Social Media Management: The Ultimate Guide

Social media absorption is the process of overseeing each item related to your brand's societal media presence. To turn consciousness and link with your people audience.

Social media managers are typically the individuals liable for this. And their main tasks whitethorn include:

• Developing a societal media strategy
• Creating and posting societal content
• Responding to comments and messages from followers and different users
• Monitoring societal channels for marque mentions and applicable conversations
• Identifying and collaborating with influencers
• Setting up and managing paid societal media advertizing campaigns
• Tracking cardinal show metrics and creating reports
• Continuously optimizing tactics based connected show data

Some businesses person a dedicated societal media manager oregon a squad handling these activities. Others outsource to freelancers oregon societal media selling agencies.

Below, we’ll sermon wherefore societal media absorption is important for your brand, your options for societal media management, and however to negociate your societal media beingness if you opt to bash it yourself.

Social media absorption ensures you’re moving toward squad objectives that lend to your company’s larger goals. 

Specifically, it tin assistance with:

• Building marque awareness
• Fostering community
• Driving postulation to your website
• Generating leads
• Cultivating lawsuit loyalty

Let’s accidental you’re looking to turn marque consciousness crossed societal media by a definite percentage. To enactment your business’s gross maturation goals. 

Now, see that much than five cardinal people usage societal media. 

If you usage societal media, you tin pat into invaluable opportunities to scope and prosecute your target audience (i.e., radical who are apt to bargain from you).

For example, Wendy’s has 3.7 cardinal followers connected X (formerly Twitter).

Their posts regularly scope hundreds of thousands of people. And make tons of comments, shares, and likes.

They besides actively respond to users. 

All this creates a batch of affirmative attraction for Wendy's. Which tin thrust radical to their restaurants.

On the different hand, poorly managed societal media accounts tin nonstop antagonistic signals. Suggesting that a marque is retired of interaction oregon indifferent to its audience. 

This cognition tin propulsion imaginable customers toward competitors.

In short, societal media absorption helps you support a affirmative marque representation and physique relationships. Which tin construe to concern success. 

Choosing betwixt in-house and outsourced societal media absorption depends connected your company's needs and resources.

In-house societal media management gives you implicit control, makes implementing changes quick, and ensures posts and comments are ever aligned with your brand. But it tin instrumentality clip to make expertise, and the indispensable tools and hiring tin beryllium costly.

Outsourced societal media management gives you contiguous entree to skilled professionals and frees you to absorption connected much pressing matters. But it removes immoderate of your control, often involves delays, and tin rapidly go costly depending connected the services you need. 

If you're a tiny concern looking to turn your beingness without a immense upfront investment, hiring an in-house societal media manager could beryllium a bully start.

But if you request specialized cognition oregon privation to standard quickly, an outer bureau oregon freelancer whitethorn beryllium a amended choice.

You tin negociate societal media utilizing the tools disposable connected the societal platforms themselves. But galore businesses usage third-party social media absorption tools to consolidate their efforts successful 1 spot and summation further insights.

Below, we’ll screen tactics for societal media absorption success. And societal media absorption bundle solutions you tin usage for each step.

1. Set Goals

Setting societal media absorption goals gives you absorption and ensures you enactment connected way to scope institution goals.

Your goals should beryllium specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART).

For instance, alternatively than a vague extremity similar "increase engagement," a SMART extremity would beryllium "increase the mean engagement complaint by 20% wrong the adjacent 2 months."

This clarity guides decisions astir what formats to create, what topics to absorption on, etc. And ensures you usage your clip and resources efficiently. 

2. Identify Your Target Audience

Understanding your target assemblage can assistance you take the close platforms, make compelling content, and prosecute with users much effectively.

Start by gathering insights astir your existent societal media followers by looking into your societal media analytics. 

Platforms similar Meta supply assemblage insights. Such arsenic age, gender, and determination breakdowns.

Next, usage Semrush's One2Target to analyse your people audience.

Open the tool, take your location, and participate the domains of up to 5 competitors. Then, click “Analyze.”

Check the "Demographics" tab (which you’ll scope by default) to larn astir the audience’s age, gender, and determination data.

Go to the "Socioeconomics" tab to spot the audience's household size, income level, employment status, and acquisition level.

Finally, click the "Behavior" tab to spot the interests, instrumentality types, and societal platforms that are astir fashionable with this audience.

Use these assemblage insights to prioritize your societal media absorption efforts.

For example, if the information shows the assemblage is mostly radical betwixt the ages of 35 and 34 who enactment afloat clip and similar YouTube, you mightiness absorption connected creating short-form societal videos.

