How social media management kickstarted my career in digital marketing

Do you know what really goes on behind-the-scenes during the average day of a social media manager so they can get great results? It’s an often-underrated profession that comes with a large workload and the need to always be ‘switched on’. So, seeing the dedicated Social Media Manager’s Day was on Sunday (of all days!) the 17^th of September this year was ironic but accurate… 

A social media manager rarely gets time off due to the fast-paced nature of the job and ongoing updates. The job is often misunderstood and almost never appreciated for the value it provides to a brand. Yet it’s often over-glamorised (on social media) and or positioned as just a side gig that isn’t to be treated seriously. The community of social media professionals within the industry don’t always get much credit for the adaptive, creative skills needed to make social media management a success. Kudos to the team at CommsCreative who created the Social Media Manager’s Day in effort to raise awareness of how social media managers help brands to thrive, and what they do to achieve it.

Seeing Social Media Manager’s day on my planner got me thinking about the ‘how it started vs how it’s going’ in the industry since I began my journey (spoiler alert: it’s not changed all that much!). 

Getting started in social media management 

Like many others, I started working as a social media manager by accident. I fell into it while working on a pro bono project for a ballet festival. While I was very comfortable with marketing for B2B and professional services, doing social media for an arts event wasn’t ordinary business for me. However, I enjoy taking on a ‘left field’ project once in a while because it takes me out of my comfort zone, challenges me to be curious, and inspires me to learn. So I did. 

Back then, social media management was simpler, as the main platforms were Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter – and all had great organic reach. To get in front of people on social media was faster, and there was far less competition. We didn’t encounter trolls or bots in the field of international ballet; growth was super fast, engagement – explosive, and love for the arts – limitless. Ah the good old days!

Combining social media with digital marketing and PR 

When it came to getting the word out for the ballet festival, the social media campaign was paired with an enormous (and successful) digital and print PR effort, spanning across mass digital, print, and TV media. Everything from free press in the subway to TV interviews on national news at prime time (and syndicated online many times over), meaning thousands tuned in to the ballet festival’s live-streamed awards ceremony for free, and they still do to this day. 

But back then, I didn’t know I’d end up leaving a corporate role to set up my own business offering digital marketing for B2B, covering everting from strategy to digital marketing campaign execution. 

7 unchanging factors to great social media management 

Although it’s great to reflect on the good old days of being a social media manager reaching people without worrying about constant algorithm hacks, there was still a lot of learning on the go… and constant learning is something that still dominates the life of a social media manager today. 

So, what hasn’t changed about good social media management? Alongside being curious and always learning, here are seven things that haven’t changed…

1. Social platforms come and go – just because there’s a new shiny platform, doesn’t mean you need to jump on the trend (remember Clubhouse or Vine, anyone?).
2. Go where your customers are – instead of trying to keep up with all the platforms, focus on the ones that your audience use. The more specific you are, the better (and no – your target audience isn’t everyone).
3. Audience engagement is key – creating a community and starting a conversation is more important and brings better results than a broadcast-style approach to social media. Across all platforms, engagement is the most effective measure of what’s working – and what’s not. 
4. You need to actually be social – reply to your comments and messages instead of clicking ‘like’ and moving on (that’s the whole point of ‘social’ media).
5. Stop posting for the sake of it – create a strategy and listen to your audience to create content tailored to them, so you get that all-important engagement, rather than copying what others are doing. 
6. A picture says a thousand words – people still, and always will, love an image. But you don’t want to use cheesy stock photos that aren’t personal to your brand… instead, invest in good photos or graphic design to use on your social media pages and showcase your personality.
7. Measure and test what works – without looking at your metrics and tracking them, you can’t improve and it’s like guesswork.  

These things would have been unchanged if the national Social Media Manager’s Day existed almost 15 years ago. Like all marketing, you need to get the basics right in social media management first. Plus, for a successful digital PR campaign strategy, you need to tie-in all your marketing activity and use social media to your advantage. 

Hopefully, as the Social Media Manager’s Day campaign grows in popularity it helps people to realise that the average social media manager’s day isn’t simply taking a few aesthetic snaps and uploading them to Instagram. Strategy, planning, creativity, and adaptability all need to work together – daily.

Are you looking for social media management that gets results? Contact BrandHouzz to chat about how we can become your strategic digital campaign planning partner.