Social Media Manager: What They Do, Which Skills They Need and Whether Your Business Needs One
A social media manager is a specialist responsible for a brand’s presence on social networks: strategy, content, community and analytics. We explain what they do, which skills they need and when a business should hire one or look for an agency.
SMM (social media marketing) means promoting a business through social networks, and a social media manager is the specialist responsible for a brand’s presence there: from strategy and content to talking with the audience and analytics. This is not “a person who posts photos” but a role that combines marketing, communication and work with data. One thing matters: a social media manager and a media buyer are not the same. The first builds the brand’s organic presence, the second launches and optimizes paid ads.
What is SMM in simple terms
SMM is a set of actions that help a brand be visible, understandable and useful on social networks: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, LinkedIn, Telegram, YouTube. The goal is not likes but what they give the business: trust, recognition, inquiries and sales. SMM works over a long distance: results build up gradually instead of appearing within a week. We wrote about how social networks bring real clients in the article “SMM for business”.
What a social media manager does
The scope of tasks depends on the company, but it usually includes these areas:
- Strategy. Defines goals, audience, platforms, tone of voice and content series. We describe how it is built in our content strategy service.
- Content plan. Plans publications for a week or a month: topics, formats, dates, owners.
- Content creation. Writes copy, shoots or edits video, prepares visuals or briefs a designer and a videographer.
- Publishing. Posts at the best time and formats posts, stories and Reels.
- Community. Answers comments and messages, moderates discussions and handles negative feedback.
- Analytics. Tracks reach, engagement, website visits and leads, and adjusts the plan based on them.
- Work with ads. Aligns organic content with paid campaigns.
Which skills a social media manager needs
- Understanding of the audience and niche. Without it the content will look nice but be useful to no one.
- Copywriting. The ability to explain a benefit briefly and clearly without turning every post into an ad.
- Visual thinking. A basic grasp of design and video: composition, fonts, editing, the Reels format. For short videos on TikTok and Instagram we have a separate Reels and TikTok service.
- Analytics. The ability to read statistics and draw conclusions about what works and what does not.
- Platform knowledge. Algorithms, formats and limits change in every network, so constant learning is required.
- Communication and composure. Dealing with comments, complaints and crisis situations takes calm and empathy.
- Basic understanding of advertising. To brief the media buyer clearly and judge the result.
Social media manager, media buyer and agency: what is the difference
These roles are often confused, but they solve different tasks:
| Role | What they do | When you need them |
|---|---|---|
| Social media manager | Runs profiles, creates content, talks to the audience | You need a constant brand presence |
| Media buyer | Sets up and optimizes paid ads | You need fast leads or a test of offers |
| Agency | Strategy, content, design, video and ads in one team | You need the full set of skills without hiring several people |
If you specifically need paid ads on Facebook and Instagram, see our Meta Ads service, and for regular profile management, Instagram management.
Does your business need a social media manager
You do, if:
- customers look for you or compare you with competitors on social networks;
- your product is visual or emotional: clothing, food, beauty, travel, decor;
- you want to build a community and trust, not just collect one-off leads;
- you need a regular flow of content that you do not have the time to produce.
It is not always worth starting with SMM. If your customers decide after searching on Google and your website is not ready to receive leads yet, it is better to solve those questions first. How to split the budget between channels is covered in the article “PPC vs SEO”.
In-house manager, freelancer or agency
- In-house social media manager. Immersed in your business and always available, but one person rarely combines copywriting, design, video and analytics at a high level.
- Freelancer. A flexible format for a small amount of work, but the result depends on one person and a replacement is harder to find.
- Agency or studio. A team with different roles, processes and reporting, but you need to set the brief clearly and agree on metrics.
The choice depends on the volume of tasks, the budget and how important social networks are for your sales.
How to start working in social networks
- Define the goal. Awareness, leads or community, plus one or two metrics you will judge the result by.
- Choose platforms. Only those where your audience is: you do not have to be everywhere at once.
- Describe tone and content series. Style, topics, formats and what you will definitely not talk about.
- Build a content plan for a month. It removes the daily “what to write about today”.
- Set up tracking of website visits. UTM tags show which posts bring visitors and leads.
- Review the result once a month. Keep what works and change what does not.
