junior level before being promoted up to a social media manager. Another option for you is to do an internship whilst studying. Internships are usually unpaid but it is important to leave university with some experience, as there is a lot of competition in the marketing and communications industry.

An apprenticeship could be another option for you. You could do a digital marketing apprenticeship before progressing to social media manager.

How to develop your Social Media Manager career?

Now that you’ve got the job, what’s next for you? You could progress to a senior management role. This will take some time and hard work, but hard work always pays off, and if you are passionate and improve your skills along the way then there’s no stopping you.

You could even broaden your career by applying to other digital marketing roles such as a digital marketing executive. In this role you will be responsible for more tasks such as SEO, email campaigns, creating website content and much more.

Career Opportunities

• You can find some of the best Social Media Manager roles with brands such as Parkdean Resorts, Leisure People, Away Resorts and many more.

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