Social media manager - activity

7. Freelancer vs. employee in a company

A social media manager will take care of the presence and development of a business in the online environment.

Let's take the case of a hired social media manager. What would be the advantages and disadvantages of such a position concluded with an individual employment contract?

Benefits:

• Income stability.
• The payment of contributions to the state is the task of the employer.
• Socializing, and interacting with a large group of people.
• Benefits and bonuses are included in the salary package.
• Free training, specific, thematic camps and team builds.

Disadvantages:

• You only work for one company.
• The work schedule must be followed exactly.
• You work for whoever you are asked to.

Now, let's look at the case of a freelance social media manager.

Benefits:

• Program flexibility.
• The possibility of much higher earnings depends on experience, skills, number of hours, and brand reputation.
• Possibility to work on several projects.
• You spend more time with your family.

Disadvantages:

• The existence of a legal form, although this should not be a disadvantage, except the perspective of the high taxes that exist in some cases.
• You will have to deal with the payment of state contributions yourself.
• The risk of inefficient organization and planning.
• Risk of non-compliance with deadlines.
• Uncertainty of a monthly income.

Advantages and disadvantages exist in both situations, employee or freelancer. It is important to identify your needs, and desires, and to analyze very well your skills and ability to manage the whole business yourself.

If you are organized, you want a bigger gain, you are very good at something, you are sociable, communicative and you can maintain valuable relationships with people, the freelancer option suits you.

Instead, if you like going to the office and the thought of running a business kills you, stay with the job you have, or learn to take care of the administration.

The best option is to start in parallel because this way you will know how to adapt, what you can do, how long, etc.

8. What you need to master if you want to be successful as a social media manager

So far, I have seen what are the qualities of a good social media manager, and what are his responsibilities. But what does he need to know, what knowledge does he need to have to be a successful man for any brand he works for?

• Marketing knowledge. How to create an advertising strategy and promote a product, digital marketing, solid research knowledge, how to create an effective consumer journey, and how to create a marketing plan.
• Content writing and copywriting. How to promote a content campaign. How do you get people to open emails? Applying copywriting formulas. How to write converting titles.
• Social media marketing. How to promote on Facebook. Facebook Ads Manager, is the most popular promotional tool. Everything about social networks. Creating the first ad on Facebook. Installing Facebook Pixel. Promotion strategies.
• SEO knowledge. How to optimize the site on google. How to optimize content. How to increase and measure traffic to a site. How to attract organic traffic.
• Knowledge of email marketing. How to increase the email opening rate. The basics of email marketing.

9. The challenges of a social media manager

Social media marketing has changed for modern brands from ‘would have liked to have a social media manager’ to ‘we should have.

The power of social media platforms can be easily deduced from 3 elements that happen online.

• Every day, 45% of the world's population spends more than 2 hours on social networks.
• Over 70% of marketers consider social media extremely effective for promotion.
• Social media ads cause users, over 80%, to decide on the purchase of a product or service.

Being a good social media manager is somewhat difficult, due to the evolution of technology and extremely changing trends in social media. And that can be quite challenging.

What are the top 5 challenges a social media manager has to face? What are the solutions to these challenges?

Social media can be a mystery if you are not familiar with how it works. Understanding the challenges will help you quickly find solutions to counter them.

Challenge no. 1. Defining marketing objectives.

Surprising how a social media manager struggles to set marketing campaign goals that align with business goals. For more than 45% this is the biggest challenge.

Therefore, if the objectives are not well defined, it will be difficult to measure performance, which will affect the budget of future campaigns.

What is the solution to this challenge?

• Start with an overview of the objectives. Discover the true mission of the brand, and why it is on social media. This will make it easier for you to identify your business goals. Plan your social media promotion goals.
• Set SMART goals for each campaign. These goals help you not deviate from your set budget.
• Specific. Defines the platform and the type of interaction.
• Measurable. You can use analytics on each social network to measure the engagement and reach rate.
• Achievable. Make sure your goal can be achieved through both organic and paid campaigns.
• Realistic. Set a goal that you can achieve in a certain period, based on previous experiences.
• Framed in time. You need to define the period very well to be able to calculate precise values.

The more SMART the goals, the more effective the campaigns will be.

The challenge no. 2. Identify the most suitable platform.

Too few conduct research like a book, to identify the platform on which their target audience is found. Investing in the wrong platform can increase your budget quite a bit, especially if you use paid ads frequently. Maximum importance must be given to this aspect.

What is the solution to this challenge?

For example, if you want to create a connection with the consumer, Twitter is the best platform. On the other hand, Instagram is suitable if you set out to motivate influencers to distribute the brand to make it known.

Take the time to get to know the audience you want to address. What platform are they active on? What are their main social media activities? Study the demographic profile. Find out details about sex, age, and where you access social media. Then meet them on those platforms. Many depend on the nature of your business.

B2C brands need to be active on visual platforms like Facebook and Instagram to get consumers' attention. B2B brands should frequently post on LinkedIn to identify connections to relevant brands for them. It is important to follow the competitors as well.

"Out of sight, out of mind" is very real for social media users. If you do not have a strong presence on the social channels on which your competitors are active, you will lose the opportunity for many beneficial conversations. Discover the channels on which competitors are present. Then think about how you will make your presence there.

Challenge no. 3. Understanding the target audience.

Many brands have a great business in stores, but social media fails. The difference is that in physical stores, customers are the ones looking for a certain brand, while on social networks, brands have to look for customers. And, some of them have no idea how to do that.

