Social media has changed from an informal networking site into the bedrock of business strategies. It offers access to the audience an industry could otherwise never get; ways to engage them, build trust, and ultimately boost sales. Of course, managing these platforms takes wizardry in expertise, strategy, and time - that's where the social media manager comes in.
In this blog, all aspects regarding the social media manager's duties, charges, advantages, and tips on hiring one will be discussed.
Who Is a social media manager?
A social media manager is a professional who is in charge of creating and taking care of the online presence of the brand across social media platforms. This means he/she is responsible for curating content, creating different strategies, and engaging with audiences around the actualisation of business objectives.
They are the only point of contact for the brand and its online communities concerning all communications, ensuring that the voice value matches the organisation's goal. No wonder they are so relevant today in a world run mainly by digital means.
Social media managers don't create content. They create value-added content with a roadmap of campaigns as well as initiatives that have measurable outcome goals. For example, while a casual user will post whatever at any time or in any context as pure personal expression, a social media manager will analyse every outcome-oriented post and may deploy such things as brand visibility or lead generation. Such a person is good for matching creative content views with the overall view business strategy.
Being a social media manager often requires wearing different hats such as content creator, analyst, strategist, customer service representative, and sometimes graphic designer simply because all tasks could be done under a seamless roof without having to find other avenues for completing them.
Roles of a social media manager
- Social media planning: Developing an effective strategy is the primary job of a social media manager. After conducting market research, and understanding the audiences, their demographics, behaviours, and preferences in content, it then defines a plan on the types of content needed, the occasions for posting, and key performance indicators (KPIs) to measure success.
- Content creation and scheduling: The entire process involves completely being an artist and the last part will be that of a scientist. Explaining everything using tools like graphic design or multimedia software former can be Canva, while the latter is Adobe Suite. An aspect of a social media manager is editorial calendars to implement timely and relevant content. A catchy Instagram reel and, an enlightening but short yet sweet LinkedIn article, would add value to the audience.
- Community engagement: Engagement goes beyond likes or responses to comments. Creating an engaging discussion forum through chat, live Q&A sessions, and sharing user-generated content develops your audience's trust and provides an emotional connection to the brand.
- Performance tracking and analytics: The performance reports are prepared with the help of relevant analytical tools such as Google Analytics, Sprout Social, or native platform insights-based metrics including reach, impressions, and conversion rates. The same information will be helpful for campaigns in the future, thus will have to ensure improvement and alignment with business goals.
- Management of paid advertising campaigns: Social media managers include all such advertisements in their paid promotion list- Facebook, Instagram etc., to understand the audience on which they impose, allow budgetary expenditures, and optimise the campaign to have the highest return on investment (ROI). Advertising, however, requires an elaborate understanding of the proprietary individual patterns that draw on the algorithms in these sites.
- Crisis management: When the media spreads negative publicity and critics tend to criticise things online, social media managers act quickly to contain the damage in the public opinion arena. Generally, measures carried out include effective communication, empathy, and proactive measures.
- Interdepartmental collaboration: In this way, they can conduct campaigns with a marketing department, address customer service queries, and product teams to create a consistent impression across all channels.
How much does a social media manager cost?
- In-House Salaries: Hiring a social media manager as part of your internal team can range from £20,000 for entry-level positions to £70,000 for senior roles, depending on the complexity of the tasks and the size of the company.
- Freelancers: Freelance social media managers offer flexibility and are ideal for businesses with specific, short-term needs. Their hourly rates usually range between £25 and £75. Monthly retainers for ongoing services can cost between £500 and £2,000.
- Agencies: Social media agencies are more expensive but provide comprehensive services, including strategy development, content creation, and analytics. Costs range from £1,000 to upwards of £20,000 per month, depending on the scope and scale of the project.
- Hidden Costs: Additional expenses, such as premium social media tools, advertising budgets, and professional-grade content creation, may also factor into the overall cost. Investing in these resources often enhances the effectiveness of a social media strategy.
- Offshoring: Social media management can offer significant cost savings while maintaining access to skilled professionals. Rates vary by region, in countries like India or the Philippines, hourly rates for social media managers often range from £10 to £30, with monthly packages starting at £300 to £1,000. Hire a social media manager remotely to save money.
Benefits of hiring a social media manager
1. Strategy and execution proficient
Social media managers are experts with really good knowledge about the entire platform, and its working in terms of algorithms and behaviour of audience. The content being posted on the social media platform is not enough; they strategise according to what the business is expecting.
