Social media questions marketers get asked often include: Do you scroll through Facebook all day? Can social media really be a full-time job?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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What are the most common social media questions marketers get asked? We put the question to our LinkedIn community<\/a> and based on the responses one thing is clear: There\u2019s a lot of people out there who don\u2019t know what social media marketers do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Questions marketers get asked often include: So do you just scroll around Facebook all day? Can social media really be a full-time job? How do I update my LinkedIn photo? Are you an influencer? The people asking these questions aren\u2019t always your well-meaning aunts and uncles. Sometimes they run companies and only sort of understand the role social media can play for their business.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Whether at an interview or on the job, social media marketers constantly have to prove they know their stuff. And some of that stuff can change overnight with the push of a platform update. We\u2019ve asked the experts and gathered the latest research and resources to help you show that you know the answers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n\n\n\n If you\u2019re a social media manager, you\u2019ve probably been asked these questions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media managers communicate on behalf of a company or organization through social media channels. While the job description varies depending on the size and nature of an organization, responsibilities often include, developing social media strategy and content calendar, creating and scheduling organic and paid campaigns, engaging with followers and fans, building partnerships with brands and influencers, and contributing to PR crisis plans and policies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The job title is often used interchangeably with digital marketing manager<\/strong>, community manager<\/strong>, content creator<\/strong>, and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Skill expectations are high, ranging from copywriting to videography and mastery of various analytics and creative platforms. \u201cThere\u2019s so many roles squished into one that it can be really tough,\u201d says Nick Martin, Hootsuite\u2019s global social engagement specialist. \u201cThat\u2019s when you should build out a business case and advocate for hiring a contractor, or a part-time or full-time team member.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are 11 important skills for a social media manager to have<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The business case for social media is one that managers have to make often. According to research by LinkedIn, 58<\/a>% of digital marketers have to prove social media ROI to get approval for future budget requests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n While those who work in social may be disproportionately called upon to justify costs, building a sound business case is good practice. Align your social media strategy<\/a> with business objectives, track performance metrics, and prove your return on investment<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media managers get asked this question a lot. Unfortunately, there\u2019s no simple answer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s a lot of trial and error involved in building an active and engaged community. Quality content, an active presence, and personality are common characteristics among brands and influencers with large followings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are some tips to help you get more Instagram followers<\/a>, to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sure. But we wouldn\u2019t recommend it<\/a>. It\u2019s generally a waste of money to buy a bunch of followers who have no intention of interacting with your business or, ultimately, buying your product.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s no recipe for virality. For something to \u201cgo viral\u201d it needs to be shareable. When creating a post, ask yourself: Would I share this? That\u2019s usually a good place to start.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This question is akin to asking, \u201cWhat city has the best bagels?\u201d The answer is obviously Montreal. See?<\/p>\n\n\n\n It all depends on who\u2019s answering. Learn about your customers and research platform demographics so you can find and engage with your audience.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here are 100+ Social Media Demographics that Matter to Marketers<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Most consider SixDegrees.com<\/a>, founded by Andrew Weinreich in 1997, the first social media platform. Members could create profiles, friend lists, send private messages, among other features that are now hallmarks of popular platforms. Others trace things back<\/a> to Classmates.com, a site founded in 1995 to \u201chelp high school alumni friends find each other.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are 4.2 billion people<\/a> on social media around the world. That\u2019s more than 50% of the global population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook. With 2.74 billion users.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Hootsuite<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a chronological timeline of the founding dates of Facebook and other platforms:<\/p>\n\n\n\n LinkedIn: May 5, 2003<\/p>\n\n\n\n Facebook: February 2004<\/p>\n\n\n\n YouTube: February 14, 2005<\/p>\n\n\n\n Twitter: March 21, 2006<\/p>\n\n\n\n WhatsApp: 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n Pinterest: December 2009<\/p>\n\n\n\n Instagram: October 6, 2010<\/p>\n\n\n\n WeChat: October 2010<\/p>\n\n\n\n Snapchat: September 16, 2011<\/p>\n\n\n\n TikTok: Bytedance, TikTok\u2019s parent company, was founded in 2012. TikTok launched in North America in September 2016.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s a rundown of social media company acquisitions and ownership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Clubhouse is only the latest social app to be put behind the \u201cGreat Firewall\u201d in China. As of February 2021, the list of sites banned in Mainland China includes Facebook, Messenger, Instagram, Twitter, Pinterest, Reddit, WhatsApp, Snapchat, and YouTube.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A noteworthy U.S.-based outlier on the list is LinkedIn. Otherwise, apps popular and available in China tend to be homegrown, including Douyin (TikTok), WeChat, Sina Weibo, and TenCent QQ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Last June in India, TikTok, WeChat, and 57 other Chinese apps<\/a> were banned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Engagement rate is a formula that measures social interaction against audience size. It can be adjusted based on the engagement metrics that are most stable, or matter most to your organization. Here are six ways to calculate engagement rate.<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n From the Hootsuite Social Media Dictionary: \u201cA vanity metric<\/a> is an analytics item that can be measured but is not a signifier of real return on investment. Examples include the number of followers, likes, or comments. These metrics are best contextualized by more concrete numbers such as click-through rate or visitor-to-lead conversions.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There may be a few digital content creators who know social media image specs by heart. The rest of us use Google. And Hootsuite\u2019s cheat sheet<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Creating a social media strategy is no small task. Social media strategies should outline business objectives and set social media goals that will help achieve them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Strategies should include audience analysis, a competitive audit, and discovery research. Of course, they should also include stellar content and community ideas, as well as timelines, and measurement plans.