An effective social media professional possesses both hard and soft skills, both of which require time and effort to develop. Hard skills, such as data analysis and copywriting, are more easily studied and trained, whereas soft skills, such as organization and making connections, are more difficult to learn but equally important.

Working as a social media manager is both rewarding and challenging because you never stop learning. To advance in your career, you must constantly refine and develop all five of the social media skills listed below.

The more you focus on developing these skills, the more you’ll be able to drive results, realize the true business impact, and advance your own social media prowess.

Skill #1 – Copywriting

Copywriting is a necessary skill in social media marketing (and probably all areas of marketing). Many aspects of a social media manager’s job require good copywriting, from filling out your social media profile description to crafting tweets and Facebook posts.

To drive engagement and clicks, you must incorporate a compelling story into your social media post, which can be difficult if you lack strong copywriting skills.

Studying a few copywriting formulas to help you craft inspiring copy to improve your copywriting skills is highly recommended. Finding a copywriting formula (or two) that works for you can boost your productivity while also improving the quality of your social media content.

Skill #2 – Social Listening

The practice of monitoring social media for brand-relevant conversations is known as social listening. Mentions of a brand’s name, key products, or significant competitors are examples of this.

A social media manager should be able to track down critical brand mentions, even if they aren’t tagged, in order to manage the brand’s online presence.

Finding untagged mentions, particularly on Twitter, enables a social media manager to respond to negative comments while amplifying positive feedback.

Understanding your brand’s audience is also aided by social listening. What amuses them? What irritates them?

Tips for social listening:

– React to both positive and negative feedback.
– Consider establishing a dedicated customer service account.
– Use apps to find untagged comments, or an intelligence tool to generate daily brand perception reports.

Skill #3 – Crisis Management

An insensitive or poorly timed social media post can quickly turn into a public relations nightmare. A great social media manager will be able to avoid most mistakes, but if they do occur, they should be able to deal with the consequences.

They should step up quickly, prioritize customer service, and work with internal stakeholders to finalize messaging.

Skill #4 Agility

As we all know, the social landscape changes quickly, and even the best-laid plans can become obsolete.

The ability to pivot and react quickly to a new trend, opportunity, or crisis is an essential social media skill. In the real world, being agile and flexible can help you respond decisively to a frustrated customer (or a grateful superfan) in equally empathetic and personalized ways.

When it comes to long-term strategy, it’s also critical to be flexible. Social strategies must be as dynamic and adaptable as the platforms on which they rely.

As a social media manager, you must be willing to try new tactics or even completely change your strategy in order to adapt to new trends, incorporate business changes, or recover from poor results.

Learning from data, listening to feedback (both internal and external), and staying current on social trends can all help you become a more agile social media manager.

Skill #5 – Efficiency and Top-notch Organization

You can’t manage a social media strategy unless you manage your time wisely, so efficiency and organization are two essential social media skills.

As a social media manager, you must not only conceptualize campaigns and distribution rhythms but also lead and execute these plans from beginning to end.

A skilled social professional will implement tools, policies, and processes for their social presence to keep all of the moving parts straight. One of the most effective ways to keep content organized and plan ahead is to use a social media calendar.

Learning from data, listening to feedback (both internal and external), and staying current on social trends can all help you become a more agile social media manager.