So Who Needs a Social Media Manager ?

As I trawl through my recent Twitter feeds this morning, surf LinkedIn and follow companies via Facebook it is clearly obvious those organisations that have a social media plan and have a dedicated resource executing their strategy against those that are present but not active on social media.

As being a social media manager for a large organisation of recent times along with talking to various other organisations across a range of industries it is clearly evident that whatever the goals and objectives of a companies social media plans are that a need to have a dedicated resource to action and identify the process for leveraging the opportunities that social media provides to a business is becoming more apparent.

Some of the advantages of having a Social Media Manager as part of your business are:

– Clearly identify the most relevant social media channels to match the goals, objectives and target markets of the business.

– Formulate a content plan for the business to make maximum use of each channel you are part of.

– Educate your companies internal staff of the importance and relevance of being active in social media. (a lot of companies still don’t get it)

– Keeping up with the latest trends of social media as things evolve at a rapid rate in this space and you can easily fall behind.

– Increase brand awareness, new product and services, customer feedback, enquiries and sales and overall ROI.

– Provide a competitive advantage over your rivals that are not in social media.

It is also important for organisations to recruit the right type of person and/or agency to run their social media activity as having someone who is very active in social media themselves and keeps abreast of the current trends & technologies is one thing, but probably more importantly they should know a lot about your business and the industry you’re in as they will be the ones starting and engaging in conversations about your brand, so would you really want someone who knows little about what your business does being the head spokesperson for you through social media ?

As an Online Marketing Specialist myself covering digital activities including Email Marketing, Pay Per Click Advertising, Website Content Management, Search Engine Optimisation and Social Media Strategy & Implementation I understand how each channel integrates and having an effective digital strategy can be a powerful and engaging experience for every kind of business.

Would be interesting to get the thoughts of social media/digital marketing professionals and business decision makers on their points of view.