Who is a Social Media Marketer? Roles and Responsibilities of a Social Media Marketer
A social media marketer is responsible for maintaining a brand’s presence on various social media channels by actively engaging with the targeted audience through different forms of digital content. Social media marketers have a very dynamic role to play and they are responsible for managing different avenues of social media platforms. Data is the key for these digital platforms, as we have already established, social media marketers help businesses to use the data in marketing the products and services effectively so that it can reach the right audience most economically.
In the contemporary digital era, social media has gained widespread importance in our day to day lives. It’s almost impossible to survive without using social media platforms and applications given our growing dependency on the same. What started out as small digital platforms to facilitate social communication has evolved into a giant that is shaping our behavior and interactions. Imagine a time when there was no Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc. Well, it’s hard to even fathom, such is the impact of social media on our lives.
Social media platforms life Facebook evolved drastically to facilitate much more than peer to peer communication. Today millions of businesses from all across the globe use platforms like Facebook and Instagram to reach their customers and promote their products efficiently. YouTube has evolved into the leading video search engine with a user base second to none. A key driver of success for these social media channels was their ability to collect important data from the user that gave valuable insights to businesses.
Roles & Responsibilities of Social Media Marketers
One of the most crucial roles played by social media marketers is communicating a brand’s message to their targeted audience. Let’s delve deeper to understand how social media marketers add value in respective contexts.
1. Developing Social Media Strategy
Developing a robust Social media strategy is the key to winning in the digital arena. Focusing on the right channels helps to target the most relevant audience and also optimizes the marketing ROI. A key component of strategy development is forming the ’audience avatar’. The Social media strategy should answer questions related to the goal of a brand’s social media presence and its most feasible course of action to achieve those goals.
2. Identifying the Target Market and Relevant Social Networks
This is one of the most important tasks that determine the success of your social media campaign and has the most influence on the success probability. Finding the right audience set requires a search for an audience whose interests match with or is similar to that of a brand’s. It will help to easily convert them into customers as they are already interested in what you are marketing. Social media marketers are also responsible for finding the most suitable social media channel for the brand so that they can leverage the full potential of social media platforms.
3. Creating Content for Multiple Social Media Channels
Another important responsibility of a social media marketer is to create appealing and audience-centric content for all relevant social media channels. Finding out the most relevant social media channel for a brand to communicate its message is extremely important and it makes all the difference. After researching and finding out the most relevant social media channels for a brand, the next step is to create unique eye-catchy content that provides the user with some value and help them connect with the brand.
4. Obtaining Followers and Engagement
Social media marketers are responsible for communicating the brand’s message effectively to the targeted audience so that they can build a community of followers. Social media marketers plan their social media content strategy intending to increase their follower base so that they could convert them into loyal customers. Promoting relevant content at the right time and to the right audience consistently helps to increase and maintain the follower count.
5. Boosting the Website Traffic
The ultimate aim of every social media marketer is to boost the website traffic so that it can result in high sales volume and profit for the brand. Every social media post and engagement is done to convert a loyal audience base into a loyal customer base. All the social media content helps to engage with the followers and audience on the network who can then visit the website to make a purchase. Most of the social media marketing strategies have an end goal of increasing web traffic and conversion rates so that they can improve the top-line for the business.
Qualification & Skills Required for Social Media Marketing
The digital world has taken over the real one and there is a growing need for brands to maintain their online presence by leveraging social media channels. Social media marketers play a crucial role in the success of an organization. The exact set of qualifications needed for a social media marketing job varies depending upon the position and organization. One can start in the social media marketing field by completing their graduation in marketing or communications stream. Content creation, data analysis and community engagement are some of the most important skills needed for social media job roles.
Some of the most essential skills needed to excel as a social media marketer include the following.
1. Copywriting
Copywriting is one of the key skills that social media marketers should develop to excel in their job role.
2. Graphic Designing & Video Editing
Given the growing demand for visual and video content on social media platforms, graphic designing and video editing are counted among the set of essential skills in the social media arena.
3. Analytics
Tons of digital data is generated from social media platforms on a daily basis that provides useful insights to the businesses. Good analytical skills are a must-have for social media marketers in the contemporary world.
4. Consumer Psychology
Being able to understand customer psychology is what distinguishes good social media marketers from the crowd.
5. Community Engagement
Community engagement is a necessary skill for social media marketers as they are responsible for building and maintaining a customer base.
Social Media Marketing as a Career
Given the growing demand for social media marketing by brands in the digital era, the need for skilled social media marketers has grown multiple folds. Social media marketing is considered among the most prestigious and interesting career options. The demand for social media professionals is on the rise and is projected to increase in the future. Managing online presence for businesses has become indispensable in the 21st century and no matter what field business is operating in, it needs to maintain a social media presence to boost and maintain a loyal customer base.
Conclusion
Social media marketers have a very broad role to play in effectively managing a brand’s online presence. They help to effectively communicate a brand’s message to the audience on relevant social media platforms and implement social media strategy to achieve the set objectives.
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