It often happens that a social media specialist creates content and only then sees who the target audience is. Consider that great content leads to conversion, even if it's not targeted. Wrong approach! Let's say that good content could generate engagement, but it is very possible that it will not generate leads if it is not adapted to the needs of the target audience.

Directionless marketing is based on the ‘spray and prays’ approach which does not bring many sales. Moreover, it can affect the credibility of the brand. You risk being blocked or reported if you bombard people with irrelevant content.

A study of why people unfollow brands on social media looks like this:

• Careless customer care, 56%.
• Irrelevant content, 51%.
• Too many brand ads, 43%.
• I'm talking about politics or social issues, 34%.
• Ignore posts or mentions from people, 29%.
• They use influencers to sell products, 14%.

What is the solution to this challenge?

Do you know who your ideal consumer is? Did you create a buyer profile? Explore your existing database, ad analysis, and email subscriber list. No, create an ideal customer avatar from the data you have collected.

Check the information in depth. How many children does your ideal client have? How do they spend their weekends? What music do you listen to? Collect all the information relevant to your business or the one you represent. You can analyze conversations with customers about your brand, product, and niche. You need to understand what they like and dislike to shape your campaign goals and content.

This will help you understand the 'why' behind a consumer's actions. Why am I following a certain platform? Why use the ‘unfollow’ button for your brand? Why is the volume of brand mentions low? Use these findings to establish a connection with the consumer and create engaging content.

Challenge no. 4. Decreased organic coverage and engagement rate.

As organic coverage decreases, the cost of paid ads increases. Brands are fighting for a balance between goals and budget.

What is the solution to this challenge?

Make the platforms work for you. He knows the algorithms very well. If Instagram is your main platform, use Instagram Stories. They have high engagement rates and allow you to tell the brand story effectively. Being alive is a simple way to maximize your organic coverage. You can collaborate with influencers to host interviews, podcasts, and Q&A sessions.

Optimize social content for the right posting hours. Video marketing is crucial nowadays. Use videos to present knowledge and address customer issues. Somehow get your followers to share content that you can reuse on your social media accounts. Social proof will increase the brand's credibility.

Challenge no. 5. Increasing the cost of advertising.

Famous brands may prefer to buy involvement through paid advertising on social networks. But even that becomes a challenge. Advertising costs are rising, and competition is growing. It is becoming increasingly difficult to recoup your investment and make a profit from paid advertising.

One reason behind this trend is the huge popularity of paid ads, especially Facebook ads. In the third quarter of 2019, there were 7 million active advertisers on Facebook.

What is the solution to this challenge?

There are many placement options available on Facebook, such as mobile or desktop news feeds, right-of-way ads, messenger ads, and the Facebook Audience Network. Opt for mobile placement because Facebook has an extensive user base among mobile users.

If you want to learn more about different ad formats and placements, check out Facebook's quarterly revenue reports. You'll have a good idea about the unique ad impressions that each format gets in a day.

Ready to face these challenges? Each type of marketing comes with its own set of challenges. Social media marketing is no exception. Use the types and strategies mentioned above to create visibility and credibility for the represented brand.

10. What you are not told when you want to become a social media manager

Being paid to post on popular social networks, for many, is a dream come true. Statistics tell us that the satisfaction of a social media manager is 3.8 out of 5 points, which is pretty good. The list published by CNNMoney / PayScale of the top 100 careers with huge growth, very well paid, and satisfactory also contains the position of social media manager, which ranks 42nd in the world.

But what does the work of such a position look like?

What is an advantage and what is a disadvantage?

The advantage is no. 1. You will be paid to spend time on social networks, almost 8 hours/day, to keep an eye on influencers, to discover what content goes viral, and to add voice and creativity to the posts you make.

The disadvantage of this advantage. Studies show that excessive use of social networks is associated with social isolation, decreased self-image, anxiety, and even depression.

The solution. Efficient organization and planning.

The advantage no. 2. Your work has the potential to go viral or have a positive impact. It's exciting that your post can go viral. The thought that you can be appreciated and included in the list of ‘best posts on social networks’ is magnificent.

Let's see what Mary Kearl from Noodle says about something amazing that happened to her!

‘I wrote posts for influential social media accounts, I appreciated my company’s posts on social media or in which celebrities were involved, and I posted videos that were shared thousands of times. In one of the most unexpected moments of my career, I reunited an athlete with the wedding ring he lost during the New York Marathon. '

The refueling of his request for help in finding the ring has been shared over a thousand times. As a result, the marathoner received his ring back and was able to meet the volunteer who found him. The story ended up receiving media coverage in Runners World and ABC News.

The disadvantage of this advantage: Mistakes can go viral, too. Negligent or insensitive posting can become one of the "biggest mistakes on social media."

The solution. Do not skip the basics, such as correcting and rereading the message before it is published.

The advantage is no. 3. You will receive quick feedback on what you are doing. Studies show that receiving appreciation increases performance. Your satisfaction when the engagement rate with your posts increases, is huge.

The disadvantage of this advantage. You need to constantly evolve to keep your performance high. When changes occur, you need to review the content strategy, which will initially lead to a decrease in the engagement rate.

So, do you choose to make a career as a social media manager? Is it right for you? Only you will know if the potential advantages outweigh the potential disadvantages. If you want a creative role in which quick thinking is required and highly appreciated, and which you can cope with, then this career may be worth exploring further.

There is no clear way to become a social media manager, but employers often give preference to those with degrees in journalism, communication, marketing, media studies, public relations, advertising, or a similar field.

Think! Analyze everything! Make the best decision for you!

P.S. If you like to read while drinking coffee, you can offer me a coffee too.

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