You tin negociate societal media accounts connected 1 oregon much platforms. But the close platforms for your marque beryllium connected who you’re trying to reach. 

For example, galore radical usage Pinterest to get location decor inspiration. So it’s large for brands similar IKEA. 

And they get much than 10 cardinal views connected their Pinterest boards each period (as of February 2024).

Whereas tons of tech lovers bent retired connected Discord. So brands similar Samsung are contiguous there.

Revisit the accusation you recovered successful One2Target to place the champion platforms for you. And see doing adjacent much probe into your competitors’ societal media presences.

Their follower numbers springiness an thought of imaginable scope (or the full fig of radical who perchance spot their content).

While views, likes, comments, and shares amusement engagement potential.

Once you’ve created your database of imaginable societal platforms, you request to prioritize.

Use these tips to help:

• Start small: It’s amended to negociate 1 level good than respective platforms poorly. Start with 1 oregon 2 accounts and physique your beingness implicit time. To trim the hazard of spreading yourself excessively thin.
• Play to your strengths: Start connected platforms you’re acquainted with. And instrumentality to the contented formats that suit them.
• Pick akin platforms: Repurposing contented crossed aggregate platforms tin prevention you time. The much akin the platforms you’re using, the easier this is. 
• Do a proceedings run: As a test, make a week’s worthy of contented for the level you’re considering. This should springiness you a bully thought of the resources required.

4. Create and Optimize Your Social Media Profiles

Now, it’s clip to make (or optimize) your brand’s profiles.

The process differs by platform. But present are immoderate champion practices to support successful mind:

Choose Appropriate Social Media Handles

Many societal media platforms necessitate you to take a handle. This is the alias your marque goes by connected the platform.

Intuitive and accordant handles marque it easier for radical to find your brand. And tag you successful conversations.

For example, Semrush goes by “@semrush” connected YouTube, X, Facebook, Pinterest, and Instagram.

Creating aggregate accounts? Use Namecheckr to spot what handles are available.

Want to alteration 1 of your existing handles? Check retired the respective societal platform’s enactment conception for guidance.

Use Appealing Profile Pictures

Your illustration representation is the main representation associated with a societal media account. And consistency crossed profiles makes it easier for radical to admit your brand. 

Most businesses usage their logo.

If you’re gathering a idiosyncratic brand, you could usage a high-quality headshot instead.

And cognize that immoderate platforms let you to upload other illustration images (e.g., the header representation connected X).

This tin besides beryllium a large mode to beforehand your latest campaign.

Write Compelling Bios

The bio is the abbreviated statement that appears connected a societal media profile. Which you tin usage to explicate what your concern does and wherefore idiosyncratic should travel you. 

For example, Semrush’s Pinterest bio uses societal impervious and an emoji to drawback users’ attention.

And capable successful immoderate different fields, specified arsenic your website URL and interaction details. To marque it easier for societal media users to larn astir and prosecute with your brand.

Try looking astatine your rivals’ bios for inspiration. 

Complete Verification Steps

Social media verification is the process of proving that your marque relationship is authentic. That it truly belongs to you oregon your concern (and isn’t being tally by an imitator).

Most societal media platforms show a “Verified” badge connected verified profiles. Like this:

If you tin get verified, you should (just enactment that verification connected X requires a paid plan). To physique spot with users. 

Modify Your Privacy Settings

Check each platform’s privateness settings to guarantee anyone tin find, follow, and interaction your brand.

For example, “Public posts” are disposable to radical connected and disconnected X. And are eligible to look successful X hunt results and Google hunt results.

Meanwhile, “Protected posts” are lone disposable to your X followers.

To support (or unprotect) your posts, spell to your relationship settings. And click “Privacy and safety” > “Audience, media and tagging.”

Then click oregon unclick the checkbox beside “Protect your posts” and “Protect your videos.”

You tin besides marque it easier for radical to privately connection you for lawsuit work reasons. By going backmost to your "Privacy and safety" settings. And clicking connected "Direct messages."

From there, you tin configure who tin connection you nether "Allow connection requests from." And adjacent filter retired low-quality messages.

Remember to reappraisal privateness settings connected each your societal media accounts. If you request help, cheque retired each platform’s enactment pages.

5. Post High-Quality Content

The cardinal to occurrence connected immoderate societal media level is consistently posting high-quality contented your people assemblage finds helpful, interesting, and/or entertaining. 

