7 Social Media Marketing Skills You Need to Become a Great Social Media Manager

Just in case you need any greater indication of how major social media marketing is for a company’s digital marketing strategy, just take a look at the numbers: 4.9 billion people use social media. 

And, while it’s popularized the endless scroll, marketing on social platforms has also experienced a boom, making social media marketing an extremely well-regarded profession. But with such a dynamic environment at play that requires continuous improvement of strategies, what social media skills do social media marketers actually need to survive this digital landscape?

Navigating the ever-evolving social media landscape requires a robust understanding of social media management and digital marketing. In the social media world, marketers must quickly adapt to new trends and audience behaviors to stay relevant and effective. Mastery of these disciplines enables professionals to craft engaging social media content, leverage analytics for strategic decisions, and manage brand reputation across different social media platforms. This comprehensive skill set is essential for anyone looking to succeed in today’s digital-focused marketing environment.

In this article, we’ll cover the basics of the whos and whats of social media marketers, exactly what essential skills you need, and where to find jobs for social media marketers.  

Similar to digital marketers, social media managers are geniuses when it comes to marketing team dynamics, business strategy, writing copy, and managing customers. They need to excel in these areas, as their daily tasks vary greatly, from handling customer complaints with the finesse of a customer service pro to securing a marketing budget or designing the perfect infographic for Instagram.

In other words, social media marketers play a crucial role in everything from brand promotion to audience engagement and lead generation, contributing significantly to business growth. They create content and express a consistent tone, character, and voice for the brand across different platforms, managing content and customer interactions as they post content.

Possessing strong skills in communication, design, and analytics for effective social media marketing strategies is therefore seen as a considerable advantage.

Mastering the essential social media skills to become one of the great social media managers can seem overwhelming, yet there are precisely seven crucial abilities you must possess. These skills are pivotal for engaging and growing an online community:

1. Audience Research and Making Connections

Social media is fundamentally a platform to engage your target audience, which essentially means that you need strong audience engagement skills.

There are many effective ways to demonstrate these skills, such as using online polls on social media platforms to interact with your audience and generate insights for future campaigns. Q&A sessions also fall into this category of engagement, fostering a building connections between the customer and the brand. This not only enhances user engagement but also strengthens brand connections, making customers 77% more likely to increase their spending with that brand.

Customer Relationship Management tools like Hubspot and Sprout Social are invaluable in helping social media managers keep their audience engaged through consistent posting, replying, or sharing videos.

To improve the skills necessary for social media marketing, marketers and managers are encouraged to adopt a more analytical approach. Conducting customer analysis enhances research skills, provides insights into potential customers' behaviors and social media preferences, and influences the strategies a proficient social media marketer will use to produce engaging content and building relationships.

2. Data Analytics

Data analysis is a cornerstone of marketing, especially in the realm of social media marketing. Social media marketers and managers employ analytics tools to gauge brand strength and performance across various social media channels, which is crucial for targeted campaigns and managing both organic and paid media.

Although each marketing analytics platform has its unique KPIs (Key Performance Indicators) for assessing social media performance, there are several key social media metrics you can leverage to interpret data and devise actionable strategies. This can be done without the need for a sophisticated (and often paid) service, whether it's analyzing social posts or refining your overall social strategy.

Such indicators include, but are not limited to:

• Impressions, which indicate the number of times your content has been seen, reflecting your social media efforts
• Reach, which measures how many people have viewed your content, showcasing your social media presence
• Engagement Rate, which captures instances where a viewer interacts with your content, like sharing or liking, demonstrating effective social media outreach
• Video views, straightforwardly the count of how many times a video has been watched
• Conversion Rate, which tracks how many people completed a desired action, such as clicking a link and subscribing

3. Content Creation and Curation

Content marketing for social media isn't vastly different from promoting blog content, particularly when it involves creating compelling and shareable viral content for your audience. However, unlike blog content, social media marketing demands creativity across various content formats, including writing, design, video production, live streaming, and audio editing.

Creative multimedia content is crucial for catching the eye, a key attribute for any social media marketer. Thus, social media managers must have a keen eye for detail, aesthetics, and creativity.

Fortunately, developing these skills is straightforward with numerous online resources available from Canva, Adobe, and Hubspot, covering everything from video creation to social media post design and graphic design.

4. Design Skills

With a picture saying a thousand words and 65% of the population being visual learners, you can bet that design plays an important role in social media marketing. In fact, design is crucial in the daily development of social media content, utilizing similar tools from the social media marketing toolkit to effectively convey your brand's voice.

Moreover, in the realm of social media, crafting visually appealing marketing materials is an excellent strategy to capture attention and generate interest, and honing your design skills is essential for this purpose.

