There are two job titles floating around the business world: social media manager and community manager. While they bear similarities, a community manager is the public face of brands, interacting with a community and generating buzz for their companies. A social media manager is a strategist and communicator, with the ability to measure and analyze effectiveness. Large companies will have both an SM and CM, while startups and small businesses are lucky to be able to fulfill even one of those positions.
Many small business owners have adopted a “do-it-myself†mentality when it comes to social media. This just leads to greater burn out. The reality is that you need someone on your team –be it a social media manager, a community manager, or a combination of the two–who represents your company on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Google, etc., and who is responsible for responding to comments/questions.
Below are just a few reasons why your business needs team member handling social media:
Act As Voice of the Brand. You want to have someone who is charged with managing your brand’s social media accounts in order to generate traffic and conversations. They’re the voice of the brand and act as the brand, not as their own persona. Also, this is the person who would work to create or add to the community, by generating leads and sales.
Create and Manage Accounts. This includes developing and posting content, such as Facebook updates, Twitter messages, and Instagram photos. Also, this is about following and interacting with other social media accounts, especially “influencers” and “thought leaders” in your field.
Share Video Content. If you have YouTube, a social media manager would post videos, respond to comments, and interact with other YouTube accounts, including commenting on their content and adding their videos to your company account’s playlists.
Increase SEO. In the social media training process, a strong manager will understand what it takes to boost SEO and improve your search rank. They will be able to create unique content and be able to navigate through search engines and other social media platforms that will help your company’s productivity.
Build Campaigns. This person also should be able to develop campaigns and strategies from the ground up and to see through the company’s social media endeavors. He or she should have the proper social media training to monitor campaigns in order to see what is working or what is not working and strive to improve the company’s online presence.
Focus On Automation. You want someone on board with social media training who is well-versed in different management tools and strategies (apps and content automation tools) to maintain a strong online presence for your company.
Monitor Trends. You also want someone who can stay ahead of the game by focusing on social media trends and researching best practices. This person should be able to implement new techniques for boosting your company’s online reputation and progress.
Manage Company Reputation. In the social media world, this means monitoring location listings like Google+ Local as well as tracking and responding to mentions of your company’s name and relevant keywords and reviews on sites like Yelp and Foursquare that get pushed to Twitter. A social media manger would respond to reviews as needed.