For example, they can decide with you if that visually appealing content on Instagram or the vast opportunities of professional networking on LinkedIn are better for you, or whether those bouncy trending challenges on TikTok motivate your objectives.
Then they survey the audience's preferences to come up with the ideal posting time, building a content calendar that keeps your brand moving and consistent. This ensures that each of the campaigns, organic or paid, wouldn't be off with great marketing goals and measurable outcomes.
They also bring very good creativity to design campaigns that stand out in this crowd of digital noise. With such carefully executed tactics, a social media manager guarantees that your business doesn't merely have a place on platforms, but that it's thriving with noteworthy ROI. It works out really for an idea, a thought, or a product as per the targeting execution approach.
2. The brand maintains a steady presence
In branding, consistency is what matters, and the social media manager ensures the voice and visuals of the brand remain the same across various platforms. This also translates into building trust and recognisability to the audience.
All the content- be it an Instagram story, a post on LinkedIn, or a Facebook advertisement- is aligned with the tone, style, and values of the brand. By being organised to post continuously, regular updates keep going on for long periods without any activity, which causes a loss of audience interest.
The text also ensures that messages are cross-culturally and demographically resonant, aligning writing with the audience segment while keeping the core identity intact. Posting aside, they also monitor and love interactions keeping the beckon in your brand alive and dynamic. This brings the familiarity and trust that customers will recall and associate, with time, the same to your brand.
3. The engagement and community building
Developing a thriving online community is much more than simply posting content-it's all about meaningful engagement. A social media manager engages directly with your audience by responding to comments, direct messages, and reviews as quickly and professionally as possible. All this personal touch will make the customer feel valued and make him or her come back for more.
They also create opportunities for audience participation through polls, contests, and interactive content, deeper engagement within the audience. Depending on these relationships, social media managers contribute to transforming casual followers into brand advocates who speak about your business actively.
They also collaborate with influencers or community leaders in order to amplify your reach and credibility. Their engagement and community building will create that emotional tie between your audience and themselves, changing your social media platforms into busy spaces, where not only your customers meet the brand but also each other.
4. Data-driven insights
Expertise in analytics and data to continuously tweak campaigns is something a social media manager possesses. They would examine their metrics- reach, impressions, engagements, and conversions, to mention as they measure what works and what doesn't. Maybe one kind of post receives much higher engagement consistently, so this will determine how future posts work with it.
They also check out how a campaign does in real time so that adjustments can be made to enhance results and reduce waste. Thus, every social media strategy is in line with what you want to achieve, whether it is traffic to the website, leads, or brand awareness.
Also, this involves preparation of the report by the social media manager providing you with how your campaigns have returned an investment. These insights would mean basing every decision on data so that every effort goes to building that business. Their analytical capability keeps your social media presence updated with any changes in customer preferences besides that in the industry.
5. Time and resource efficiency
Proper administration of virtually every effective source of social media is time-bound; it requires a lot of research and creation of different content, complemented by lots of postings and interactions with followers.
Well, hiring a social media manager means you are pushing that energy-intensive burden on such expert hands, leaving you time to attend to core business responsibilities. For example, a small startup now has more time to focus on developing products and attending to customer feedback while its big parent notches down the strategic initiative focus of its teams. A social manager would also take away trial-and-error learning. Because of having practised the necessary skills, social managers are capable of implementing strategies right away through trial and error.
It would save you from the costs of mistakes or missteps. Besides, such a person takes care of those platform-specific tools and scheduling, ensuring that all processes are streamlined, and optimised.
With a social media manager, your resources will be put to use in so far as human and financial aspects are concerned, so that you shall be allowed peace of mind as to whether or not your social media presence is safely in expert hands.
Learn more about working remotely in our blog- “What is remote working”
6. Right communication
A social media manager will take away trial-and-error learning too. Because of having practised the necessary skills, social managers will be able to implement strategies right away through trial and error. It would save you from the costs of mistakes or missteps. Besides, such a person takes care of those platform-specific tools and scheduling, ensuring that all processes are streamlined, and optimised.
Hence, a social media manager will ensure that the resources, as well as finances, act in the right direction so that you can have total peace of mind, that too without any worry regarding whether or not your social media presence is safely in expert hands.
7. Accessing industry tools and trends
Social media managers are equipped with professional tools and stay updated on cutting-edge industry trends to give your business a competitive advantage. For example, social media managers will use Hootsuite, Buffer, or Sprout Social to schedule or manage posting to multiple platforms.
They will also have their analytic tools that help understand how well the company is doing and design tools like Canva and Adobe Creative Suite that ensure that your visuals are rich and professional. The most important thing here is to stay ahead of the trend, as social media continues to change, with algorithms and features and audience behaviour changing almost every day.
