What Is Social Media Management?

Social media has become a major part of our lives. Nowadays, it is almost impossible to live without social media. Even people who try to stay away from it come across content in social media. The reason for it because most people use social media; the ones who try to avoid it are a minority. Sooner or later, everyone will have to face social media. It has become one of the most significant things in life; there is a new job called social media management. So what is the definition of social media management, and why is it so important for business? Let’s begin.

With the changing times and digitalization, marketing started to change itself as well. You might be familiar with the term ‘digital marketing.’ Of course, digital marketing is a pretty wide term. However, social media management can be considered as a part of it. 

When social media started in the late 90s early 2000s with platforms such as Six Degrees, MySpace, and LinkedIn, probably no one would have guessed that it would be such a success. Back in the day, it was not much of a big deal; yet, after the introduction of Facebook and Twitter in 2006, social media started to rise all around the world. 

The idea seemed great for everyone. People could become friends, have a chat, be part of groups and express themselves. Not after a long term, major companies started to understand the importance of social media platforms as well. Yet this developed slowly. 

Social media management is all about content. It is a bundle of useful operations such as creating, analyzing and publishing content on social media platforms. Having a social media account for businesses is one step ahead for them. However, controlling all social media accounts of a major company might seem like a big deal; thankfully, there are tools to help you with it.

Social Media Platforms

Before we get into the social media management tools, let’s look at social media itself. What are social media platforms, and what platforms does social media management cover? Social media management covers the following platforms:

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Instagram
• LinkedIn
• YouTube
• Pinterest

Let’s start with the most popular social media platform of all time, Facebook.

Facebook

Facebook is the pioneer of today’s social media algorithm. It has started the rise in the usage of social media and made it famous throughout the world. Facebook is a huge social network with more than a billion daily active users. 

Facebook has a crucial history with social media management. Even though companies lately understood the power of social media, they started to make an appearance on Facebook first. As for Facebook accounts of major companies, answering the comments of the customers or people who are interested in their products were considered as something different. It is because major companies usually would not return to the complaints and feedback. However, doing so in social media accounts such as Facebook changed things, and they saw the potential in being active on Facebook. 

Facebook truly contributed to social media marketing. Facebook offers a wide variety of ads and content. It is possible to share photos, videos, texts as advertisements. One other good feature of Facebook is groups. They are one of the best feedback sources for companies. For example, the marketing department of a car brand may look for the groups of their models on Facebook and see how the owners are talking about it. In fact, some brands intervene in these groups. 

Nowadays, Facebook is losing its impression. The trend supports other social media platforms. However, Facebook, as a company, invests in most of these companies. One of them is today’s popular platform Instagram. 

Twitter

Twitter is a unique social media platform. Unlike any other, it focuses on the news and the statements of the popular and important people. Twitter has around 330 million monthly active users. This number may not be high as other social media platforms, but Twitter holds a more serious image of being a social media platform. 

Many statements from the leaders in the world are made from Twitter, and the platform has proved its significance regarding these statements. Twitter may not be offering the same reach as Facebook; however, it provides you access to users that engage with brands daily. 

Like on other social platforms, brands took their place on Twitter as well. It is a great platform to make viral advertisements. If brands could catch the trend on Twitter and use it for their interests, they could be successful and become a trend topic themselves. 

Instagram

Perhaps today’s most popular platform is Instagram. With more than a billion monthly active users, Instagram is a huge social network. What is special about Instagram is that its short but entertaining content. Of course, nowadays, it is possible to add longer content to Instagram. In 2018, Instagram introduced its new feature called IGTV. Here people can watch videos longer than a minute and add videos up to 60 minutes. 

Instagram is widely used in terms of marketing. The ads on Instagram are not the greatest because it is possible to skip them very easily when looking at Stories. However, what is good about it, you can promote your business account to related people and gain many possible customers. It is also possible to sell items with price tags. 

In 2012, Facebook saw the potential future of Instagram and bought it for $1 billion. It was a smart move, considering the rise of Instagram while leaving Facebook behind. 

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is one of the unique platforms on the internet. It is one of the oldest social networks, and it has been around since its release. LinkedIn has more than 575 thousand users, and 260 of these are monthly active. The user number may not be as high as Facebook and Instagram. Yet, LinkedIn comes forward as a professional social media platform. 

LinkedIn has proved its significance with its features, such as finding jobs and providing feedback for companies, especially in the HR field. It is considered a professional Facebook. 

Having a LinkedIn account is a must for major companies. They make their announcements and give industry-specific news on LinkedIn, and users may follow companies. It is also quite important when it comes to B2B collaborations and marketing because companies check each other as well as people on social media. 

