What exactly should you be looking for in a social media manager? This is a question that you should ask yourself when you’re looking for an effective and efficient social media manager for your business. Indeed, your choice will have a significant impact on your business success since whoever you choose will take charge of the development, implementation, and evaluation of your business’ marketing strategies for social media sites.

Important Skills Every Social Media Manager Must Have

Suffice it to say that in the Internet-driven business world, being a major player in your niche on social media sites is instrumental, if not crucial, to your overall success.

But before we can proceed to the 13 traits and skills of a good social media manager, let’s take a brief look at the job’s daily responsibility. In general, the tasks include the following:

• Create and update social media profiles
• Post content on blogs and pages on social media sites
• Manage regular posts including making appropriate responses to followers/friends
• Develop and implement a marketing strategy to create a positive brand image, generate inbound leads, and gain followers, among others

Indeed, it’s a long list of roles and responsibilities that emphasize both the importance of a social media manager to your business success and the decision to choose a good one.

1. Project Management Skills

In a small business, the social media manager has to think of every site as a separate project with distinct goals that align with the overall social media plan. This demands serious project management skills including the ability to juggle several tasks, even manage several people, and to plan ahead. Such skills are necessary whether a social media manager is a one-man team or manages an actual team.

2. Deep SEO Knowledge

A good social media manager knows that SEO and social media strategy are closely interrelated and, as such, knows that SEO optimization should be aligned with the overall social media plan. Both distinct areas present golden opportunities for bringing in audiences, particularly followers, friends and partners, and building meaningful relationships with them.

Keep in mind, too, that content is king in SEO and, thus, a social media manager should be an effective creator and promoter of content as it related to SEO. When you’re interviewing applicants, you should then ask relevant questions that will assess the applicant’s SEO knowledge in these areas.

A few examples include:

• How are you going to promote content on social media?
• How are you planning on increasing page ranking, among other SEO-related objectives?
• How do you plan on driving traffic and generating leads?

3. Social Media Expertise

Of course, a social media manager should actually have good to excellent social media skills! These include the best type of content for every platform, the methods for content optimization, and the ways of engaging the audience including getting them to do the desired actions. Keep in mind that you’re looking for somebody with actual expertise, not just a person who browses social media sites as a recreation, even if it’s for hours on end.

4. Customer Service Expertise

A social media manager has to possess excellent customer service skills and it’s a non-negotiable skill, too. This is because customer service isn’t just about addressing customer complaints and concerns – it’s also about building meaningful relationships with your audience. Think about it: If your social media manager regularly posts for-sale products and services on your pages but fails to address comments, messages, and direct inquiries, then he isn’t doing any good for your business.

5. Masters of Social Media Management Tools

No social media manager worth his salt will admit that he isn’t updated on the latest and best social media management tools! Indeed, the best of them have mastered these tools and, as such, used them to the utmost benefit of the companies they work for. Many, if not most, of them, have even undergone formal training in the use of these tools so you should ask applicants about it.

6. Copywriting Skills

Since content is king on social media, the best social media manager also has excellent copywriting skills. These are essential to success because audiences want compelling images and words that will encourage them to take the desired action, whether it’s subscribing to a newsletter or buying products.

There’s also the fact that a social media manager has to communicate with customers and/or followers on a daily basis with about 99% of it done in writing. Your social media manager should then have excellent written and verbal communication skills, especially as he serves as the voice – and in many cases, even among the recognizable faces – of your business.   

7. Visual Intelligence

Pictures speak a thousand words – an adage that applies even more so in our Instagram-obsessed world. While the written text is crucial, we have to admit that visual content, from photos to graphics, memes, and emojis, is just as crucial in social media success. A good social media manager must then have excellent visual intelligence, the ability to judge what images will work, when and where to post it, and what words will go best with them.

8. Sociability as a Trait

You should look for a social media manager who actually and thoroughly enjoys being on social media, especially in interacting with others. The best one not only knows the ins and outs of every platform but, more importantly, also know the specific dialect, so to speak, unique in each platform. Furthermore, your social media manager should be a people person, one who actually loves human interactions (e.g., extrovert).

If he has an engaging personality that shines through the content, then all the better for your business! Your interviews should determine his personality including his views fit in well with your company’s culture; it doesn’t have to be a 100% fit.

Obviously, the best social media manager for your business has a basic understanding of its place in the world – well, at least, initially – a sign that he’s been doing his research. When he’s been with your business for a while, he should obviously identify with its vision, mission, and goals because it really shows through in the content.

Also, check out these 7 Biggest Social Media Trends to Watch In 2020