Is there a difference between being a social media manager and a social media strategist?
While a single employee might be capable of juggling the two areas of expertise, both roles have a different and well-defined job description.
To understand the difference and the meaning of these terms, let’s start from the beginning.
A social media manager and a strategist come under the larger umbrella of social media management.
What is Social Media Management?
Social media is arguably the strongest advertising tool in today’s day and age. The reach of these applications is far and wide and is much more personal than other mediums. This is why social media becomes a prioritized pillar in any business operation. Be it for a large enterprise trying to market a new product, an up-and-coming brand trying to gain customers, or an individual acting as an influencer; social media is often their first choice when it comes to advertising.
Since the reach of these platforms is crucial to the success of a business/individual, it can be easily understood just how important managing social media accounts and the content posted actually is. Social media management is employed to organize, handle, and analyze accounts.
Where do Social Media Managers and Strategists Come in?
‘Managing social media’ is a broad phrase. How does someone manage an account? This is where things get more technical.
There are several aspects to consider while building an account- What should you post? What type of content will market best? What does your audience want? The ‘what’ part is dealt with by social media strategists. Then comes the implementation part, which is the role of a social media manager.
Depending on the amount of work, the level of expertise of a candidate, and the company, a manager and a strategist could be the same individual or the roles could be delegated to different teams.
Let’s look at what their roles are in detail.
What Does a Social Media Strategist Do?
A strategist is trained to deal with the different aspects of social media with the bigger picture in mind. They think about things like how a certain post fits in with the rest of your marketing campaign. They build plans for people, tell them what works for their page and what more they should do.
To understand their work better, let’s say that I am a social media strategist working for a clothing firm. My first step is to understand the company I am working for. I will take into account what it is my company does, study its target audience and the demographic it is marketing to.
My next is to conduct an analytics test. I go through the social media reviews and analytical data. This gives me an idea of how the people see the firm, what they expect, and how the company is performing.
This leads me to form a game plan of what has to be done. Depending on the needs of my client, their sales funnel suggestions, content already posted I advise them on what to do. I may give suggestions on how to tweak up media posts they already have and show them how they could have optimized other ones.
Besides that, I provide them with a fully detailed layout for their social media campaign. I mix my expertise and experience with the inside scoop I collected and form a plan. There are usually a lot of details and technical pointers of what should be done to drive up sales.
But the actual execution of the strategy isn’t done by a social media strategist; they are just the ‘man with a plan’. This is why social media managers exist.
The Role of a Social Media Manager
A social media manager is the person who carries out and executes the customized strategy built for any company. They perform the daily tasks, not the strategists.
They are the ones responsible for creating or managing the content, designing graphics, responding to the audience and their concerns and comments, actively engaging with the consumer base, maintaining the social accounts of the company.
In simple words, if the campaign strategy is a checklist, the managers will check off each entry and will overlook the whole operation.
A manager might be solely in charge of creating content or may head a team that handles the work. In either case, the manager reports back to you with stats reports and constant updates.
The major difference between a social media manager and a strategist is that one plans and the other executes.
Sometimes, a manager may be able to execute an operation and collect reports and data, but cannot understand what the compiled information actually means. Or they could tell which strategy is working and what needs to be tweaked. A strategist, on the other hand, can understand feedback and analytics. They can further build marketing campaigns on those reports, which a manager might not be able to do. They can come in and adjust the plan accordingly.
So, which one do you need?
Well, the bigger picture is that you need both, no matter what. You need a plan, and you need someone who can employ it and take care of everything.
In the present, it depends on who your team is and what it is that you do. Perhaps, you yourself have a marketing idea and know what you want to do. In that case, you might not need to hire a strategist because you have that down. However, you may want to pick someone from your team that can handle content creation and manage people well. So, you need a social media manager.
Or if you have a team, or you create your content but need guidance as to where you are headed and what your next plans of action should be then you‘ll need a social media strategist.
Sometimes, especially when dealing with a large-scale firm, while your manager heads the social media department, you may need to periodically bring in a strategist to stay updated. You can hire a social media strategist on a monthly basis to check the progress of the campaign and tweak and make adjustments for best performances.
Who you need depends on where your company is at and what your goal is.
If you are just starting out with no experience in marketing and have no one in mind – it may be a good idea to hire both!
Whether you need a social media strategist, social media manager, or both depends on where your company is at and what your goal is.
To talk with me more about working with a social media manager or strategist head to my contact page and fill out the form.