A Day in the Life of a Social Media Account Manager
When I tell people that I “manage social media” for a living, they usually give me a blank look and say something along the lines of, “Oh, so you just post on Facebook and stuff?” Well, yes, I post on Facebook, but there’s a lot more “stuff” that goes into this position than people think. So, let’s dive into a typical day of a Social Media Account Manager at Social High Rise, shall we?
8am – 12pm
My mornings start with the most difficult part of the day – finding the right music to boost productivity! Just kidding, it’s not that hard. Some of my favorite Pandora stations at the moment are Missy Elliott, Breakbot, and The Black Keys. I could also listen to the Harry Potter stations all day, every day. #always
I then begin the day by working on actual tasks involving the day to day management of my clients’ platforms. This means I’m logging into each of the platforms we manage for that restaurant and:
- Checking to ensure things are up to date and looking good.
- Responding to every single Yelp and TripAdvisor review. I craft handwritten, genuine responses that are sent privately to every single person who takes the time to write a review. #customerservice
Next up: Generating conversations and online word of mouth by interacting with people, other businesses, and the community on sites like Facebook and Twitter. This includes:
- Retweeting things that are relevant to the business.
- Commenting on community events.
- Replying to people who’ve checked in on Facebook or Swarm.
One of the most important (and time-consuming!) things I do on behalf of my clients happens is create content to post to their Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram pages. Sometimes business owners send content, but for the most part it’s my job to:
- Find high-quality user-generated photos and edit them to make them look even better.
- Analyze what content performs best.
- Pair the photos with copy that showcases the unique voice of the restaurant. You’ve heard it a million times (because it’s true), but content really is king. I consider content creation one of the most important parts of my job.
12pm-1pm
Lunch break! I usually read a book or grab a bite with my co-workers. It’s important to take breaks to refresh your brain! If you need to justify taking an actual lunch break to yourself, read this great article from Career Contessa about why it’s so important.
1pm-5pm
The afternoons are different depending on the day. The afternoon is typically when I respond to emails and work on extra projects. Projects can include researching and putting together webinars, working on a post for the company blog, planning an upcoming SHR event, etc. I recently dove headfirst into researching how our clients can track their website conversations from Facebook ads, for example. I then put together a short presentation and shared it with the rest of my team to put into practice.
Afternoons are also frequently when we either have meetings or plan upcoming meetings. And of course, one afternoon a week we have our squad breaks. Our account management department is broken up into two small teams. To encourage team comradery, each group does their own activity for 20 minutes or so once a week.
These group excursions allow our team to take a much-deserved break and get out of the office! Plus, they help us build stronger relationships with our squad, who are our go-to people when we have a question or problem we’re trying to solve.
At the end of the day, I take some time to write down how things went in my Reflection Journal. This allows me to take a closer look at things that went well during the day, things that didn’t go so well, and how those things can be improved in the future. It also gets me into the mindset to mentally prepare and plan for the next day’s work. It’s a great way to end the day mindfully and it’s helped me pick up on small details that I would have otherwise just forgotten or not thought critically about. Our team was inspired to start journaling thanks to a fabulous blog post by First Round. This quote sums it all up perfectly: “Startup leaders can’t afford to have low learning efficiency. They must milk each experience for maximum learning. Reflection is the key to accelerating your learning curve.”
And that’s an average day in the life of a Social High Rise Account Manager! I really enjoy the unique way that my position allows me to act as a consultant for small business owners who need advice and ideas. By being there for them and helping them understand the fast-moving world of social and online media, I can help their companies succeed – and that’s what it’s all about!
Want to see more of the behind-the-scenes at Social High Rise? Follow us on social media! You can find us on Facebook at Fb.com/SocialHighRise and on Instagram & Twitter at @socialhighrise.
Did you know?
We've been managing social media accounts for restaurants since 2012. For almost a decade, we've partnered with restauranteurs who are serious about using social media to generate business. Whether you're a good fit for our service or not, let's schedule a call and we'll give you free personalized advice on how to improve your social media presence. Either way, you'll walk away from the call more confident about your ability to promote yourself online - completely for free.
