Small Business Social Media Crash Course

Many marketing leaders take a different route to manage a social media department. It's not always a straightforward path: While some people rise through the ranks of social media, many learn about social media and gain communications experience in public relations, content, or account services positions.

While the responsibility to lead a social media team is often part of a promotion or restructuring, it can also result from downsizing. COVID-19, as we have seen, has caused some marketing departments to decrease ad spending and shrink teams. This means that many marketers are taking on social media management for the first time.

It's essential to recognize the responsibilities and challenges of managing social media teams if you have recently been promoted. 90% of consumers claim they will purchase from brands they follow on Facebook. One of the most important things to remember is that social media can drive business growth as long as you can get up-to-speed and work with your team to advance your strategy.

This article will discuss how to get up-to-speed on social, align business and personal goals, protect your mental health, and build a productive relationship and partnership with social professionals.

The Essential Items You Need

Genuine curiosity can help you get a lot further if you aren't as familiar with social media. Ask questions and get to know your team on social media. Don't be afraid of asking questions.

Consider asking questions as you get to know your social network team members and their responsibilities.

• Who are our target audiences?
• Which social media platforms should we be focusing on?
• How can we make our brand more visible and get more people to notice our brand?
• What are the methods we use to collect social media data? Are we able to track and report social data? What are the requirements to create a report?
• What metrics do we report on? And what does the information mean? If you require specific definitions, please ask.
• What can I do to make your job easier? How can you help your friends achieve their social goals?

You can start this conversation by reviewing the Sprout social index, which shows how marketers and consumers approach social media. This article will help you learn how to use industry benchmarks to your advantage.

Combine Knowledge with Expertise

The Sprout social index found that 58% of marketers consider growing their audience their primary goal. 35%, however, see increasing brand awareness as their top three priority. In this case, however, each goal can be achieved. Growing your audience followers is a sign that you have increased awareness. Work with your social media team to share strategy and tactical tips, and set shared goals.

Social media professionals spend most of their time communicating with, interacting with, and catering to the brand’s audience. They can access a wealth of information about their customers, their preferences, and what those customers want from brands on social media. Marketing leaders are focused on company goals and can help other departments. By working together, practitioners can create campaigns, strategies, and tactics that support all areas of your business.

Most people use social media to some degree, but marketing leaders must recognize that they are the ones who know best how to use it strategically. They are familiar with your audience and the best ways social media works. Your social teams should know that they have the power to direct the conversation around top-of-mind goals. They are your customer's voice, but you can also remind them when they need to be more holistic.

Leaders need to understand the challenges their social media team faces and the obstacles that could be hindering your progress towards your goals. While it will vary from marketer to marketer, marketers struggle most with identifying and reaching their target audience, followed by measuring ROI.

Social media managers face many challenges. Marketing leaders can help them overcome them with their influence, expertise, and experience. Invite them to meet with other departments so they can share their social insights with the wider team. To help them create a business case and monitor the competition or measure ROI, coach them. Encourage your team to make proactive recommendations, and coach them about what business goals they can support or inform using social data.

Know the Day-To-Day Activities

Social marketing doesn’t have to be a difficult job. Leaders need to be able to understand the day-to-day activities of social media managers. Social media marketing requires more than being able to set it up and forget it. It is a complex task that requires constant attention and critical thinking.

Learn about the time-consuming but small tasks your social media team handles each day. How much time is spent responding to inbound messages? How long does it take for a social media calendar to be created, scheduled, and written? How often does your social media manager analyze and report on data?

For some companies, social networking may only be one part of a marketer’s job. Marketers may have many responsibilities beyond social media. You can identify and eliminate inefficiencies in their work to free up marketing time so they can focus on more detailed work.

Managers of social media have many roles. They can be creative, analytical, customer advocates, and many other roles. Recognize how hard they work and check-in to see if they are feeling supported.

Managers Must Address Emotional Labor

While there are many positive aspects to social media, there is also a downside. Social media professionals have been under intense pressure since the recent COVID-19 and growing movements for racial equity cases. They are the brand's face, which places them in a scrutinized position.