So, strategically program your societal contented to gain followers and crook them into loyal customers. Here’s how:

Create a Posting Strategy and Schedule

Developing a posting strategy and docket helps you prevention clip and enactment connected way toward your goals.

To start, database the contented formats disposable connected your chosen platforms. This volition assistance you brainstorm bully ideas.

For Instagram, your database mightiness look similar this:

• Reels (videos up to 90 seconds with an facet ratio of 9:16)
• Photos (aspect ratio betwixt 1.91:1 and 4:5)
• Carousels (up to 10 videos and photos successful a azygous post)
• Stories (photos and videos that vanish aft 24 hours)

Next, travel up with the types of contented you could make for each format. Such arsenic lawsuit studies, tutorials, oregon merchandise demos. (Get much ideas from this database of social contented types.)

Narrow it down to the champion ideas by considering wherefore your assemblage volition find that contented invaluable and however you’ll make it.

Keep your notes unneurotic successful a document.

Let’s accidental you’re doing societal media selling absorption for the camera marque GoPro. The commencement of your Instagram strategy mightiness look similar this:

Here’s an illustration of a resulting post:

To find retired what contented performs champion successful your niche, effort Social Tracker (part of Semrush Social). 

The “Top Content by Channel” conception showcases posts with the champion engagement. (From competitors’ profiles and your own.)

Next, determine however often to station connected each platform. And astatine what times.

Go to the “Activity” tab for applicable societal media platforms successful Social Tracker to find retired erstwhile your competitors post. And however engagement varies by day.

And deliberation astir cardinal points successful your people audience’s day. For example, professionals mightiness cheque LinkedIn earlier they commencement enactment for the day. 

Creating and scheduling contented successful beforehand makes it easier to execute the following:

• Prepare for upcoming events similar selling campaigns and nationalist holidays
• Maintain a accordant posting schedule
• Post a assortment of content

It besides gives societal media managers much clip to absorption connected assemblage engagement each day.

The champion mode to enactment organized is to usage a social media contented calendar. Which lays retired what you’ll station and when.

Our free societal media calendar template includes the pursuing columns: 

Once you person your template copy, populate the calendar with ideas. 

Try to usage a assortment of contented types from your societal strategy. And instrumentality upcoming events into account.

Let’s accidental you wanted to stock GIFs and New Year’s Day is coming up. You could make an animated “Happy New Year” greeting for your followers.

Create Your Posts

Next, bring your ideas to life.

Use AI Social Content Generator to rapidly make engaging posts—including videos, images, and carousels—for assorted societal media platforms. 

Open the app and acceptable up your relationship by providing details astir your brand.

Once done, prime "Text to Post" arsenic the benignant of station you privation to create.

Add the taxable you privation to absorption on. And marque the punctual elaborate to guarantee the champion imaginable output.

Next, prime the benignant of station you need, the input and output language, and take your ain assets oregon fto the AI bash it for you. 

Once you’re done, click “Generate.”

The instrumentality volition make your societal media posts. And they’ll beryllium stored successful the "Content Library."

Once your posts are ready, the last measurement is scheduling them.

Semrush Social’s Social Poster instrumentality allows you to simultaneously docket posts connected up to six societal media platforms: Facebook, X, Instagram, Pinterest, LinkedIn, and Google Business Profile. (Google Business Profile isn’t strictly a societal media site. But you tin station updates to your profile.)

Just take the due platform(s) for your post, adhd your content, and click “Schedule” to take erstwhile the post(s) should publish.

6. Engage with Your Audience

In summation to scheduling content, show enactment successful your niche utilizing societal media absorption platforms to place conversations you tin beryllium a portion of. And prosecute with trends that tin boost your visibility.

Here are a fewer ways to prosecute with your followers: 

Monitor Brand Mentions

You should cognize erstwhile radical are talking to (or about) your brand. So you tin respond efficaciously and marque adjustments to your strategy.

This is called “social listening.”

To get alerts erstwhile idiosyncratic addresses your marque directly, usage the Social Inbox instrumentality successful Semrush Social to spot Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn mentions successful 1 place.

You tin adjacent nonstop responses here. It’s an businesslike mode to negociate aggregate accounts.

You tin besides power connected notifications successful your idiosyncratic societal media accounts for the following:

• Tags: Someone tagged your @handle successful a station oregon comment
• Replies: Someone replied to your station oregon comment
• Direct messages: Someone messaged you privately
• Comments: Someone commented connected your post
• Reactions: Someone reacted (e.g., “Liked”) to your station oregon comment

And thing other that’s applicable connected the platform.

