It's the standard American conversation starter, besides discussing the weather: "What do you do?" When I tell people I'm a Social Media Manager, they nod admiringly. Then, more often than not, they furrow their brows and ask something along the lines of: "So what exactly do you do all day?" The standard short answer is that I manage Facebook Pages and other social media accounts for companies. But of course it's a lot more than just that. When I have time, the long answer sounds something like this.
- The social media world is complicated and what might be right for one business might not be for another. Drawing from my substantial knowledge of social media best practices, I build up a unique, individually tailored social media tactic for each of my clients, using an understanding of their goals for being on social media, target demographics and brand identity.
- Just like people have Facebook Profiles, businesses can have Facebook Pages. So, I’m also known as a Facebook Manager. They contain a bio of the business, including its history and anything else that it might put on its website. And just like a person can with a Profile, the company can put out status updates, including pictures and links. Instead of friends, Business Pages have fans. When people "like" a Page, its status updates appear in the person’s news feed, just like their friends' status updates. I help companies create their Pages, and I put out content on their behalf, and respond to comments on their updates and posts on their wall. Acting as the Page, I "like" other Pages, and interact with their content and post messages on their walls. Pages can also advertise on Facebook, so I create and manage those ads as well.