A Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer

Let’s Look at a Day in the Life of a Social Media Marketer

What does a social media marketer do all day? There is more to social media marketing than Community Management.

Job titles vary, and nothing seems to be settled yet in terms of prescribed, expected tasks. The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not really have a listing although they do acknowledge that social media is out there. They seem to be more or less placing it under Public Relations-style work.

However, a review of recent job postings reveals what social media personnel are mainly expected to do on the job, whether they are called Social Media Marketers, Inbound Marketers, Social Media Specialists or something else.

Platforms

Tasks related to platforms. This is what most people think of when they think of Social Media Specialists, and it includes:

• Blogging – either creating and maintaining one, or encouraging the business or engineering sides to create or maintain blogs, or commenting on and keeping blogs active. May also include polishing prose, suggesting topics and performing research

† Facebook – creating and maintaining a fan page or pages. Possibly make an account (or more than one) to communicate with users and potentially also find rogue fan sites (e. g. those not created by the company).

Perhaps to have them shut down or changed (usually at the behest of the Legal Department)

• X (Twitter) – creating accounts and maintaining them, tweeting to followers, reciprocally following as necessary/desired and possibly also helping to design a background or logo for the company X account(s). These tasks are similar if, instead, the company has an account on Bluesky.
† LinkedIn – creating and maintaining the company profile on LinkedIn, plus adding job openings as necessary
• Sharing and bookmarking services (these have changed over time) – create and maintain accounts. Make sure that blog posts and any company articles and press releases go to these services, and keep track of all mentions of the company and its products on these services

† Articles and Press Releases – working with the Public Relations Department. Release non-secret information in the form of articles and press releases as circumstances permit
• Podcasting and YouTube – working with the PR Department and if there is a Media Relations Department at the company. Create and release appropriate content as circumstances dictate
† Community Management – create, moderate, manage and promote any online communities owned by the company

More Tasks

Other possible tasks include:

• Search Engine Optimization Efforts – in conjunction with the Webmaster, work to promote the site on Google and other search engines, though a variety of activities including but not limited to establishing and maintaining authority with high quality articles and posts, the addition of backlinks from quality resources and helping to select the best keywords for the site.

This also includes working on how to get AI to cite the company.

† Analytics – reviewing Google Analytics (or Yahoo Analytics or Omniture or whatever the company is using). Help the Webmaster reduce bounce rate, increase loyalty, and increase the number of new users and page views

• On-Site Advertising (if applicable) – work with the Marketing Department and the Webmaster. This is to increase overall online advertising presence or decide on advertising for the site (e. g. banner versus skyscraper, etc.)

† Strategy – this is probably the biggest task for a Social Media person. Although it can also be more of a managerial job. Strategy should be defined and covered with the Board of Directors (or owner if the company is small).

Small changes such as adding a link here or there probably do not have to be a Board vote.

But major decisions on direction should be. This can also encompass working with Marketing, such as to determine better ways of presenting and delivering content. This can and should include A/B testing.

• Meetings and the Like – apart from the ones above, the Social Media Specialist should find they are a part of many different teams, potentially assisting with advertising, marketing, public relations, media, and web design

The Life of a Social Media Marketer: Takeaways

There is more to it than just the tools. What a real Social Media Marketer does is far more strategic and analytical and design-oriented. Twitter, etc. are only the beginning, and may be replaced by the next new thing(s) in time.

But well thought out strategy, carefully observed analytics and usable, pleasing design are timeless pieces of the Social Media Marketer puzzle.

And Later Still…

Social media marketing now can also encompass email marketing, or content marketing and management. It veers into the land of SEO as well, and even working with AI. There is nothing perfect about it, and it keeps on changing.

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Want More About Social Media?

If my experiences with non-platform-specific social media resonate with you, then that is just plain awesome! So, please check out my other blog posts about navigating our social media obsessed world.

Working with Social Media

† Four Important Social Media Stats
• Social Networking/Social Media Tips

† The Best Lengths for Social Media Posts and More.
• Jell-O on the Wall: Social Media Perfection is Fleeting

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