How to Become a Social Media Manager in 2024
What do you think about the idea of working from home? Do you love having the freedom to travel? Are you known to scroll through your socials from time to time? Do you know a great brand when you see one? Are you good with detail-oriented work and keeping things moving on a timeline? If so, there’s a career out there that might be perfect for you: social media management.
Social media management hasn’t been around as a career for all that long. It’s only been in the last decade that people have really honed in on a way to make a living off of social media, both on the business and management sides. But today, social media is big business at all levels and across all industries. And along with graphic designers, social strategists, content and copywriters, and other professionals, social media management has emerged as an in-demand (and often well-paid) service.
Here are the main responsibilities of your average social media manager, or SMM:
Overseeing community interactions (e.g., replying to comments and DMs)
Putting content strategies into practice (e.g., working out a posting schedule and cadence)
Collecting and analyzing reports and insights
Keeping an eye out for the latest social media trends and putting them to work for your account(s)
Planning digital campaigns (sometimes alongside non-social media stuff) to help grow a brand
Scheduling, editing, double-checking, and publishing posts, Reels, stories, and whatever else as needed
The beauty of being an SMM is that you don’t need to be a seasoned social media wizard to do it. While a super deep knowledge of every TikTok trend to come through in the past three years will definitely help, even social media novices can quickly become experts as SMMs. Here’s why.
What Makes a Good Social Media Manager?
Like we mentioned, social media knowledge isn’t the be-all-end-all of social media management. In fact, it's more about who you are than what you know. There are a few general human traits that will serve you far better than any in-depth Instagram insight.
Here are the best traits for aspiring SMMs to have:
Attention to Detail – Typos, dates, and analytics run abound in social media land, so detail-oriented people who are good at double-checking their work do best as SMMs.
Collaborative Skills – In almost all settings, you’ll be working with other people as a social media manager. If you work in an agency like BNL, that means a designer, a writer, a social media strategist, and more. But even solopreneur SMMs will have to deal with their clients closely. An open mind and collaborative attitude go a long way in this space.
Adaptability – If you’ve been online whatsoever in even this past year alone, you’ll know how unpredictable the world of trends and taste can be. This is especially true on apps like Instagram or TikTok, where a trend can be the hottest thing on Earth one day, and completely sidelined on the next. Great SMMs pay attention to the shifting climate and make changes as needed.
Getting Started with Social Media Management
So you like the sound of a typical social media manager’s workday, and you’re ticking all the boxes for the traits that will help you thrive.
How do you start?
One of the best ways is to work on a solo, freelance basis for a single client. For best results, we recommend starting locally with a business or brand that you have some kind of real relationship with.
Whether it’s your nail girl or that fun boutique you’re always popping into, these small businesses often share a few things in common: they’re in need of some marketing, they’re too busy to do it themselves, and they’re not looking to break the bank on a fancy agency. That’s where you come in! Pitch the idea of social media management to your prospect, explaining how you’d organize content creation, scheduling, community engagement, and the other duties you’d take on. If you get a yes, great. If it’s a no, carry on.
Of course, maybe you’re looking for a little more guidance and mentorship as you learn the ropes of social media management. If that’s the case, BNL’s Social Media Academy may be just the ticket!
In this 12-week intensive consulting program, you’ll work directly with our CEO & Founder, Megan Shallow, where she’ll share her expertise on all things social media and come alongside and make sure you do exactly what she did to grow BNL (and avoid all the mistakes she made). You’ll learn how to create a results-driven social media strategy for your clients and yourself, how to manage influencers and UGC creators, the basics of copywriting and design for social media, how to create your own social media team, and so much more!
Expect to leave this course with all the skills you need to thrive in a social media management career.
If you’re interested in learning more about the BNL Social Media Academy, we’d love to hear from you. Fill out this form to get started!