Knowing when to roll out the use of the new feature or trend such as Instagram Reels or TikTok ads can be the biggest difference in visibility and engagement. A social media manager would ensure you not only keep pace with all these advances but, better, use them to keep ahead of the curve. A good manager will keep all the tools and understand the trends, thereby ensuring that your social media presence stays fresh and productive.
8. Personalised content creation
High-quality content is that which defines a successful social media strategy. Whether it be writing an effective caption, designing an eye-popping graphic, or organising short videos, a social media manager prepares content for the audience.
It all revolves around the brand's voice and understanding what type of content does well on each of the various platforms-for instance, educational content on LinkedIn, aesthetic images on Instagram, or fun, relatable videos on TikTok. Not just a social media manager but hire a copywriter and graphic designer for impeccable content.
They understand trending topics, hashtags, and formats. They are indeed very aesthetic, but they also know how to plan strategically content so that the consumer will be pulled through an entire buyer journey from awareness to conversion using that well-timed data to analyse it.
Thoughtfulness like this completely customised approach ensures that content is in subjects that will catch the eye, as well as be effective, whether raising engagement levels, driving website traffic, or selling more products or services.
How to hire a social media manager
1. State your requirements
- Duties and responsibilities: Clearly mention the key responsibilities of a Social Media Manager, which involves content writing, strategy development, maintaining various platforms (say Instagram, Facebook, and LinkedIn) and analytics reporting.
- Skills: Outline the prerequisite skills for the job (social media marketing, copywriting, graphic designing, SEO, and specific software for analytics) and knowledge on additional job experience, like working in particular industries, or using Hootsuite or Canva.
- Cultural fit: Think about the kind of culture you want your team to fit into when working across borders.
2. Select an EoR service provider
- Searching for EoR services: An Employer of Records lets you keep employees abroad without the requirement of a legal entity set up in their country. Research reputable EoR providers that have experience in the regions you intend to target.
- Confirm legal compliance: Ensure the EoR provider is up to par with local labour laws and tax regulations and has the capacity to handle employment contracts, payroll, and other benefits administration at your preferred offshoring destination.
- Budgeting: Evaluate some costs; EoR usually charges a fee for each employee, which may vary by country and service offerings. Ensure that the fee is consistent with your hiring budget.
Use our employee cost calculator and see how much you can save when you hire as your EoR.
3. Choose an offshoring location
- Time zones: Choose an offshoring destination where time zones fit into what your business does. The successful structure is where countries like the Philippines, India, and other Eastern European nations have considerable time overlap with teams based in the UK.
- Language proficiency: Assess whether the candidate's proficiency in the required languages would meet your needs, particularly writing, interaction, or customer engagement.
- Talent pool: Network and research countries with a great number of social media experts with rich experience in remote work but affordable rates.
4. Draft and post job advertisement
Crafting a detailed job ad: Offers a clear job description for the position, expectations, required qualifications, memberships in other relevant social media platforms or tools, etc. Specify whether the role will be remote or hybrid.
5. Shortlisting and interviewing candidates
- Initial screening: When you finish your application process, you are to reel in the numbers for screening against experience, skills, and cultural fit. Look out for someone's familiarity with global social media trends and tools.
- Interview process: Conduct a virtual interview on video to gauge communication and listen more about their experience. Ask for some of their engagement-boosting and crisis-management strategies on social media, including the metrics they've used to measure their success.
- Practical test: A real-life task for a real campaign would be ideal for testing creative thinking, strategic planning, and technical know-how.
6. Terms and contract negotiation
- Forecast salary: Create a range of salaries according to the local market for social media professionals in the target country. Your EoR provider would have insights about standard salary bands.
- Perks and benefits: Get acquainted with local labour laws about benefits such as health insurance, paid vacation, and other perks. Work with the EoR to ensure that these are provided according to the country's requirements.
- Contract: The EoR provider will draft an employment contract that meets local legal standards and includes specifications for the role, salary, working hours, and benefits.
Conclusion
A social media manager is a necessary investment for any unrealistic business which would want to be able to breathe under the digital sky. From strategising and content creation through analytics and community involvement, these professionals provide a completely comprehensive approach to the success of social media.
By understanding what these people do, how they charge for their services, and the benefits they offer, as well as the best hiring practices, organisations can help them realise fully their online prowess.
While changes continue to take place, it ensures your brand stays ahead of the curve, enabling meaningful connections with audience members and driving growth.
