Social Media Managers: Key tasks and responsibilities explained.

What does a Social Media Manager do?

In today’s world, where digital interaction often comes first, social media managers have to be the driving force behind a brand’s online presence. We’re in an era now where social media campaigns can single-handedly send a product into virality, just based purely on the digital moves a brand makes. Ultimately, social media managers are just there to post new content. Instead, they create valuable strategies, build online communities, sell lifestyles and ensure that brand socials are contributing to wider business goals. But what does the role really involve on a day-to-day basis? Let’s break that down.

Social Media Strategy Development

It’s quite a common misconception that posting on socials is ‘quick and easy.’ Quite simply, when a client or manager asks a social media manager to do “a quick post”, it send brains into spiral and undermines the time and effort that goes into a carefully crafted social strategy. Before every single post goes live, a social media manager should carefully consider and ask themselves a few key questions:

Blind posting or posting random ad-hoc images might have worked well for businesses in the past, but socials have changed now and are far more sophisticated. Social Media Managers have it on their shoulders to ensure that a brands social channels effectively represent their brand. Ultimately, this starts at the very beginning with the creation of a social media strategy. This strategy should form the roadmap for your socials, considering all elements of your business, followers and brand voice. When creating a social media strategy, the social media manager should consider:

The audience: Who is your audience and what are they looking for? The important thing here is that you need to look at the real audience you have on your platforms. Many businesses might think they know who their target audiences are, but it’s important to consider that the real figures might look a little different. Make sure you consider that your audiences might vary depending on the platform too!

Your channels: It’s important to consider that different social media platforms have different cohorts using them – e.g. someone using TikTok might not be a Facebook user, and so on!
Plus, you need to also consider that different channels value different types of content. For example, a short 30-second video might perform better on TikTok compared to X. Make sure you think about the different media types you will want to be posting.

Goal setting: A SMM should really be thinking about what they’re needing to see from socials, and setting goals is an essential way to check this. When you set goals, they should effectively compliment the business goals and be there to ensure that social media impact can be effectively tracked. Some in-house marketers might be well aware that the hard-working efforts of the marketing team can sometimes be stolen by the figures the sales team draw in. With that in mind, a SMM should have Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) in place to track against. A good KPI should follow the SMART framework:

Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-bound.

The steps required: A SMMs strategy should outline all of the key campaign periods and the goals in which each campaign aims to achieve. Ultimately, it should be a clear roadmap which outlines how the brand can reach it’s targets and boost brand trust and image. Of course, there should be some space for a brand to remain reactive. This will ensure that there is scope for brands to get involved in trends, and allow space for any last-minute aims that need to be considered. You can’t plan for absolutely everything – but having a basic structure in place will help the team remain somewhat available for any of the additional bits you must consider.

The strategy should also include all elements of your brand tone of voice to ensure that the marketing team are all working to the same standard and can appropriately encompass the brand’s voice.

Content Creation and Campaign Planning.

So, once a strategy is set, getting the content is naturally the next step. Social Media Managers may do this in a number of ways – some brands may opt to sort it in-house, whilst others may outsource this – or do a combination of the two. A SSM ensures that content is engaging, on-brand and perfectly timed. Whilst there may be marketers who are under the SMM, and the SMM might still be responsible for sign-off.

For many brands, content creation is not a solo-sport, and instead, they draw a lot on collaboration. The social media manager may liaise with graphic designers for visuals, copy writers for captions, and videographers for reels. These parties might be in-house, but equally, they may be external. The SMM basically acts as the glue that holds this all together and ensures that everyone is working to a mutual goal, and if ultimately on-brand.

Community Management

So many brands now are looking beyond their socials as a communication tool, and instead are using it as a community management tool, aiming to build their own network of dedicated followers who have one thing in common – the brand.

To effectively manage this, SMMs will be responsible for replying to comments, answering direct messages and acknowledging any feedback they get. Customers and followers often appreciate the simple things, so giving a quick but thoughtful response to a customer’s query can make the difference between a one-off buyer and a loyal advocate.

