Being a social media manager requires a wide set of skills and years of experience. In order to be good at this job, a person needs to have talent, be open-minded, communicative, and skilled with using social media platforms. However, these are just some of the many skills a freelance social media expert needs to have. Since their job description requires handling versatile tasks, it’s important to understand the entire process in detail. A social media manager can work in the office full-time, or work freelance. The difference is that the first one usually manages a team of people. Freelancers usually take over the entire project and handle it by themselves, which goes the same for social media managers.
The job description for this type of work consists of many different tasks. Freelancers who specialize in social media management need to understand marketing, content writing, creative design, and different ways of communication. Depending on the project they are working on, their job can require a wide set of skills that work well together. This job is more challenging than it seems because there is a visible line between success and failure. Further, in this article, take a look at what it takes to become a freelance social media manager and which skills are required for this job.
What does it take to be a social media manager?
Managing social media profiles for various clients is not an easy job to do. A social media freelancer has to understand how strategies are made, how to communicate with the audience, and manage their own team. In order to be good at their jobs, social media managers have to manage a wide set of tasks that include the following:
· Planning social media strategies
· Learning about new ways to communicate through social media
· Keep learning new skills, trends, and tactics that work best
· Understanding how social content works and choosing what to use on social media
· SEO-strategizing for social media platforms
· Creating innovative ideas that will help their marketing strategy
Freelance social media managers don’t always do all of these tasks by themselves. Some of them a whole team of people helping in different aspects of work. Others rely on website platforms like WordPress to interconnect their content with social media profiles. Since there is no universal way for a social media strategy to work, a manager needs to stay open-minded to be able to reach the ultimate goal.
Communication with clients and teammates
The main purpose of social media marketing is to spread the word about a good product or a service, which can be done in many different ways. In order to beat their clients’ competitors, social media manager has to rely on a variety of different skills. Here are some of the most important ones every social media expert should have.
Social media communication skills
When working for a client, a social media manager needs to be their voice on different platforms. Their workflow is often not uniform, so freelance social media managers need to have flexible working hours. Depending on the reach they get from the audience, they might need to modify their strategy every few days. Reaching goals in this area of marketing is not easy, which is why a social media manager can take years to learn how to write content that will get the reach.
Teamwork communication
Besides reaching a wide audience on social media platforms, these freelancers also have to work well in a team. As managers, they need to be good leaders but also be able to solve problems last minute. Creating a social media strategy can take a few people from different areas of marketing. For example, while some are creating a strategy, others will work on creating content and design. Being able to explain how the process works and manage an entire team is an important skill for social media managers.
Writing skills
When full-time social media managers work in the office, their job descriptions can vary from one company to another. Most of them focus on managing other people from the team who deliver different parts of the project. However, a freelance social media manager has to develop another set of skills. Since they often have to be all-in-one social media experts, they are often asked to write the entire content. Most clients require experience in copywriting, SEO strategies, and other areas of marketing. This is why creative writing is one of the most important skills a social media manager can have. In other words, this job position is all about being the brand’s voice on social media platforms. Since there is no unique way to do this job, social media experts have to keep learning new trends and be able to adapt to different clients.
Creating professional content on social media platforms also requires certain knowledge of technology. For some clients, a social media expert will need to know how to tailor the same message for different platforms. Besides, reading a post will not be the same on different devices such as phones, tablets, and laptops. This is why this job requires joining both visual and textual content in order to reach more audiences.
Smart organization
There is another skill this type of job requires. Time-management and organizing skills are a big part of being a social media manager. Understanding marketing campaigns and executing them takes creativity, but also good time management. Social media experts need to use different tools and strategies in order to do their jobs well.
Luckily, planning their tasks can now be easier, since many people working in this field rely on Project Management Software. These programs can simplify and speed up everyday tasks, but also automate different aspects of workflow. Just like WordPress is a platform that interconnects content with social media platforms, project management software does the same with tasks. Communicating with clients and delegating tasks to team members takes proficient organizing skills.
Besides project management software, people working in this field rely on different website platforms. When creating content, a social media expert is always looking for a way to connect the blog, social media profiles, and other marketing-related pages. In order to do this, platforms like WordPress are used to help social media experts do their job more efficiently.
Knowledge of marketing strategies
When it comes to knowing marketing strategies in social media, we couldn’t say that this is a skill. This part of the job requires knowledge that (in most cases) comes with years of experience. In order to focus on the task, a social media manager has to see the big picture and the entire structure of the strategy. They can achieve this only by working closely with other members of the team.
Maintaining social media accounts for clients and running campaigns for them is a combination of various aspects of marketing. Communicating with people, selling a product, and providing a great customer experience are just to name a few. This type of work requires certain wit and resourcefulness. We could easily say that social media marketing is a multidisciplinary job. Working on projects on multiple levels and reaching audiences in a steady flow is everything but easy.
Creativity
For people who don’t know much about running social media, this type of job might seem repetitive or even technical. However, a social media manager needs to be creative above all. This skill is something they can develop, but it mostly comes as a natural talent. Some parts of their job are to create innovative ideas, take risks and manage marketing campaigns. Without an idea that will stand out, social media experts could have a hard time reaching their client’s goals.
It’s no secret that some daily tasks in social media marketing can be repetitive and technical. However, knowledge of design and creativity are skills that every social media manager needs to have. In order to create content that will be eye-catching and appealing, they will need to be innovative. The aesthetic details like pictures, logos, emoticons, and others are almost never used randomly. Marketing experts know when, how much, and in which way to incorporate these details in their content.
Summary
Working as a social media manager can be very profitable, especially after landing a job in an experienced marketing company. For freelancers to get this job, it’s necessary to show results from different campaigns. If you want to start working in freelance social media management, you will need to have experience in creating marketing campaigns, and preferably – in content writing. You will also need to have knowledge in analyzing data, different graphs, and other social media features.
Knowing how the system works is only the first step in finding a job in this position. This is why social media managers are highly valued employees, especially if they work for a reputable marketing company. Managing different aspects of marketing campaigns requires a wide set of skills. Communicating with teammates and clients, solving problems last-minute, and finding creative solutions are just some of them. To sum it up, this can be a demanding, but also a very creative and rewarding job for freelancers.
