Every team is different, but there are always a few key players you need to be successful. This is as true whether you want to win a trophy or a customer.
When Hootsuite’s social media team first started out, we had one person playing the role of social media manager, content creator, and community manager. As our community grew and the need to scale intensified, the roles and responsibilities broke out and a team was born. Growth relies on a fine balance between need, resources, and scalability.
Whether you’re a social media dream team of one or many, two things will rarely ever change: strengths required and responsibilities. We talked about the eight qualities of a kick-ass social media team in a previous blog post:
- Creativity
- Collaboration
- Flexibility
- Agility
- Curiosity
- Detail-oriented
- Social
- Sense of humor
Now that you know what strengths and qualities your social media team needs to have, it’s time to take a closer look at the roles and responsibilities of the individual people on that team—though in some cases, one person may fulfill all of these roles. We sat down with Hootsuite’s own social media team to break down the components of a social media dream team.
The 5 mix n’ match roles of every social media dream team
1. Social media management
Often, all roles and responsibilities related to social media roll up into this one person. Social media managers are responsible for developing and marketing strategies for the business’ social media channels. Whoever is in charge of social media management must oversee all communications and control governance. In a team setting, this person controls who has access to publishing, listening, and passwords.
Looking beyond a social media manager’s job description, this person must follow industry trends and create new strategies for meeting the business’s ever-changing needs.
2. Analytics and strategy
To that point, creating new strategies and following trends relies entirely on statistics. Hootsuite’s social media team monitors for increases in traffic, impressions, reach, share of voice, click-through rates on links, engagement (such as likes, comments, and shares), and new customer signups.
Understanding what metrics and analytics matter to you—and how to pull them—is key to success. Metrics show you how healthy your social media channels are. You can see how people respond to certain content or campaigns and see what’s working (or not) for your audience.
Social media changes so quickly that you must constantly test and change your strategy. Whoever’s in charge of your analytics must monitor for positive and negative trends in your statistics, launch tests, and adjust strategies accordingly. Test things like hashtags, types of content and media, message phrasing, and time of day for publishing.
3. Content creation
Content is the currency of social media. It’s what encourages engagement, all while driving traffic back to your site. For this reason, you need a content creator to write killer blog posts and social media messages. This person often has access to publishing tools like Hootsuite and is responsible for scheduling and sharing content.
In a team environment, collaboration for content creation is essential. If analytics show that particular campaigns or types of media outperform others, for example, it’s up to the content creator to make those changes.
4. Community management
Community management is twofold: listening and connecting through conversations and nurturing relationships. Listening to what’s being said on social around your brand gives you the opportunity to jump into conversations. Making those connections promotes brand loyalty and gives your business a human voice.
Building relationships often turns people into brand advocates and super fans. Advocates, fans, and ambassadors alike give your company legitimacy. They love your brand and want to show it. Having others share your message enhances trust and opens your brand up to new audiences. It’s grassroots marketing efforts like this that helped build Hootsuite to the global brand it is today.
5. Campaigns and promotion
Testing and measuring content is the best way to find out what works best for your audience. Let’s say you’ve nailed down your tone, audience (and the best way to reach them), and you understand what to share. Testing will show you what works with various target markets.
Put paid advertising behind your top performing content—or launch an integrated campaign. One person could run an entire paid social program or it could be broken out into another role depending on need and resources. Success, however, depends entirely on collaboration with those responsible for social media management, analytics, content, and community management.
Start by sharing organic social, test its performance, measure, and then amplify with paid ads or campaigns. Once you find your audience’s sweet spot, stick to it. Make tweaks to your strategy to improve and refresh (and avoid stagnation).
Test everything
Whatever your social media team’s size and strength, find the responsibility mix that works for you and your priorities. Our social media team leaves you with these parting words of advice: test everything and always make it about your customers.
There’s something for every member of your social media team in Hootsuite. Try it free today!