A social media manager is someone who curates a business’ online presence through social media to grow brand awareness. They’re responsible for running and monitoring the accounts as well as measuring the overall performance of a brand’s social media platforms using social media analytics.
As a social media manager, you’ll post content, respond to private messages and monitor follower engagement. You’ll have to produce content such as photos, articles or short videos, as well as define marketing strategies and implement automation tools. It’s helpful to have experience in copywriting, SEO, market research, customer service or visual intelligence, as well as a background in social media.
Of course, the best place to market your social media management business is on social media itself. Make sure you have an online presence on the leading platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn. Spend time getting to know how to maximise your accounts before you offer your services to other people. To grow your skillset, sites like Hootsuite, ConstantContact and Buffer provide training courses which cover topics like social media advertising, marketing and scheduling training.
It’s a good idea to decide how you’re going to offer your services. Many social media managers offer packages to clients which cover specific platforms and are priced according to the level of service you’ll provide. Social media managers tend to sell their services on a monthly rate, though you can also charge an hourly rate for smaller clients.
Once you have a selection of packages to offer, you can grow your clientele by posting on B2B sites, pitching to businesses via email and signing up to platforms such as Flexjobs. Social media managers can earn up to £200 per hour for high-profile clients – the average annual salary for a social media manager is varies based on location and experience