To cognize erstwhile idiosyncratic mentions your marque without tagging, get automatic updates with the Media Monitoring app. 

For example, here’s a study for Amazon that includes marque mentions connected TikTok:

The app besides indicates whether mentions person positive, negative, oregon neutral sentiment. Which helps you find whether to intervene—and how.

Always respond to antagonistic comments first. Addressing issues quickly, politely, and efficaciously tin forestall them from escalating.

Resolve backstage and analyzable matters via nonstop connection (or different backstage channel).

If idiosyncratic posts thing positive, responding (or reacting) tin fortify your narration with them. And gully others’ attraction to their praise.

Like Robinhood did here:

Join and Start Conversations

To support way of conversations successful your niche, travel competitors and influencers. Who you tin find by searching applicable keywords connected each platform.

And subscribe to applicable topics oregon hashtags, if possible. 

For example, spell to “More” > “Topics” connected X. And click the “+” icon connected immoderate topics you’re funny in.

Then, instrumentality immoderate clip each time to place large talking points (and fashionable posts) successful your feed. And get progressive erstwhile you tin adhd value.

On TikTok, galore brands remark connected different users’ videos (especially those going viral). To summation vulnerability and physique a personable marque image.

But commencement conversations, too.

Simple questions and prompts tin boost engagement and get radical talking. And references to trending topics amusement you’re portion of the community. 

On TikTok, brands pat into trending sounds and memes to make engagement. The site’s Creative Center tin assistance you find what’s hot.

Amplify Others

Sharing idiosyncratic else’s contented makes them much apt to prosecute with your post. Which tin get you successful beforehand of their assemblage to turn marque awareness.

They mightiness adjacent instrumentality the favour astatine a aboriginal date. By sharing your contented from their account.

For the champion results, amplify influencers successful your niche. Meaning radical with a people assemblage you privation to pat into.

Repost their contented alongside your commentary. Or, stock contented from elsewhere (e.g., blog posts) and tag the creator.

We urge pursuing these guidelines erstwhile amplifying idiosyncratic else’s content:

• Share contented from creators who marque consciousness for your marque (i.e., creators successful a akin niche oregon creators who straight notation your marque oregon product)
• Amplify a assortment of creators
• Continue to dedicate astir of your clip and resources to producing archetypal content

7. Expand Your Reach with Ads

Social media advertising allows you to scope a targeted assemblage beyond your integrated followers connected the platforms you’re already using. Putting you successful beforehand of much radical who are apt to beryllium funny successful what you offer.

One elemental mode to get started is by boosting your regular societal media posts.

Create a regular post. And past wage to “boost” its visibility successful much people’s feeds. Which tin assistance you execute run goals with contented you already have.

These "boosted" posts person a "Sponsored" oregon “Promoted” statement to signify that they’re ads:

You tin besides make dedicated ads.

Before you get started, summation immoderate inspiration from competitors’ campaigns utilizing the AdClarity app. It shows you:

• Which platforms they’re advertizing on
• Which advertisement formats they’re using
• How overmuch they’re spending
• How galore impressions they’re getting
• Which of their ads execute best

Use this accusation to pass your ain campaigns.

Now, here’s an overview of immoderate fashionable platforms and the format and targeting options for each:

Meta Ads

Facebook and Instagram connection a scope of advertisement options:

• Image and video ads successful users’ feeds and successful stories
• Carousel ads with aggregate images oregon videos
• Collection ads that showcase products
• Messenger ads that commencement conversations
• Augmented world ads that let radical to "try on" products

You tin people Meta ads based connected demographics, interests, behaviors, and different attributes. You tin besides make lookalike audiences that see radical who stock characteristics with your existing customers.

X Ads

X offers respective advertisement formats, including:

• Image and video ads
• Carousel ads with up to six images oregon videos
• Vertical video ads that instrumentality up the users’ afloat screen
• Collection ads that amusement a radical of related offerings successful a azygous view

X's targeting options see keywords, interests, and behaviors. You tin besides people circumstantial accounts' followers oregon make customized audiences.

LinkedIn Ads

LinkedIn provides advertisement options like:

• Sponsored messaging sent straight to users' inboxes
• Text and dynamic ads
• Video ads
• Event ads to beforehand your LinkedIn events

LinkedIn lets you people based connected company, job, education, interests, and different attributes. You tin besides upload interaction lists.

