Habits of Successful Social Media Manager.

There’s more to being a successful social media manager than keeping your networks updated and responding to questions and feedback. You need to look beyond the day-to-day grind and take the time to pull yourself out of the weeds. 

These are the common habits to all successful practitioners in this field useful to understand.

1. Learn the Latest Tools, But Don’t Act on Them Right Away.

When you’re leading the social media charge you need to keep your finger on the pulse of the new and shiny tools. However, knowing when to adopt these tools — and leap into the latest platform — is key.

If you want to manage your time accordingly, you have to consider each new item you’re adding to your task list. Ask yourself a few questions first:

• Is this new social network a good fit for your brand?
• Is your target audience on this network? Or, is there an audience here you’re trying to grow?
• Is the time you’ll spend on this network worth the return on investment? 

2. Prioritize and Monitor Your Efforts.

The most successful social media managers analyze their numbers and know when to double-up their efforts — or when to cut the cord. Here are  a couple of questions to consider:

• Have you noticed that your efforts with a particular network are no longer netting the same returns?
• Has the audience in that network changed and is no longer a good target for your content?

3. Have Goals and Plans.

Making plans and setting benchmarks is key to growing your social media efforts.  If you haven’t done a lot of tracking, it’s good to start looking at those numbers on paper now. Plotting your course year-over-year will help you see the natural trends in your business. 

4. Engage with Your Entire Organization.

A lot of companies today struggle with finding the right organizational locations for their social media teams. Depending on the type of business you work for, it could logically sit in a few places. That’s why the most successful social media managers consider themselves a part of several teams, and are 

consistently reaching out across the organization.

5. Brand Evangelism Goes Beyond 9-5.

The most successful and effective social media managers truly believe in what they’re selling and promoting. If you can’t get behind the business 100 per cent, and if you’re not the type of person who’ll talk about the product or business in just about any setting, then you may not be fully committed.