Social media managers are responsible for planning, developing, implementing and managing strategies for an organization’s social media accounts. Their competence determines how effectively the business can portray its brand value online.

The first step in hiring competent social media managers is access to a pool of highly qualified candidates. This is possible only if you nail the social media manager job description you use on hiring websites, social media channels and career pages. Here’s everything you should include in your description, along with examples to use as a starting point.

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What Do Social Media Managers Do?

Social media managers establish an organization’s online presence and brand value by promoting the company and its products or services through the use of videos, photos, infographics and text posts on social media platforms.

A day in the life of a social media manager may typically include:

  • Planning and developing social media campaigns
  • Crafting compelling content or getting it developed
  • Posting content across social media accounts
  • Engaging with customers on different channels
  • Analyzing running campaigns
  • Staying on top of the latest social media trends

How To Write a Social Media Manager Job Description

A social media manager job description should include a job brief, typical responsibilities, desired skills and qualifications, an equal employment opportunities statement and instructions on how to apply. We will unpack the most essential elements in this article.

Job Brief

A job brief tells the candidate what they are expected to do when they get hired. A social media manager can work across all industries but they usually specialize or have experience in specific sectors. It is a good idea to mention your industry so that you can attract candidates with relevant experience.

Objectives

In this section, you should discuss why you are hiring a social media manager. You should also mention if you already have a person or a team managing your social media accounts or if this is a new position you are creating.

This is also a good place to talk about the key results areas (or KRAs)—such as more traffic, better conversion or better engagement—that you expect the social media manager to achieve.

Responsibilities

Based on the objectives, list out the responsibilities of the social media manager you are looking to hire. The most common responsibilities for social media managers include:

  • Analyze customer expectations according to past social media activity
  • Develop social media campaigns
  • Define key performance indicators and KRAs for social media campaigns
  • Update social media content across all channels
  • Engage with customers and followers
  • Use tools such as Buffer, Hootsuite or any other social media marketing tools that you currently use or plan to use
  • Monitor campaigns and analyze data obtained
  • Track SEO and web traffic metrics
  • Establish relationships with social media influencers to develop a strong network
  • Develop content or assign tasks to content developers
  • Keep an eye on social media trends
  • Communicate effectively to all stakeholders, including senior management and content developers

Skills and Qualifications

Whether you are hiring for an entry-level or senior role, include the minimum skills and qualifications required. Examples include:

  • Experience as a social media manager or a similar role (be specific, and include the number of years of experience)
  • Experience in creating social media strategies
  • Knowledge of best practices for social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Pinterest, etc.
  • Excellent verbal and written communication skills
  • Aptitude for crafting engaging content
  • Strong organizational and multitasking abilities

Preferred Qualifications

Here are some “good to have” qualifications you can mention in your job description:

  • Master’s degree in marketing, digital marketing, internet marketing or related field
  • Prior experience as a copywriter
  • Prior experience as a content manager

You can also include other elements such as information about the company, work culture, equal employment opportunities and benefits offered. You should also add information about what to include with an application, such as a portfolio or data points that establish their expertise.

Social Media Manager Job Description Examples

What we have discussed gives you a theoretical foundation of how to create a social media manager job description. In this section, we show you some examples from live job website posts to give you an idea of how companies are creating job descriptions.

Example 1. Social Media Manager at Are Media

Although the core responsibilities of a social media manager remain the same, the type and format of content they handle depend upon the industry, so it is important to tell candidates about the industry they will be working in at the outset.

In this job description, the company has also touched upon the teams the hired social media manager would collaborate with.

Example 2. Social Media Manager at C&A Global, LLC

The company has clearly mentioned that it needs a social media manager for Instagram and LinkedIn. This encourages candidates with prior experience on these platforms to apply.

If you know which platforms you want to target, mention them clearly in the job description so that candidates with relevant expertise apply.

Example 3. Social Media Manager at Digital People

The company is a digital marketing agency and mentions at the beginning of the job description it is hiring for a client. This is a good practice because it sets candidate expectations at the beginning.

The job description also includes a Company Statement at the end of the description as part of the “About Company” section. We recommend including as much detail as possible in this section to let the candidates know and understand your organization beforehand.

Frequently Asked Questions

Do you need a degree to be a social media manager?

You do not strictly need a degree to be a social media manager, but most professionals in this role hold a bachelor’s degree in marketing, journalism or a similar field. However, experience with social media is essential to becoming a social media manager. You can look for an entry-level job to learn the basics of social media.

What is the average salary for a social media manager?

The average salary for a social media manager is around $57,000 per year as of March 2024, according to Payscale. However, earnings in this field vary by location, seniority and industry. For example, entry-level social media managers with under a year of experience earn an annual average salary of about $44,000, while those with 10-20 years of experience make almost $75,000 a year on average. The highest-paying metro areas for these professionals include San Francisco, New York City and Los Angeles.

Whom does a social media manager report to?

Whom a social media manager reports to varies depending on each company’s unique organizational structure. However, a social media manager usually reports to the senior marketing managers, the marketing director or the chief marketing officer.