YouTube

Many professionals in the marketing field state that YouTube is the future of marketing. In fact, YouTube is not the future anymore, it is today. YouTube has more than a billion users, and it is possible to find almost anything. It is almost like a video-based search engine. 

YouTube offers a lot of marketing opportunities. From advertisements to informational videos, there are many possibilities to grow your brand awareness. Then there is something called ‘influencer marketing.’ This is also a marketing style that has been going on Instagram as well. However, the pioneer of it is YouTube. 

YouTube is a platform where people go after the entertaining content. In order to attract attention, you should either have entertaining videos that would be creative or collaborate with YouTubers who can promote your products in compelling ways. 

Pinterest

Pinterest is all about visual content. It is possible to see any visual art here. Pinterest has more than 200 million users. It features companies with a visual focus, such as architectural manufacturers, clothing stores, and flower shops. 

Unlike any other social media platform, Pinterest features a higher female population. So it may be a platform where marketing towards women can take place.

It is a good platform for showing your products in a non-promotional and artistic way. 

What Social Media Management Requires?

The job description of social media management is a broad concept. There are many things you should consider when managing your social media accounts. From content management to ads, social media management is a whole other department. It is a must for major companies, especially for e-commerce websites. 

Creating Social Media Accounts

The design of your social media account is the starting point of social media marketing. All of your accounts should be accurate and reflect the design of your brand. If you manage the accuracy in your design, it would be easier for your brand’s followers to find your accounts and interact with them. It is also good for building trust because by doing this, you are clearly stating that you are the brand, and you are in charge of these accounts. 

Social media design focuses on the header and the background on Twitter; header, icon, and profile picture on Facebook; Instagram profile picture and bio and such. 

The design should always be accurate when updating your accounts. 

Determining Target Audience

Analyzing your target audience and determining it is a part of social media management. Based on your SWOT analysis, you have to know how to use which social media platform. By determining your audience on social media, you will get a much better return on investment. So it is always good to know who your audience is.

Create a Social Media Strategy

Before you start your campaigns on social media, you have to develop a strategy. Mostly social media management agencies will focus on each platform differently. It is because the demography of each platform differs, therefore you would need a different approach for each one of them. 

Considering the platforms’ audience, what you need to focus on in your strategy are your goals, industry, and brand. 

First, you should set up goals for your business. What do you want to achieve? Awareness, loyalty, or increasing sales. Then you should determine what the target audience expects from your industry. For this, you can guide your audience through informative blog posts or such creative ideas that would lead them to your brand. Lastly, your brand has to have a set of standards. You should be consistent with your approach to the target audience as a brand. 

Advertising

Once you have created a social media strategy, you can now decide how to make your ads on social media. Your audience and your goals play an important role in advertising. Many brands use the same advertisement for all of their social media accounts. Yet, how successful it gets is something debatable. 

Since the audience will not be the same on different platforms, it may be best to change the ads according to them. However, this will be something pricy. Yet you cannot put a YouTube ad to Instagram, because on YouTube, users have to watch at least the five seconds of the ad, yet they can easily skip it on Instagram. You can get an idea of how to advertise on Instagram from our related posts as well.

Scheduling Posts

Suppose you want your business to be successful on digital platforms. It is better to post accurately everywhere. Scheduled posts about your campaigns and announcements will create an awareness wave, and everyone following your accounts will remember your existence on social media. 

You may build a content calendar for your accounts. This way you can get a reference about your marketing strategy. 

Creating Content

The term content management has never been so important when it comes to social media. Social media management is not only about advertising, campaigns, and promotions. Creating content actually covers all of them and should be made periodically. That is why there are many social media agencies and in-house social media management departments. 

To create the best content, social media specialists work with graphic designers and copywriters. It is essential to inform the people who are working on the content projects to be accurate in every platform. Brands always have a message, and this message is determined by the marketing department in most cases. The message you are giving on social media should lead to the same intention of your company. It is also important to catch the accuracy when you are working with third-parties such as agencies or influencers. 

Responding Your Audience

Perhaps the most significant part is this. Your target audience or your customers tend to be very happy and satisfied when they get a return from their favourite or chosen brands. 

When major brands started to answer the asked questions and return their complaints, it was a major deal. Customers expect the digital zone to be an easier place to contact the companies, and it should be. 

If you want to achieve more success on social media, you should not only return to questions and complaints on social media. It is also important to create events that would include your customers. For example, Opel makes a photo context on Facebook and Opel owners post their favorite photos of their cars. At the end, one of the photos is selected and shared by Opel. Think about the feeling of the winner when he/she sees their car on the official page of the brand. 

