The increasing importance that social networks and Internet platforms have gained in today’s society has compelled businesses to recruit digital specialists such as social media directors to manage their social media presence.
The position of social media director was created at a time when the digital world was becoming increasingly important for firms’ marketing, communication, advertising efforts, and social prospecting.
However, despite the fact that this position concentrates its activities on social media and other internet channels, its functions are diverse and are developed both within and outside the organization.
Their daily tasks
A social media director is an individual in charge of developing the social media strategy of a company. An original plan can only be implemented by a social media director who keeps up with the newest industry trends and is aware of the key monitoring tools, as well as their changes and additions.
However, their responsibilities are not confined to the organization as a whole. This professional must be able to track the evolution of the competition as well as the evolution of the company’s primary clients. To put it another way, they must keep track of the market’s progress.
The person responsible for setting the indicators will also be responsible for quantifying the success (or failure) of the actions. Answering queries such as “What are we going to measure?” is part of their job descriptions.
The social aims of the organization/company are not static; they change in response to changes in the demands of the organization. If the objectives and strategy change, a social media director must communicate this to a community manager so that they can make necessary adjustments.
A member of this profile is responsible for reviewing and interpreting the data provided by a community manager, drawing conclusions, and determining what is working and what is not working while also suggesting remedies.
Brand crises
Let us not forget that these situations are a threat to any brand reputation and that it is critical to deal with them as soon as they arise in order to prevent big issues from developing.
All crises are different, and the social media director will be responsible for developing a response strategy for each specific situation, such as dissatisfied customers for a reason, trolls, a defective product, a communication campaign mistake, an inappropriate comment by a company Director in the media, and so on.
When a crisis occurs, it will be the community manager that will be in charge of implementing the appropriate contingency plan. The social media director, on the other hand, will be the one in charge of taking charge of the issue and making the necessary judgments.
Keep in mind that they are the person in charge of the organization’s social media platforms. As a result, they are responsible for controlling, supervising, and coordinating the actions of the entire team to ensure that they always adhere to the established plan.
What makes a perfect social media director?
A social media director prefers strategic talents, as opposed to the communicative profile of a community manager, as this allows them to design the optimal approach for each campaign.
Internally, however, specific communication skills are required: a social media director must be able to communicate the decisions that have been made as well as the activities that each member of the team is expected to perform.
They must also possess analytical abilities since this professional will be required to make conclusions from all of the data supplied to them by a community manager and modify future activities in response to the current outcomes.
They must also be familiar with how the company’s industry (as well as the company itself) operates in social media. Accordingly, they must determine the most effective times to promote certain materials based on the number of votes, interactions with other users, and, of course, the number of conversions achieved.
This expert must be able to operate well under pressure and make sound decisions in a timely manner. This is the only way they will be able to deal with a crisis involving their online reputation.
Those in charge of maintaining their knowledge, on the other hand, must do so. Reading blogs on the issue, keeping an eye on what the competition is doing, experimenting with new tools, and so on are all necessary steps in launching an innovative strategy. This necessitates, to some measure, an openness to new ideas.
Social media directors must allow themselves to become complacent; they must continually experiment with new technologies and make adjustments to those elements that are not working.
It is possible for reputational crises to occur at any time, and this professional must be on the lookout for them at all times. This expert must be prepared to deal with a problem as soon as it develops in order to resolve it as quickly as feasible.
Finally, to be a successful social media director, you must be familiar with the key social media networks as well as the main social media strategies that will allow you to ensure that your actions have the greatest possible impact on your target audience.