Anxiety and thrill of uncertainty: What makes social media managers tick
When TikTok CEO Shou Zi Chew was pressed by U.S. lawmakers with questions around data security and harmful content at the end of March, it placed many social media strategists on tenterhooks – again.
Potentially, months of nailing how to make content fly on TikTok, all for nothing.
The social media graveyard is strewn with long-dead formats (remember Facebook Live?) that publishers and brands have previously obsessed over in order to boost audiences. As such, social media professionals are familiar with having to pivot as the newest, shiny format emerges, or a platform comes crashing down, or a new one rises.
For some though, that’s what attracts them to the role.
“The uncertainty of the TikTok ban can be quite exciting for social media gurus that like a challenge and change, which is most of us,” said Rachel Wyman, social media manager at ArtistOnGo, a rental platform built for independent beauty artists. “It can be intimidating to some, but what is in the blood of social media managers is that willingness to try new things and try out weird trends as well.”
More recently, that was navigating what would come out of photo sharing app BeReal, which originally received a lot of hype but later fizzled out. Now, eyes are on Lemon8, an app that focuses on lifestyle photo sharing for inspiration and recommendations, and whether it will stick.
To cope and excel in this fast-changing job, social media managers need to possess a number of different skills, with adaptability and flexibility at the top of the list. While some may enjoy the thrill of working under such uncertainty, there is a sense of ongoing frustration for those who hold this job title because they need to master a format or platform with the understanding that it may become obsolete within a short period.
“We have to keep this idea that these are just rented spaces,” said Molly Blanco, director of marketing at online reputation management for business company Reputation, about different social media platforms. “We don’t own them. It’s really important that we have the capacity to get the consumers’ attention, give them a reason to want to come to our owned space, whether it’s our newsletter or website. Stuff happens, you don’t want to put all of your eggs into your social media channels and they disappear overnight.”
That’s what Wyman tries to remind herself of too. While she isn’t necessarily stressed about the idea of TikTok being banned more broadly, it has required more work to try out different platforms, like YouTube Shorts and Instagram Reels, to not put all of her eggs in one basket. However, she is worried about content generation.
“TikTok is the trend resource,” said Wyman. “Everything that’s trending on Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts usually comes from TikTok. TikTok going away is not only the elimination of a platform, but a trend resource.”
Mae Karwowski, CEO of influencer marketing agency Obviously said that “people who thrive with routine probably need not apply” to social media roles. “Trends can live and die in like two days,” said Karwowski. “Churning out content fast enough to keep up is definitely one of the main challenges.”
Obviously works with a lot of brands which rely on creator communities for what they call “quick-turn content” so clients can jump into a conversation fast enough to be relevant.
This fast-paced environment that doesn’t guarantee results is the main reason why the job of a social media strategist is more demanding than it may seem on the surface.
“A lot of the time in this job, things come up that maybe aren’t necessarily exactly what your job description might entail,” said Sara Wildman, a social media manager at California-based PR firm Segal Communications. “We have to help each other out and do different things that might not be in our specific job requirements.”
For example, her job description hasn’t included doing social ad buys, but as more clients asked for it she’s needed to pivot and make it so the team can offer those services.
Blanco says adaptability is a key skill as well, alongside curiosity and an ability to explore new formats and try new things out.
“You have your book smart, your street smart, well this person is someone who has a very high social intelligence where they understand the beat of the street and what’s happening and where eyeballs are,” said Blanco. “I think that’s really, really important.”
Wyman has found that too, with people telling her that “you just need to have an eye for it,” when it comes to figuring out what will stick on social media. She spends all day online to navigate different trends. “Social media is changing by the second. If you don’t scroll on TikTok for a day, you’re going to be behind on all the trends by the next day,” said Wyman.
Wildman spends one to two hours of her day dedicated to scrolling through her clients’ accounts. “Being on the apps and constantly being aware of the trends that pop up is really important,” said Wildman. “Aside from that, it’s staying in the know of more of the specific news and the random trends.”
Jeffrey Tousey, founder and CEO of Beekman Social, says flexibility and adaptability are some of the skills that he looks for when hiring, in addition to someone being able to multitask and be collaborative. “There is no room for ego here,” he said. “We all know that we wear a lot of hats.”
Poor internal recognition
Aside from needing a diverse skill set, these folks also are acting as internal advocates for the impact their work has on a company. There have been strides in the last decade in companies understanding the importance of social media, but Jeffrey Tousey, the founder and CEO of Beekman Social, says there is a way to go still. “People have the excuse ‘oh my god, I’m too old, I can’t learn how to do social,’” Tousey. “You just can’t say that anymore.”
Blanco agrees: “While the industry itself has really seen this really nice maturity curve rather quickly, the profession of social media managers and strategists, and the visibility within organizations themselves, has stayed kind of stagnant.”
There are some large companies who do social media really well, like Duolingo, for example. But even for Zaria Parvez, global social media manager at Duolingo, she admitted “it’s anxiety inducing,” knowing that social media platforms come and go.
“We’ve been testing out Duo’s TikTok personality across other social channels,” said Parvez. “And we’ve been seeing a lot of success with it, which has been really helpful to know that we can bring this to whatever new channel comes. That is what lets me sleep well at night, knowing that the next thing that can come we can do it.”
‘Undertone of skepticism’
However, leadership roles within organizations aren’t always so invested in social and don’t understand the return on investment it can have.
“Some companies have one foot in the door and one foot out,” said Blanco. “The longer they continue to play that neutrality role, they end up not engaging their audience. There is an undertone of skepticism still and you can tell really clearly the brands that are still not really ready to show their full self. People can tell, especially the Gen Z generation.”
Not only do social media strategists need to have their finger on the pulse of several different social media platforms, they need to tell the rest of the team why what they are doing matters.
“It’s being able to articulate to your other team members that community building and audience engagement is a business engagement,” said Tousey. “It plays a critical part in being able to move consumers down the funnel.”
He suggests that if you’re in a company that doesn’t fully grasp the value of what social provides, frame the importance of it in a way that they will understand, while also being empathetic to what they’re trying to solve for. That might look like “I know we need to do X in sales and in order to reach that, we need to have a foundation of an online community.”
Ultimately, Tousey believes that social media teams deserve more appreciation than they receive.
“I do think that social teams experience a lot of the brunt of frustration in marketing departments that isn’t necessarily fairly or accurately placed,” said Tousey. “People who work in social have to have an incredible work ethic, thick skin, work long hours, get pinged all the time about different things, and are often the first to blame and the last to thank. It’s something that comes with the territory, but when you’re on a great team that appreciates the work you do, it’s a wildly rewarding experience.