Analyze Results

Once you have put out a social media management strategy, you should analyze your results to get feedback and make changes in your strategies according to your target audience. If you are working with an agency, it is best to work with the one that can come up with different strategies if your performance is dropping on social media. 

It is possible to see your results through some of the most common tools, such as Google Analytics and Facebook Analytics. Even Instagram offers an analytics feature for business accounts. However, it may not be the most detailed service you get. 

Best Social Media Management Tools

Managing multiple social media accounts might seem difficult and time-consuming. However, there are social media scheduler tools that can help you manage your accounts with a social media management software. Here are some of the best tools you can use to manage social media.

Hootsuite

Hootsuite is an integrated all in one social media management tool that you can use for all of your social media accounts. You can manage all of your accounts using a single dashboard.  

You can schedule messages, track conversations, manage multiple profiles, and many more. 

It offers a limited free plan and free courses to help you start your social media campaigns. Hootsuite app is considered one of the best free social media management tools.

Buffer

Like Hootsuite, it allows you to schedule posts in multiple accounts. It works with Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter. You can schedule posts even for one year. This way you can save time for you in an easy way. 

Another good side of Buffer is that it offers you content suggestions. You can choose from its suggestions if you are kind of short of ideas. 

Sendible

In Sendible you can schedule posts across different platforms and integrate them with blogs and other social sharing sites. 

Sendible creates organized editorial calendars, and also it reports brand mentions. This way you have the chance to respond to people asap and show your presence in the social media. 

Sendible also comes with a mobile app that would send notifications about your business. 

e-clincher

With e-clincher you can do many things for social media management. Its services include:

•  content scheduler, 
• auto posting, Social inbox or social CRM, 
• integration of RSS feeds, 
• suggested content, 
• keywords monitoring, 
• influencer discovery, 
• analytics reporting, 
• URL shorteners, 
• campaign tracker and many more. 

What makes it interesting is that it offers analytics reporting, which is very useful and time-saving.

Sprout Social

SproutSocial is one of the most usable and best social media tools. The tool is quite popular because it offers advanced publishing features to its users. Another feature that makes SproutSocial one of the best social media management tools is its deep analysis feature. You may analyze all major social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram, thanks to SproutSocial. It is also very useful for social media marketing management.

Zoho Social

This tool stands out from other social media management tools with its all-in-one features. We may list the features of Zoho Social as follows:

• Advanced CRM tool
• Integration with all major social media platforms
• A free version, albeit with limited features
• A full version starting at $10/month payment terms

It’s possible to say that Zoho is a good alternative when it comes to social media planning tools.

Loomly

If you need extensive collaboration to manage your social media channels, you are in the right spot. Loomly allows its users to add up to 26 team members. The tool also has core features such as advanced analysis capabilities and automatic publishing.

Google Trends

Do you need to be aware of all the trends on time to plan your social media posts? Google Trends is ready to give you exactly what you need. You won’t miss any trend with this completely free tool from Google. Moreover, you have the opportunity to follow the past trends periodically with Google Trends.

BuzzSumo

Another tool that may help you follow social media trends more closely. Thanks to BuzzSumo, you will be informed about the trending posts on all major social media platforms as soon as possible. Buzzsumo also allows you to analyze the performance of these trending content on a topic basis.

Canva

If you don’t want to need a designer for the posts you’ll share on social media channels, Canva is just for you. Canva may not be a social media management platform on its own but it’s very useful. You may use the tool’s dozens of ready-made templates to make your posts look more professional. The tool also has many illustrations and icons that will add a different color to your visuals.

Animoto

Animoto caters to those who need a fast video editing tool for their online marketing campaigns. Users describe Animoto as an quite fast and surprisingly simple social media tool. Animoto is one of the rare tools that can be successful in meeting the needs of video editing, especially for social media.

Todoist

Todoist is an unrivaled social media planner tool for those who need productivity in social media management. Thanks to Todoist, you can have total peace of mind about regularly posting on your brand’s social media channels.

Sendible

The tool is good at integrating with multiple social media platforms. In this context, Sendible’s most prominent feature is that it can integrate seamlessly and simultaneously with 17 different platforms in total. It also allows you to monitor and manage these platforms through a single dashboard.

Conclusion on Social Media Management

We have covered social media marketing. Of course, there may be much more to say. However, we have mentioned the social media platforms that you need to consider, what you need to do for social media management, and some of the best social media management tools. 

If you want to know more about social media, please check out our other articles as well.