What A Social Media Manager Actually Does

I was at a networking meeting last week and someone asked me, "so exactly what is it that you do?".  Now keep in mind, this individual and I have been going to this weekly meeting for over a year.  As you can imagine, this was alarming to me.  Marketing 101: Make sure everyone you come in contact with knows exactly what you do or what your product is immediately.  Somehow, I failed to do this.  "Social Media Management" is crystal clear in my head, but not to this particular colleague. My initial thought was, "How? How could this be?" Then I transitioned to feeling thankful that he asked me that so that I was aware of the problem.  If he had that question, several others must have the same question.  I need to dig deeper and explain what a social media manager or management company actually does for a small to medium sized business. Here at Market With Mario, we manage Facebook, Google Plus, Twitter, Pinterest, and YouTube. Here's what "manage" means:



1. Post Daily: We post content daily (Monday-Saturday) to all of the platforms above, excluding YouTube which we create one video per month for. The content varies from a helpful tip, a picture of staff, services or products, an engaging question or posting about a current event.  The key is to make sure the content is appropriate and formatted for each platform. For instance, Twitter constricts posts to140 characters and hashtags (#) are welcomed and encouraged.  Facebook, on the other hand, allows you to have more characters and most posts do not include hashtags.  It's also important to send posts out at the optimum time for each social media platform.

2. Format/edit pictures: One of the duties of managing social media campaigns is editing pictures to make them look great on the different profiles.  It's been my experience that pictures taken horizontally on a smartphone camera perform and look best on platforms like Facebook, Google Plus and Twitter.  I recommend vertical pictures for Pinterest. Also editing the size of pictures is important. I use a great (free) tool called PicMonkey to edit mine for our clients.  Here is a guideline for the correct dimensions for each kind of picture for each platform: How To Size Picture Cheat Sheet


3. Reply to Comments: So someone is scrolling through their newsfeed and actually takes the time to stop and comment on one of our posts..."YES!!!" Now what? Comment back, that's what! One of our duties when managing accounts is monitoring and replying to comments for our clients.  This keeps the conversation going and shows that you care.  If you never replied back it would discourage the follower from commenting again.


4. Follow Other Pages: I believe in the Golden Rule when it comes to social media: If you want likes,  like other pages. If you want followers, follow other pages.  If you want people to join your circles (Google Plus terminology) join theirs. One thing that we do for all of our clients is follow and like other pages and accounts of relevance to their business page.  Instead of just broadcasting status updates, we are out and about in the community and sharing the love, being "social" and being active.  Generally, the etiquette is, if someone likes you or follows you, you follow them back, so this strategy will yield more fans.



5. Listen/Engage: Last, but certainly not least, we listen to conversations and engage. What does that mean?  Here's an example.  We managed an appliance repair company in the Frisco/Little Elm area in Texas that also sells whole house surge protectors. One search phrase that we constantly looked for was "dishwasher" in a 10 mile radius of Frisco,Tx. We come across gold like this all of time:

This was an actual tweet. Someone was actually having an appliance problem in real time that was nearby for our client! We simply replied letting them know we can help.  It doesn't get much better than that for a local business, and we do this for all of our clients.


So now, when someone asks me what we do, I'll just direct them to this post because now I know that "manage social media campaigns for businesses" does not tell the entire story ;)

I hope these tips and strategies help you with your social media efforts.  If you're thinking, "when would I have time to do all of this???", check out our social media package and we will do it for you:

Click here:  social media management package

Thanks for taking time out of your busy day to read this. Please share with anyone you think it might help.

What to look for when hiring a social media manager

Starting a business is not the easiest thing in the world.  Neither is running one!  There are so many responsibilities for small business owners that we often wear many hats. From hiring to accounting, networking, marketing, payroll, and oh yeah....performing our actual service!  There is so much to do.  Then someone comes along and mentions social media...Another task to add to the to-do list.  Most small business owners that I run into already know the value and impact on social media, they just don't have the time to add it to their plate.  Well, let me rephrase that: They don't have the time to do it consistently to have it actually work for them.  Trusting an intern with our brand that can reach thousands of people is a scary thought, so more and more businesses are hiring social media managers or firms to handle their accounts. So...how does an owner choose the right social media manager for their business? Here are a few things to look for:


1. How do their pages look?  I am a big fan of people that "eat their own cooking". Ex: A refrigerator repairman that has a perfectly running refrigerator.  When looking to outsource social media, an owner must look at pages the potential company manages.  Do they post often? Do people engage with their posts? Do YOU like their posts? Are they strong selling you?  One thing I wouldn't pay attention to is the number of "likes" and followers.  That can be misleading as that can be a lot of fluff and fake accounts.  Content is what's important.



2. How Often Will They Post To Your Accounts?  Believe it or not, I've heard of some social media firms only posting to their client's accounts a couple of times per week.  This will not get the traction needed to be successful online.  Daily posting (at least Monday through Friday) is necessary on all platforms to really get the exposure necessary to attract business.



3. Do they interact with other pages or just post?  This one is huge.  Brands that just grab a megaphone and only post will soon get tuned out.  It's social media so we need to be "social".  I always make sure to log into the accounts that I manage and like other comments, follow other brands, comment on other's posts and be active to make the brand come alive online.  Be sure that is part of their plan when hiring a social media manager.



4. What will they post? This is probably the scariest notion for a business owner.  Someone besides them will actually be posting to their accounts.  An in-person meeting is recommended so that the owner can share their vision, passion and voice with the social media manager.  The owner should provide some content and pictures to the manager, but the social media firm should be able to create content based on the business' website and researching what their customer's like (see my post on Graph Search).  I also will share a Google Doc with my client so we can share ideas and content quickly and easily without having to go back and forth through email.



5. What are the goals and expectations? This conversation is crucial.  If sales, leads and business is expected up front, social media is not right for that business.  Building relationships takes time.  Online relationships are no different.  When hiring a social media manager, be sure to discuss clear goals and expectations so everyone is on the same page.  To me, social media is all about building brand awareness and trust.  Once that relationship is built and cultivated, the sales and revenue will flow in. Not overnight, but if done correctly and consistently, social media can a very powerful tool for a small, local business.


As a social media manager myself, I am constantly looking for ways to improve my service so that my clients can benefit.  If I left anything off that you would like to add, please do not be shy.  Any questions are welcome as well as I can talk about social media for day!  Thanks for stopping by!