*insert emoji*
Whenever I mention that I work in Social Media it throws people off. One, they can’t believe you can make a career out of social media. Two, they’re amazed. You either get both of those thoughts or one of them. It is a different field and I know that. Who would have thought that social media could be a full-time job? We send out tweets, post pictures, share articles and stories, and use emojis throughout the day. It’s like a dream to some people because how could it be a real job, right? Believe it, it’s a job and it’s harder than you think. But it’s fun, I promise. It’s not just an emoji or hashtag. A lot of work goes on behind the scenes. We’re usually scrambling and panicking when deadlines close in on us.
Today, you’re going to receive some insight on the life of a social media coordinator — that’s what I have been doing for the past two and a half years and I’ve grown with each role. Digital and social media marketing are crazy like it’s crazy how technology works but it’s cool, too. Within my company, there’s a process. We have legal and regulatory to make sure that we’re going things right and not making claims — super important that claims aren’t being made, that’s a no-no. You can get sued for claims if someone realizes it doesn’t do as you say it does, always remember that. There are a few tools we use, too—Spredfast, which is a social media monitoring tool similar to Hootsuite, Simply Measured for the analytics, and Wyng.
Gotta stay organized in social, you can’t just say what’s on your mind like you can with your personal account. Some brands have that free range but not over here. We have to stay within the brand tone and voice, appeal to our audience and not get sued.
Let’s talk about my day. You ready?
Morning
Starting off my day by checking my email because you never know what’s coming in overnight. The first thing that happens is to make sure no high alerts or important messages have come in. If something needs my responses right away, I’ll reply right away and get to it. Monitoring the channels from the previous evening is important, as well. I have two brands so I’m going through quite a few streams to see what’s going on.
As I’m going through the streams through the social media monitoring tool, I’m checking for engagements. The engagements can be either a comment, reaction, retweet, etc. This is something important for analytics and the brand because you want people to engage. The community is who you’re trying to appeal to so that engagement needs to be poppin. You’re guaranteed to laugh at someone throughout the day—not in a mean way but people share funny stuff on the brand pages and it lightens up the mood if you’re dealing with negative sentiment.
Tea. I have to have tea because I’m not a coffee person unless it’s from Starbucks. And snacks. I work in an agency and we have a kitchen that is lined with different candy and cookies — I’m literally a kid in a sweets shop.
Content management is next — making sure that the posts are published and boosted if it’s not organic. Super important because if something doesn’t go out, you have to follow-up on it. Why didn’t it go out? Did the social media monitoring tool not publish the content? You have to always follow-up on everything. The monthly calendars are put together two months in advance and this is something I work on. I prepare the strategic direction and send it out with hopes that it works with the brand and that we have an idea of what is going on in that upcoming month.
Meetings because meetings happen as an adult.
Afternoon
I felt like talking about meetings in this portion because they can happen throughout the day depending on when the account team schedules these meetings. Meetings can vary from creative kick-offs to client presentation to data reports — I enjoy meetings because I get to interact with the team that works on my brand. A few laughs here and there. A lot of meetings with the social team.
The fun meetings are when Facebook, Twitter, Snapchat, Pinterest, or Instagram visit because they show you cool campaigns that can happen with your brand and they always bring swag. Twitter is always killing it with swag and I’ll probably be sad when I fill out the moleskin journal they gave us. Snapchat didn’t give out mini ghosts like I hoped so I’m looking at you Snap, Inc. when you make your next visit… bring stuffed ghosts.
Another check throughout the platforms because social is always happening. It doesn’t ever stop, people are always talking and it’s something that keeps me busy. Engage where we can because there are a few things that can and can’t be replied to. Check the emails because things are always popping up if you could see my inbox you would understand how busy it can get.
Analytics. This is something that I used to hate because I didn’t understand but now I’m like a legit analyst. I can really read the numbers and know what’s working and what’s not working. We present to the brands to let them know what content did the best on the channel and what we should change for the upcoming months.
Evening
The work is never done. Like stated before, social is always happening. We can’t just pause it because the work hours have come and gone. The evening hours are the perfect hours for wrapping up powerpoint presentations. I’m not going to deny that work has come home with me and I’ve continued to work on reporting because I want to make sure my analytical data is correct and shows I learned something.
Side projects are a thing, too. I’ve been working on a side project on work that is finally coming to life and after hours has been the time to really perfect it and pretty the presentation up. Oh yeah, I make that last check for email because some people like to stay after 5 pm and they send emails so I like to be in the know, somewhat.
Well, that’s pretty much it! It sounds boring when you put it into words but I promise it’s not. There’s so much to social whether it’s monitoring and engaging or working on a campaign, a lot of work is happening going on behind the screen. If you’re a blogger, you get it. You have to schedule and put together content, see what works and what doesn’t work—the best part if that your blog is your passion.
If you’re interested in social media marketing, dive into it and learn all that you can learn. No degree is needed, I do have mine but I know plenty of people flourishing without one. Show yourself off! Put together a portfolio and prepare yourself for a fun job. If you have any questions or need any advice, reach out to me! I’m happy to talk about work and social media.
Would you work in social media? What brand would you want to work for?
Loved this. I’ve been building up my portfolio for social media coordinating. I wouldn’t have known how much I loved it if I hadn’t began blogging.
It’s so fun! I’m learning to take on whatever I can and interact with other social people because they always have tips or know something I don’t.
Hello, I’m recently a social media coordinator for a small local restaurant. I want to learn to expand more. I really love doing the job. I want to make a career out of it. I’m wondering do I need a degree? What kind of experience do I need?
No, you definitely don’t need a degree! I found the experience in customer service (retail) and knowing how social media works has helped me. I would look to HubSpot for some of their free courses!