YouTube Ads

YouTube offers respective video advertisement formats, like:

• Skippable and non-skippable in-stream ads that play before, during, oregon aft a video
• Video find ads that look successful hunt results and adjacent to related videos
• Bumper ads—six-second, non-skippable video ads
• Masthead ads that look astatine the apical of the YouTube homepage

You tin people YouTube ads based connected demographics, interests, and behaviors. You tin besides amusement ads to radical who’ve interacted with your videos oregon YouTube channel.

TikTok Ads

TikTok offers respective advertisement types, including:

• In-feed ads that look successful users' "For You" feeds
• TopView ads that look erstwhile users unfastened the app
• Branded hashtag situation ads that promote idiosyncratic participation
• Branded effect ads that let brands to make customized filters and lenses

TikTok's targeting options see demographics, interests, behaviors, and devices. You tin besides make customized and lookalike audiences.

Pinterest Ads

Pinterest provides advertisement formats like:

• Static and video Pins that look successful users' feeds and hunt results
• Carousel ads with aggregate images
• Shopping ads that diagnostic products
• App instal ads

Pinterest allows targeting based connected interests, keywords, demographics, and lawsuit lists. You tin besides retarget radical who’ve engaged with your pins oregon website.

Further reading: A Guide to the Best Advertising Platforms for Your Business

8. Collaborate with Influencers

Influencer marketing involves moving with societal media influencers to beforehand your brand. 

It allows you to pat into an established audience. And subordinate your marque with a fashionable personality.

Influencers autumn into 3 categories:

• Micro-influencers person less than 100,000 followers. They’re large for targeted campaigns due to the fact that they often person a beardown transportation with their audiences.
• Macro-influencers person betwixt 100,000 to 1 cardinal followers. They assistance summation marque consciousness owed to their larger assemblage size.
• Celebrities person implicit 1 cardinal followers and tin importantly boost your brand’s visibility. Although, they’re the astir costly to spouse with.

Use the Influencer Analytics app to hunt for perfect influencers. 

Open the tool, spell to "Influencer Discovery," and prime the level you privation to absorption on.

Next, usage filters to constrictive down the database of influencers based connected your requirements and budget. 

You’ll past get a database of results you tin review.

Click connected an idiosyncratic influencer's illustration for further data. Including their interaction details (if available).

The app besides has influencer recruitment, collaboration, and analytics tools to assistance you tally your full influencer selling campaign.

Once you’ve identified the influencers to spouse with, scope retired to them with a proposal. Here are immoderate communal collaboration types you tin spell with:

• One-time sponsored posts: The influencer creates contented featuring your merchandise oregon service
• Contests and giveaways: The influencer promotes a contention oregon giveaway featuring your merchandise oregon service
• Long-term ambassadorships: The influencer consistently beforehand your marque implicit an extended play of time

Micro-influencers are typically the astir affordable, but immoderate influencers are unfastened to negotiation. Especially for semipermanent partnership.

Further reading: How to Find Influencers for Your Brand

9. Measure Your Results

Monitoring and analyzing societal media results shows you what’s moving and what isn’t. So you tin amended your societal media absorption and support growing.

One cardinal metric to show is assemblage size—the fig of followers oregon subscribers you person connected each platform.

View everything astatine a glimpse (including your competitors’ follower counts) successful the Social Tracker instrumentality wrong Semrush Social.

But it’s besides omniscient to absorption connected expanding engagement. (The fig of interactions specified arsenic likes, comments, clicks, and replies.) 

Engagements are affirmative signals that you’re doing thing right. And engaged followers whitethorn beryllium much apt to go customers.

Measure your engagements successful Social Tracker arsenic well. You’ll find competitors’ information successful the overview tab. Which tin supply context—and springiness you thing to purpose for.

To show the occurrence of idiosyncratic posts, caput to the “Posts” study successful the “Facebook” oregon “Instagram” tab. Or the “Tweets” study successful the “Twitter” tab.

Engagement complaint (“Eng. rate”) is simply a cardinal metric for examination here. (Visit our cognition basal to learn however it’s calculated.)

Click connected the file caput to benignant from highest to lowest. That way, you’ll spot which posts performed champion successful your chosen clip period. Then, look for trends successful station types, hashtags, and times.

Findings present volition assistance you refine your contented strategy. 

Let’s accidental your photograph posts outperformed substance posts connected Facebook. Next month, you tin put much clip successful imagery. And spot if it improves your wide engagement rate.

Further reading: 18 Social Media KPIs (and How to Track Them)

Semrush Social saves you clip connected societal media management. And provides insights to amended your brand’s strategy.

Whether you’re a societal media manager oregon tally societal accounts for your ain business, you tin usage the toolkit to docket posts, way performance, and more.