A wide array of tools is available to enhance your content creation and graphic design abilities, including platforms like Canva and Adobe, which cater to comprehensive graphic needs. Those seeking to advance their social media marketing skills should consider enrolling in courses offered by Canva’s Design School and exploring Adobe’s Creative Cloud solutions.

5. Writing Skills

Social media is fundamentally about good communication skills, and there’s no better way to communicate a message than through words—we’re doing it right now! The ability to write concise copy with a professional tone not only engages and persuades your customers but is also an essential skill in social media marketing.

From effectively conveying a brand's story to maintaining a more professional tone and voice, social media marketers must possess excellent copywriting skills to continuously engage their audience. It is crucial that they are also well-versed in SEO best practices, as writing optimized for SEO is a primary method for getting your content and brand noticed.

With an array of content types like tweets, posts, infographics, video scripts, captions, and responses to comments and complaints, there are numerous instances where outstanding writing ability is necessary on social media. However, it also boils down to how you utilize these skills because, as any skilled social media marketer will understand, adhering to best practices for social media posts due to character limitations is vital.

Therefore, a social media manager’s skills in writing must include being adept in creating content tailored for specific social media platforms and staying informed about industry news, such as the ideal 50-character post length for Instagram, showcasing their storytelling abilities.

6. Budgeting

When considering 'social media marketing skills,' budgeting might not initially seem relevant. However, it is a crucial skill for social media managers. Here's why.

Social media marketers are not just posting on social media; they meticulously plan and social strategy, and manage organic and paid media across social networks. This involves handling their own content, creating advertisements, coordinating promotional content with or from influencers, and managing content produced by freelancers, along with all other aspects of content production.

In other words, a significant amount of time and effort is invested in social media, requiring adequate compensation. This compensation varies based on the number of freelancers involved, their fees, the reach and quality of your influencers, and the location of your brand.

This is why budgeting emerges as a pivotal social media strategy skill—it allows you to maintain control over your finances and prevents any unwelcome surprises from your boss regarding excessive spending.

7. Trend Awareness

Nothing drives clicks and impressions like current content, which underscores the importance of staying up-to-date and on-trend on social media. But which social media marketing skills are essential for keeping your finger on the pulse of society?

The competencies necessary for an adept social media manager are akin to those required for trend awareness: curiosity, a deep interest in current events and developments, digital literacy, research, networking, communication, and creativity.

Enhancing these pivotal social media marketing skills can be achieved in several ways. Soft skills such as curiosity and communication can be honed through social listening, and monitoring competitors and customers to detect market shifts. This insight can guide your content strategy to better align with audience preferences and emerging trends.

For trend awareness in social media marketing, maintaining vigilance on the Twitter Trends sidebar for #TrendingTopics and crafting content that anticipates or reacts to these updates can be crucial. Additional skills for social media managers include keeping up with the daily news cycle and consuming content from industry leaders to continuously refine strategies and enhance platform expertise.

When searching for social media marketing jobs, it’s crucial to highlight your successful social media manager skills in your resume and during interviews. This involves detailing daily activities such as developing plans and strategies for content marketing, creating content, and analyzing data.

In presenting these skills on your resume, it's vital to underscore your achievements quantitatively. Be sure to also list the common tools you utilized for these tasks.

If you're at the beginning of your successful career in social media marketing and lack tangible achievements, you should certainly discuss key insights from an internship or university project relevant to the role in your social media marketing resume.

For those preparing for an interview, ensure you're on the same page with basic social media marketing knowledge beforehand. Practice using the STAR method to describe your experiences, clearly articulating the situation, task, actions taken, or other skills employed, and the outcomes.

Finally, to thoroughly demonstrate your expertise in all facets of social media marketing, remember to mention several essential tools or courses we've discussed in this article, solidifying your status as adept in writing social media managers.

In this article, we've delved into what it takes to be a social media manager, detailing not only their daily responsibilities but also highlighting the seven key social media marketing skills vital for every exemplary marketing professional.

Among these skills, budgeting may come as a surprise, yet it's integral alongside audience engagement, data analytics, content creation, design, writing, and trend awareness. These skills are straightforward to acquire and hone, particularly with the support of advanced social media marketing tools.

Additionally, the role of a social media manager involves constant adaptation and learning. As digital landscapes evolve, so must your strategies and tools. Keeping abreast of the latest platforms, algorithm changes, and social media trends is not just beneficial; it's necessary to stay competitive and effective in this dynamic field. Engaging regularly with industry experts, attending workshops, and participating in relevant webinars can greatly enhance your skill set and ensure you remain a great social media manager. With these continuous efforts, you'll not only meet but exceed the modern demands of social media marketing, setting a high standard within the industry.

Furthermore, by leveraging the career resources available on Cake, you are taking significant steps towards securing your ideal job, enhancing your visibility and appeal to prospective employers.

--- Originally Written by Eva O'Mara ---