What is a Social Media Manager? – E-commerce blog

The Social Media Manager is a relatively new profession that arises within the field of due to the growing rise of social networks.

In general, the person who occupies this role is responsible for prepare and plan the communication strategy of a brand within the networksso that it can then be executed by a Community Manager.

This means that the Social Media Manager creates the plan of Social mediawhich must be linked to the objectives of the company.

To fully understand what specific tasks a Social Media Manager performs, what key metrics they need to look at, what are the best tools to track their actions, and how you can become your own Social Media Manager, we interviewed , Social Media Content Strategist of Tiendanube. Don’t miss all the secrets he told us!

What does a Social Media Manager do?

The most common functions of a Social Media Manager are:

• Based on the objectives that the company will seek to achieve, clearly and precisely define the social media strategy and the actions to be carried out, providing a professional approach and content.
• Analyze day by day the evolution of the competition and its actions within social networks.
• Listen to the needs expressed by customers on social channels.
• Maintain a fluid relationship with the Community Manager, helping him plan the execution of the actions to be carried out on each social network and encouraging him to generate a conversation with the users who interact with the brand on these channels.
• analyze and interpret the in order to assess whether the brand’s objectives are being achieved and whether the It’s appropriate.
• Prepare a contingency plan in the event of a crisis in the brand’s online reputation and actively collaborate in the execution of this plan.

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What are the differences between a Social Media Manager and a Community Manager?

Although it is very common to confuse these roles, it is important to be clear that the Social Media Manager (SMM) and the Community Manager (CM) are different professionals.

The four main differences between the work of both are:

• The SMM plans and elaborates the content of each actionwhile the CM execute the action and manage social networksthat is, it ensures that the objectives established by the SMM are met.
  For example, the SMM decides on which social networks the brand is going to be present and the CM is in charge of interacting on them or scheduling the publications on said networks.
• The role of the SMM is unidirectional since it only projects the brand or company to the audience on social networks. Instead, the role of the CM is bidirectionalthat is, it implements the actions of the brand before the audience and, at the same time, listens to the audience and communicates to the brand what is said about it
• The SMM takes strategic decisions while the CM takes tactical decisions
• Finally, the SMM encourages the synergy and strategic alliances with other brands or related companieswhile the CM promotes and retains the social media relationships with customers and prospects.

What knowledge does a Social Media Manager need to have to develop their role?

As I mentioned in the previous points, the Social Media Manager plans the communication strategies of a brand, while the Community Manager is in charge of executing the actions.

Therefore, the ideal profile of a Social Media Manager should be the following:

• A person with strategic vision and analytical skills.
• must have a comprehensive knowledge of social networks and you have to always be up to date with the constant changes and updates that are taking place in each one of them.
• A professional with assertive communication, both when planning the brand strategy and when working side by side with the Community Manager.
• You must be a great connoisseur of the brand you work for.

What are the best tools to carry out the task of a Social Media Manager?

When creating the content of a social media strategy, it is very important to advance planning for this strategy to be efficient.

put together a special dates calendar (according to the business category) and prepare a and communicate over a certain period of time, are very valuable resources that allow you to easily organize the strategic content of a brand.
Download your calendar for free with the special dates of this year’s ecommerce!

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Another great ally of a Social Media Manager are the virtual calendars (for instance ), since they allow you to schedule reminders about important dates and specific campaigns that are going to be carried out with the brand or company, such as either .

Also, reporting tools dedicated to processing and analyzing the statistics offered by social networks, they are fundamental when it comes to measuring the performance of the brand’s actions on these channels. , , and even the tool These are some options that can be of great help in the day to day of the Social Media Manager.

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On the other hand, there are more design-oriented tools that allow you to create templates to produce images or videos with a professional finish. , Y are some of the best known.

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This video details some tricks to achieve professional product photographs, which can be used both for the online store and for social networks:

Finally, it is very important to take advantage of the resources that are offered natively in each social networksuch as stickers, gifs, trivia, , highlights or alive. Without a doubt, they are key when it comes to meeting the objectives set!

What are the most important metrics that every Social Media Manager should look at?

The , or Key Performance Indicators, are those parameters that allow the Social Media Manager to measure the actions it is carrying out, to see if it is achieving the communication objectives previously set for the brand.

In general, KPIs can be categorized into three large groups:

👉 Visibility

If the objective of the brand or company is to reach more people, the KPIs that the Social Media Manager should take into account when analyzing the strategies implemented are:

• Reach and Impressions > the scope KPI indicates the number of people who saw a postwhile the impressions KPI indicates the number of times posts were viewed. For the results to have value, it is essential to see what relationship exists between the reach / impressions, the type of publications (story, carousel, video, static image, etc.) and the publication schedule.
  
• Number of followers > the number of followers of a brand’s profile on social networks is a clear indicator of the visibility that it is achieving. It is important to bear in mind that, beyond the number of followers you have, the key lies in their quality, that is, that they are loyal fans of the brand.

👉 Engagement

engagement is the ability of a brand to generate interaction with its public. The more engagement there is, the more engaged the audience is with the brand and, therefore, the more likely the user will end up buying the product or service. In this category, the KPIs to take into account are,

• Number of Likes > by putting a “Like”, the user is publicly demonstrating that he supports the brand. By posting it, your friends may see the post and your visibility will increase.
• Shares or Shared > If the user shares the content of a brand, they are showing that the content interests them and they are positioning it as an expert voice in the sector. In addition, sharing content also indicates the loyalty that the user feels for the brand.
• Comments > that a brand’s audience comments on a publication is very positive since it means that they are interested in generating a dialogue with it.
• Engagement Rate > the engagement rate or interaction rate is an indicator expressed as a percentage that is used to quantify the level of engagement an audience has with a post or a set of posts.
  This indicator is calculated taking into account the number of interactions and actions that a publication receives on social networks (likes, comments, times shared, viewing time), and the number of followers, impressions or the reach of the account. The formula is commonly calculated like this: (Sum of all interactions / Scope) x 100.
  

👉 Lead Generation

Capturing potential customers (leads) is essential to increase the sales of a brand. The KPIs that the Social Media Manager should take into account when creating a user community made up of the brand’s target audience are,

• Number of visits to the website from social networks > It is important to monitor visits to the brand’s website from different social networks. This metric gives the Social Media Manager a guideline on whether the type of content generated is working well.
• Number of captured leads > this KPI is very useful to determine if enough potential customers are being captured that may be interested in buying from the brand.
• Contacts generated by message > Some online businesses can generate leads through private message conversations. It is important to consider the number of private messages the brand receives and whether those messages end up converting into end customers.

If I have an online business, do I need to hire a Social Media Manager or can I do it myself?

Today It is essential that a brand has a presence within social networks and, to achieve good results, it is very important that whoever carries out the strategy has solid knowledge and a lot of dedication.

The key to success is training, as in any profession. The decision to become your own Social Media Manager will depend a lot on the resources and time you have.

If you decide to do it, we recommend that you look at it as a long-term investment for your business and, if not, it is key that you can count on the advice of a professional who will guide you when it comes to achieving your brand’s objectives within social networks.

The decision is up to you!

What did you think of Tatiana’s advice? Are you already thinking how you can implement them in your social media strategy? We read you in the comments!