Mad Hatter: Social Media Managers and what they really do

Ashley Wymer | @ashleywymer Let’s get real for a minute, folks. Social media management is a pretty darn cool industry to work in. By nature, social media is fast-paced, trendy, and ever evolving business. It’s a business of relationships. Working in social media requires both left and right brained expertise. Managers must be able to analyze data, formulate plans and be professional. However, they must also be creative, energetic individuals who can bring fresh content and ideas to a stale social media marketing campaign. Yes, social media managers wear a lot of hats to run campaigns smoothly and effectively, but there are a few hats that they do NOT wear.

The “goof-off-on-Facebook-games-all-day” hatI’ll be the first to tell you and the first to lament: social media managers do not tend their crops on Farmville all day while the rest of corporate America grinds away in cubicles. Oh, how we wish we did. Social media management, though a fun, rewarding and interesting job, is not an easy no-brain operation. It takes careful planning and attention to detail to run social media. Writing must be done with care, client reports must be compiled, and social media interactions must be carefully monitored. It’s not all fun and games, but we all can keep pretending. We don’t mind.

The “tweet like a teenager at a Twilight premiere” hat

Like it or not, social media management is now a profession. That means, you guessed it, social media managers are professionals. We take great care in everything we say and do in our social media, unlike the majority of the Twitter-verse. Social media managers don’t just tweet, like and post their every thought each day. In fact, it’s quite the contrary. Social media managers are some of the most virtually restrained people because they know the true power of social media. Namely, it can make (and just as easily break) a career in any industry. We use our outlets responsibly, being mindful of every set of eyes that falls on our images and text.

The “uptight professional” hat

I know what you’re thinking. “You just told us that social media managers are super professional and boring.” But you’re so very wrong; I never said boring. Social media management is fun. As I said before, this industry is one of relationships. It’s fast-paced and ever evolving. There is always something new to learn. A new platform, yet another Facebook revamp, a new client. It’s interesting. The nature of this profession is in its very name; it’s social. Social media managers are, generally speaking, upbeat and eclectic individuals. You would be too if you spent a writing session trying to find the perfect flash mob video or dancing squirrel for your clients followers to enjoy.

What do you picture a social media manager to be? If they were to wear any style hat 24/7, which would it be? Jester hat? Top hat? Derby?