Can I get a like? Just one more follower, please? Pretty please? These are the secret thoughts of a social media manager. Many would have it that we, who handle a company’s social media, merely get to play around on Facebook all day and secretly just look at cat memes. Contrary to popular belief being a social media manager is not just making a simple post or tweet. Followers, likes, ads, campaigns, interactions, negative feedback, disputes, complaints, new trends and the list of tasks goes on. Social media is now the frontline of marketing for all major brands and companies. A social media manager is one part marketer, one part spokesman, and one part customer service.
In my experience, being a social media manager for a news startup was not necessarily a walk in the park, especially since we sell news produced by independent journalists to major news outlets, meaning we do not sell a product By Paul Gadalla @paulinbeirut paul@cloud961.com The Struggles of a Social Media Manager open to the public. A social media manager has to find out who their target audience are and then figure out the proper tools to reach them. Should I use Youtube? Maybe Pinterest? Would that interest journalists? Ultimately after much trial and research I put the most effort in LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter as journalists use these the most to network and kept a Tumblr to display visuals.
Many people treat social media now like a get-rich scheme and the ultimate marketing solution, which is a huge misconception. Often social media managers face the problem of the huge expectations that their posts will immediately gain the company notoriety and millions of likes and follows. As it was my case what social media managers should do-is hold something similar to a workshop on social media to inform their teams of proven methods that work and that can be used for their company so people understand that a Facebook post might not solve their dilemna. At the end of the day, its good content that gets your company sales.
Cleanup control:
More and more complaints are now thrown up online. Social media being the frontline for marketing means a social media manager has to be always connected. Yes , I’ve actually pulled out my iPhone during a dinner to fix a broken link on twitter, and replied to Facebook comments while on the beach. A social media manager is the first to reply at all times and must do damage control as quickly as possible since brand pages are on display to everyone.
So next time you see your friend who handles social media, make sure to give him a pat on the back.
