What is a social media manager?

Also called social media executive, social media specialist.

A social media manager is the person responsible for a business's social media presence: they plan and create content, publish it, look after the followers and community, and report on what is working.

Why it matters

Someone has to own social media, or it drifts. In a small business that person is often the owner or a team member squeezing it in between other jobs. Knowing what the role involves helps you decide whether to do it yourself, share it out, hire someone or use software to take on part of it.

Example

A freelance social media manager looks after three local businesses: a gym, a bakery and an estate agent. Each month she agrees a plan with each owner, shoots photos on a site visit, writes and schedules the posts, answers comments daily and sends a short report with what to do more of next month.

What a social media manager does in a typical week

The mix varies by business, but most weeks include:

  • Planning the content calendar around goals, launches and seasonal dates.
  • Writing captions, and creating or briefing images and short videos.
  • Scheduling and publishing posts on each platform.
  • Replying to comments, messages and mentions, and passing complaints or sales leads to the right person.
  • Watching trends and deciding which ones fit the brand.
  • Checking analytics and writing a short report.
  • Keeping the brand's voice and look consistent across platforms.

Skills to look for when hiring one

Platform knowledge can be learned quickly. These are harder to teach:

  • Clear, friendly writing in your brand's voice.
  • Basic design and video editing, or the judgement to brief someone who does it.
  • Good sense about what not to post.
  • Organisation: plans ahead and hits deadlines.
  • Comfort with numbers: can say which posts worked and why.
  • A calm, helpful tone with unhappy customers.

Employee, freelancer, agency or AI tool

An employee knows the business day to day but is a fixed cost. A freelancer is flexible and often affordable for a few platforms. An agency brings a team, including designers and ad specialists, at a higher price. Pay and fees vary widely by country, experience and scope, so compare local quotes rather than relying on averages.

AI social media managers are software that does much of the recurring work of the role: planning what to post, writing captions, designing visuals and scheduling. A person still approves the posts and handles conversations with customers. Many small businesses combine approaches, for example AI for the posts and the owner for replies.

How to brief a social media manager

A good brief saves weeks of back-and-forth. Give them:

  1. Your goal for the next three months and how you will measure it.
  2. A description of your best customers.
  3. Your brand guidelines: logo, colours, tone of voice and topics to avoid.
  4. Access to the accounts through each platform's proper role or partner settings, not your personal password.
  5. Who approves posts and how quickly they will reply.
  6. What they should do with complaints, reviews and sales enquiries.

Common questions

Do I need a social media manager?

You need someone to own the job. If you can give it a few focused hours a week, you can be your own social media manager. If posting keeps slipping, hire help or use a tool that takes on the planning and creating.

What is the difference between a social media manager and a community manager?

A social media manager runs the whole presence: strategy, content, publishing and reporting. A community manager focuses on the conversations: replying, moderating and building relationships. In small businesses one person usually does both.

Can AI replace a social media manager?

AI can do much of the repetitive work, such as drafting posts, designing visuals and scheduling. A person is still needed to approve content, make judgement calls and talk to customers.

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