Articles

A freelance social media manager can

By Carsten Bjerregaard, Marketingcapacity.dk (Link to the article. Copying/publishing without agreement is not allowed) 

A social media manager can help a company drive business on social media. For example, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok and others. But what does a social media manager do? What can your business achieve with a social media manager? And what should you look for if you want to find the right person to manage your company's social media presence and actions? Find out in this article.

View Social Media Manager profiles

Content:

  • What is a social media manager?
  • What is the job of a social media manager?
  • What else is a social media manager called?
  • How does a social media manager create value?
  • What types of social media mangagers are there?
  • What should a social media manager know?
  • Examples of good social media manager work
  • Why a freelance social media manager?
  • How do you find a good freelance social media manager?

What is a social media manager?

A social media manager creates business on social media. That is, media where the content is created by users and where there is significant interaction between users. The role of the social media manager is to utilize the different platforms to generate publicity, inquiries, leads, trials and purchases.

What is the job of a social media manager?

A Social Manager usually has both strategic and operational responsibilities. Tasks include, among other things:

  • Creating and following a strategy for a company's social media presence
  • Including prioritizing and selecting the right media
  • Listening to the 'dialog' on social media - what's trending? Are there any dialogs the company can tap into?
  • Help develop the company's own pages on the different platforms
  • Help develop special user groups under - or alongside - company pages
  • Create content plans
  • Develop content, with movies, text, images, emojis etc.
  • Develop contests that create engagement
  • Leverage tools and formats that are on each platform, for example, the forms and different viewing formats that are
  • Anticipate, avoid and potentially manage shitstorms
  • Support customer service
  • Support and potentially drive sales directly
  • Helping the SEO team optimize for Google searches
  • Use the advertising tools (paid media) on social platforms
  • Analyze on response, on awareness, on sharing or other KPIs
  • Employer branding - marketing the company as a workplace to attract the best resources

What else is a social media manager called?

A social media manager can also be called a social media specialist or a social media gardener.

How does a social media manager create value?

As we all know, social media has taken over the role of the most important marketing media when it comes to:

  • Penetration (how many people use them?)
  • Engagement (how much do users use them?)
  • Affinity (how strong do users feel about the media?)

That's why it's hard to overestimate the value of a good social media manager. Because there are few other places where your business can potentially have as much impact as on social media.

From being a function that was left in the hands of some young autonomous wiz kids, social media management has moved in as one of the most central functions in marketing. But it's still a function that will typically be in the hands of young 'native digital' forces. Because social media success almost requires you to live and breathe social media. You can't just read up on it - you have to be on board. That's how quickly the picture is changing.

What types of social media managers are there?

There are probably as many different 'types' as there are social media managers. Because it's still such a young discipline and because the role itself is so multifaceted, you can't be equally good at everything. You can imagine that some people have their own core competencies:

  • Strategic overview
  • Planning and execution
  • Creative intuition
  • Analytical audience segmentation
  • Return on investment understanding

Not least, there is a difference depending on the size of the company. In some companies, the social media manager will be an octopus who more or less does everything. Right down to taking the photos themselves. In such companies, social media management borders on an Influencer profile.

Finally, there are differences from one industry to another. Obviously, there is a difference between being a social media manager for companies like Gucci and Boeing.

What should a social media manager know?

A social media manager must have a wide range of skills that need to work together:

  • Good at writing
  • Flair for assessing/taking pictures
  • Insight into how each social media platform works
  • Awareness of changes in the way users move and use media
  • Ability to capture the 'big picture' of what's going on
  • Knowledge of the functionality, mojo and lingo of each social media platform
  • Have knowledge of - or experience with - tools to keep track of, post content and measure response (e.g. Facebook Ads, Google Analytics, Hootsuite)
  • Know the law and GDPR for social media
  • Empathy and the ability to collaborate with the rest of the organization
  • Master the analytical tools available on each platform
  • The ability to improvise
  • The ability to think in dialogues
  • The ability to think in tests - so you're always learning
  • The ability to make Paid and Earned media work together - i.e. organic traffic and paid traffic
  • Have an interest in - and skills in - nudging. This means that over time, the social media manager must develop a set of host tools to drive users of various social media platforms to interact with the company and its groups. For example, various call-for-actions
  • In marketing terms, it's the social media manager's role to calibrate the sales funnel so that the leads that come in are nurtured and massaged closer to purchase, repurchase and fan status

All paired with a sense of urgency. The web never sleeps, and a good social media manager must be prepared to have their finger on the pulse almost 24/7 and move when there is a breakthrough to the target audience you want to reach.

Examples of good social media manager work

The bar is constantly shifting for what you can do and what you can achieve. And to do social media managers justice, you'd have to dig deep into each case study. But if you follow this link: https: //coschedule.com/blog/social-media-campaign-examples - you'll see 24 examples of excellent social media work for companies like:

  • Wix
  • Airbnb
  • Blendtec
  • State Bicycle Co
  • Make-A-Wish
  • Qdoba
  • Deadpool
  • Purdue
  • Tweet Good
  • Eggo
  • McDonald's
  • Charmin
  • Sevenly
  • RYU
  • Disney
  • Nintendo
  • Anthropology
  • Applebees
  • Honda
  • TOK&STOK
  • Kotex
  • Krystons
  • Honey Bunches of Oats
  • Urban Decay
  • Apple

Why a freelance social media manager?

In the past, most people might have thought of freelancers for one-off projects. However, many companies have now realized the benefits of working with freelancers on a long-term basis:

  • You can cover needs that don't justify a full-time permanent position
  • In periods when you don't need it, you don't pay for the skill
  • In a long-term relationship, the freelancer gets to know the company almost as well as a permanent employee
  • Compared to buying the desired skill set from an agency - such as an advertising agency - working with freelancers is usually much cheaper
  • You have the flexibility to rethink the overall competency profile of the person responsible for an area
  • More and more really talented people prefer to work freelance
  • A freelancer can still look at your business 'from the outside' - which is a valuable thing when thinking about creative
  • Freelancers can bring fresh, outside inspiration to your business

How do you find a good freelance social media manager?

Finding the right freelancer can be difficult. And above all, it can take a long time. Because there are many freelancers within the same field, and even if they boast the same skills, there can be a big difference when it comes to the way they work and the work they deliver. When you ask Marketingcapacity.dk to help you find a freelancer to work with, the process is simple:

  1. You describe your needs to us (either in writing or verbally - we'll confirm in an email)
  2. We screen the thousands of profiles on Marketingcapacity.dk and, if necessary, the market through our channels
  3. You will be presented with 3 candidates that meet your needs in a 2-hour meeting
  4. At the meeting, you can ask questions and see examples of their work
  5. You choose the freelancer you would like to start working with
  6. We set it up in our systems with time tracking etc. So you have an overview and full control

In other words: After describing your needs, simply set aside 2 hours to meet with 3 hand-picked and screened candidates. That's your guarantee of a good result with a reasonable amount of effort.

View Social Media Manager profiles