With basic social media marketing jobs getting automated, critical thinking skills now in demand. Source: Pexels
THERE IS no denying the fact that a strong social media presence is key to a brand’s success in the digital age.
To grow that presence and create some influence, businesses hire social media managers. Thus far, it has been their job to create or curate content to ‘post’ on the social media platforms.
However, with automation and intelligent tools, curation and posting content on social media channels has become fairly effortless.
Even content creation has become simplified as a result of companies pushing consumers to create content with innovative Instagram and Snapchat filters, hashtag campaigns, and challenges on platforms such as TikTok.
The job of the social media manager, therefore, has become arguably tougher, and companies looking to fill open positions in the category seem to be looking for critical thinking skills, now more than ever before.
According to a new study by SEMrush which analyzed several social media manager job postings online found that the most important skill is the ability to think strategically and to implement different social media campaigns into the general strategy, and, of course, being able to form the given strategy.
SEMrush’s analysis revealed that 58 percent of job offers mentioned “strategy” in their list of requirements.
Of course, writing (41 percent) and editing (22 percent) appeared to be crucial skills for a good social media marketing manager as well, although the emphasis on these skills seem to be less pronounced.
Further, given the move towards measurement in the digital age, companies looking for new social media managers seem to be expecting analytical skills as well.
Analytics, SEMrush’s study said, was mentioned in 40 percent of the job descriptions it reviewed, with 26 percent of job postings defining knowledge of social media marketing metrics as a key skill.
According to the study, search engine optimization (SEO) is also becoming a key part of every social media marketer’s job — with 21 percent of cited familiarity with SEO best practices as a requirement.
Overall, the reality is that social media marketing managers need to evolve. Although they’re still going to work within a digital marketing team, their role now seems to have expanded beyond curating, creating, and posting content.
Given the ability to automate those tasks, companies expect to focus their staff on analyzing performance and finding trends such as customer’s tastes, preferences, and choices, based on data.
Ultimately, the role of the social media marketing manager is evolving and professionals need to upgrade their skills in order to keep up.
Critical thinking skills are in demand along with analytics capabilities because the two are expected to help social media managers better manage their spends, boost reach, and help create substantial influence for the brand.
Soumik Roy is a business and technology specialist. He helps small and medium enterprise owners understand what’s most important to their company’s growth and success.