A social media coordinator is responsible for managing and maintaining a company’s social media presence. This includes creating and scheduling content, engaging with followers, and analyzing metrics to measure the success of social media campaigns. Their role is vital to a company’s online presence. First, let’s look at how a company can use social media as an effective marketing tool.
What is Social Media?
Social media is any type of communication to a mass audience in which a 2-way conversation can take place. Drew from Escape Plan Marketing defines social media channels as platforms in which you have something that you are “dedicated” to posting about.
Social Media is a Business Tool
Therefore, the wide availability of social media channels makes the usefulness of social media virtually endless. Consequently, social media content should be posted and updated regularly. Using these channels can help you get information quickly to your target audience. For example, you can inform your clientele immediately if your business will be closed for a holiday, your company is hosting an event, or having a sale.
With a world full of technological advances, social media humanizes your business. By providing images and video content, people can relate to you and have a behind-the-scenes look at your business. It allows people to engage and connect with your company. They see that you are real people with a real company.
The Roles of a Social Media Coordinator
A social media coordinator is responsible for weaving together writing, videos/images, and the personality of a company to produce a quality product. They also must review the data around the content and readjust the content as needed. Drew states the role of a social media coordinator can be summed up in about “2 1/2 things”: content creation, community engagement, and to some extent analyzing metrics.
Content Creation
One of the duties of a social media coordinator is to create content that is engaging and relevant to the company’s target audience. It includes text posts, images, videos, and infographics. The coordinator will also schedule these posts for publishing at the most optimal times of engagement. Social media coordinators tend to plan out a content schedule about a month at a time. Social media coordinators create a monthly map for your social media. They may use real-life images, stock images, or a mix of both. They may do this with a graphic designer or post the images and content themselves.
Most recently, short-form videos, 15 to 30-second videos, have taken over the social media space. Currently, “reels” and “stories” are the trend in the social media space. Social media coordinators have had to stay up-to-date on this trend and adjust. As a coordinator, they must also be aware of the amount of content to be produced. Every single second, new content is available. Social media coordinators have to fight what Michael calls “anonymity.” The social media coordinator is responsible to increase a company’s social media presence. They make sure content is produced continually and posted. If not, your company will never get the recognition it needs to be successful.
Community Engagement
Furthermore, another duty of a social media coordinator is to actively engage with followers on the company’s social media accounts. This includes responding to comments and messages and monitoring social media for mentions. By engaging with followers, the coordinator helps to build a strong, positive relationship between the company and its audience. Creating videos and content that are interesting or humorous can stir a two-way conversation between the customer and the company.
Being able to laugh creates vulnerability. One of Drew’s clients recently posted a satirical video in the month of January. January is typically one of his slowest months in sales. In January, his sales were up 35%. That’s what social media can do for your business.
Metrics Analysis
In addition to creating and scheduling content and engaging with followers, a social media coordinator will also be responsible for analyzing metrics to measure the success of social media campaigns. The metrics Michael and Drew are referring to are not likes and comments. In business marketing, these are called “vanity metrics.” Michael contends that a company can actually pay for those. Vanity metrics are not what they are referencing. Social media coordinators need to have an understanding of what are called key performance indicators or KPIs. KPIs may include tracking follower growth, engagement rates, and website traffic generated from social media.
By analyzing metrics, a coordinator can make data-driven decisions about future social media strategy. Drew states that metrics are not only the numbers but something you can “feel.” A social media coordinator knows how to measure engagement. You can tell that real people are engaging with your channels by the conversation taking place on your social media platform.
Who Should Be a Social Media Coordinator?
There is a common misconception that the kid on their phone should be who you hire to be a social media coordinator. Being on social media does not equate to having a solid understanding of the usefulness of social media. A social media coordinator has a solid knowledge of what your business is trying to accomplish. They get who the target audience is and what content engages them. Therefore, the kid next door is not the ideal candidate.
A small company should have someone in-house doing some of your social media posting. At some point, your company will grow to where a marketing agency is necessary. This agency will need to specialize in your business size. That agency should have a dedicated staff person whose sole job is social media.
Furthermore, a social media coordinator should have a solid plan and executes that plan well. The social media coordinator is, as Michael says “a do-er.” They must understand the culture of your company and your audience. Making people slightly uncomfortable is a good thing, but a social media coordinator will be to know what’s appropriate and what isn’t for your channel.
Overall, a social media coordinator plays a crucial role in building and maintaining a company’s online presence. By creating engaging content, actively engaging with followers, and analyzing metrics to measure success, the coordinator helps to build a strong, positive relationship between the company and its audience.
Action Tip: Look At Your Social Media Channels Objectively
Is your content of good quality? Is it content that someone that doesn’t work for you would find interesting? It may be a hit to your ego, but you must be in tune with your audience. If your content is non-existent, implement a plan and start posting content. If you have a plan and people don’t care about it, reach out to Drew at Escape Plan Marketing to chat.
Michael’s challenge: review your social media posting and increase the volume times 10. Therefore, if you post once a week, increase that to 10 times per week. You may be fearful of rejection or confirmation bias, but do it anyway!
Reach Out To Learn More
If you find yourself stuck in your business with 15 jobs and you’re still trying to grow your company, reach out to us at Escape Plan Marketing for a discovery call.