To further strengthen the element of community, and boost brand reach, reposting is something a SMM might consider if it aligns with your business. By reposting, it is viewed by followers that the brand values their opinion and for some, it’s a nice pat on the back to see someone else share their story. In time, a brand might find that more users or followers share and tag them in content, which is a valuable tool for brands as it increases reach and shows advocacy from it’s followers.

Analytics and Tracking

Analytics is one of the most important parts of an SMM’s role, as this is where they can evidence the impact of their efforts and use the findings to guide future plans. Every business will tackle reporting in their own way, but often, SMMs might be involved in the sales meetings to outline if the results seen on social media are reflected in actual sales or enquiries.

In their reporting, SMMs should be comparing results to their KPIs to check if they are on track and if their current approach is working as expected. By continuously monitoring results, SMMs can remain somewhat reactive and make adjustments to their strategy in real time. This will mean that they maximise results wherever possible.

To a SMM, the metrics should be incredibly important as these tell them exactly what their efforts have resulted in. The key metrics that they might look at include:

• Reach and Impressions: How many people saw the content?
• Engagement: Likes, shares, comments.
• Click-through Rate (CTR): How many people out of 100 are taking action.
• Conversions: How many leads, purchases or sign-ups are a direct result of social media.

To get the clearest view of the results, an SMM might look at a number of sources to pull their data together. This could be the likes of Instagram Analytics or LinkedIn Analytics, or a third-party social analytics tool. To layer on top of this, they may refer to tools like Google Analytics, where they can track website behaviour, and ascertain which traffic has come from socials.

By analysing data, managers can identify what is working and what isn’t, and this can ultimately set them up for success going forward. Results aren’t just something to be read, and instead, SMMs should be taking the time to understand the data. It is also important that they consider things beyond the standard ‘vanity metrics’. These are metrics which might look amazing on paper, but they aren’t as strongly aligned with your brand’s aims as they should be, or they’re not actually resulting in active conversions.

Paid Social Media Management.

Some SMMs might also need to look at their paid social media efforts. This often depends on the size of the company as some businesses might have their own PPC manager or someone who is solely dedicated to the management of paid social media channels. The paid social media efforts and organic efforts can go hand-in-hand, as they should be focusing on some of the same elements. For example, some of your organic messages should reflect what you’re focusing on in paid social efforts.

If the SMM is to be responsible for paid social media, their key responsibilities might include:

• Setting budgets and allocating spending effectively.
• Defining target audiences by demographics, behaviours or lookalike audiences.
• A/B testing of varying ad creatives.
• Monitoring results in real time and adjusting campaigns as needed.

SMMs should also have the necessary tracking in place to ensure that all paid social media conversions, enquiries or leads can be tracked. This will mean that they can then accurately calculate the ROI of their paid social media spend.

Challenges in the Role of a Social Media Manager.

Being a social media manager can be so fun and rewarding, but it certainly still comes with its challenges. Some common ones include:

The Skills Every Social Media Manager Needs

To juggle all these moving parts successfully, a social media manager needs to wear a lot of hats. It’s not just about being creative (though that certainly helps). The role demands a combination of analytical thinking, organisation, adaptability, and people skills. Let’s take a look at some of the top traits that make a brilliant SMM.

Why Are Social Media Managers Important?

For some, social media can still be seen as a “nice-to-have” rather than a core business function. But the truth is that social media sits right at the heart of modern marketing. It’s the place where brands build relationships, share stories and earn loyalty.

A skilled SMM is part strategist, part creator, part analyst and part customer service expert. They ensure that the brand’s personality shines through every post, that content ties into the bigger picture, and that followers feel like part of something bigger. In short, they’re often the reason people fall in love with a brand in the first place.

Final Thoughts

The role of a social media manager is as exciting as it is demanding. It’s not just about scheduling posts or replying to comments. It’s about shaping how the world perceives a brand. As the digital space continues to evolve, so too will the role, demanding new skills, new perspectives and even more creativity.

So next time someone says, “Can you just pop up a quick post?”, you’ll know there’s so much more behind that click of the ‘Share’ button.