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For more details, read our social media strategy guide<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Where don\u2019t<\/em> social marketers look for inspiration? \u201cI kind of sponge inspiration from everywhere,\u201d says Nick Martin who cites movies, tourism marketing, and more as sources. \u201cI personally get really inspired looking at tourism marketing,\u201d he says. But it\u2019s different for everyone.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For industry insider news, he suggests following the hashtag #MarketingTwitter. \u201cThere\u2019s a whole community sharing what they\u2019re learning day-to-day, tips and tricks, and asking and answering questions,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n There\u2019s also the Hootsuite blog. \u201cBefore I came to Hootsuite, I honestly looked at the Hootsuite blog a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n It would be weird if we didn\u2019t plug Hootsuite here, right? Obviously, we think Hootsuite\u2019s scheduling, analytics, and collaborative tools are pretty great. For social listening, Nick Martin uses Talkwalker and Brandwatch.<\/p>\n\n\n\n For design, Martin\u2019s go-to is Canva. \u201cI have zero design bones in my body and Canva makes it easy for me to create visuals that look professional,\u201d he says. \u201cAmplify<\/a> is another tool I use all the time to help fill my social media channels with content.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n There are loads of social media tools out there\u2014and favorites often come down to user preference or workplace buy-in. We\u2019ve rounded up a few lists of our recommended social monitoring<\/a>, management<\/a>, and analytics<\/a> tools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A lot of social media platforms have built-in scheduling tools. Facebook and Instagram posts can be scheduled via Creator Studio<\/a>. Twitter lets you schedule tweets from its Compose Mode interface<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n To schedule posts from different networks from one central dashboard, there\u2019s Hootsuite. Hootsuite\u2019s platform allows you to compose and schedule posts in bulk, assign approvals, and stay on top of your social media content calendar. Here\u2019s how to create a social media posting schedule<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As the American novelist Mark Twain allegedly said: \u201cData is like garbage. You\u2019d better know what you\u2019re going to do with it before you collect it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media analytics can be daunting if you\u2019re not sure how to apply your findings<\/a>. In basic terms, social data should help you learn about your audiences, identify trends, and see what works.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Here\u2019s an example. Hootsuite\u2019s global social engagement specialist, Nick Martin, had a hunch that the tweets without links inspired more interaction. So, he used social data to test the theory out<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If you work in social media, it\u2019s important to grapple with these questions and issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt\u2019s really easy to not have a good work-life balance, especially working in social media because social media never sleeps,\u201d says Martin. He maintains boundaries by setting firm work hours, keeping work stuff off his personal phone, and having good contingency plans<\/a> prepared in advance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n During crunch time, he uses the Pomodoro technique, a time management tactic that breaks work into 25-minute sprints, which is a good way to avoid falling down the social media vortex.<\/p>\n\n\n\n As much as possible, he recommends social media managers do their best to set expectations, \u201cbecause 24\/7 social media coverage is just not realistic or healthy.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Watch our webinar, \u201cHow to Combat Mental Fatigue for Social Media Professionals<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n For people who work on social media, trolls are a workplace hazard<\/a>. Online harassment is a serious issue, whether it\u2019s directed at you, your company, people depicted in your content, or your community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Work with your team, managers, or relevant personnel to establish a social media policy<\/a> and community guidelines<\/a>. Determine how or if social managers should respond to messages, whether they should be blocked and\/or reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Even with every tactic in place, it\u2019s hard to mitigate the mental health toll caused by online abuse. As much as you can, advocate within your organization for mental health awareness and resources.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Yes, it can. Several studies have linked moderate to excessive social media use to issues with anxiety, self-esteem, depression, concentration, sleep, and worse. These effects can be especially damaging<\/a> for teenagers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among social media professionals, even on a good day those surveyed by West Virginia University rated their mental health at 6.35\/10. During a crisis, that rating dropped to 4.52\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Social media can also have positive effects<\/a> under the right conditions. To limit negative effects, create a self-care plan or \u201cpersonal protective equipment\u201d as Jon-Stephen Stansel from the University of Central Arkansas put it in our recent webinar on mental health<\/a>. Take breaks, cleanse negative content from your feeds, build a support network, and have resources handy.<\/p>\n\n\n\nCommon social media questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What is a social media manager and what do they do?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Why does social media marketing cost so much?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do I grow my follower count?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Can we just buy followers?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you make something go viral?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What social media platforms are best?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Social media questions that show you know your stuff<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
What was the first social media platform?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How many people are on social media?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What\u2019s the biggest social media platform?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
When was Facebook founded?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Which companies own which social media platforms?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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Which social media channels are banned in China?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Technical social media questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How do you measure engagement rate?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are vanity metrics?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are the image dimensions for each social network ?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you create a social media strategy?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Where do social marketers look for inspiration?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
What are the best tools for social media marketing?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you schedule social media posts?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you use social media data?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Tough social media questions<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n
How do social media marketers manage work\/life balance?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
How do you deal with trolls and online harassment?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n
Does social media have a negative effect on mental health?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n