Knowledge of SMM basics. Profession SMM manager

The profession of “SMM specialist” has been conquering the market in the last few years. Why? This can be explained very easily - companies began to look towards social networks as a source of additional customer flow for their products.

But despite such popularity of this profession, many still do not know or do not understand who he is and what he does.

In this article I will give a complete answer to such a question as “SMM specialist - who is he, what does he do and how to become one.” But I will share with you not some theoretical knowledge, but my experience in this profession.

Go!)

SMM specialist - who is he?

Before we move on to the analysis of this profession, let's first get acquainted with the abbreviation SMM.

SMM (SMM) comes from the English words Social Media Marketing, which means “social media marketing”.

SMM specialist or SMM manager is a person who develops and promotes an account on social networks, attracts and engages subscribers, and also creates a positive image of the company on the Internet.

In essence, an SMM manager is a link in the chain: business – social network – client – ​​sales.

Thus, the profession of “SMM specialist” involves comprehensive work on the promotion strategy and positioning of the company on social networks, such as VKontakte, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, Odnoklassniki and others.

Responsibilities of an SMM specialist

Despite the popularity of this profession, employers, and even the specialists themselves, cannot clearly define the scope of what an SMM manager should do. Let's look into this issue.

An SMM specialist, according to the employer, is a man-orchestra who must set up advertising, write posts, hold competitions, take beautiful photographs, look for new clients, increase sales, and much more interesting things. Here is a typical vacancy for the position of “SMM Manager”:

• Creating and posting quality content
• Development of an online advertising company (target)
• Competitive market analysis
• Maintaining pages on all platforms
• SRM work
• Setting up targeted and contextual advertising.
• Conducting advertising campaigns on different platforms
• Work on Google AdWords, Yandex.Direct. Social network
• Drawing up a content plan (Instagram)

But should an SMM specialist really have such skills? In fact, yes and no at the same time.

So, in order to avoid falling into the trap called “what should I do,” I want to tell you what an SMM specialist should really do. For convenience, I divided the entire range of his responsibilities into several blocks:

Block one: planning

Planning is the first thing an SMM specialist begins his work with. This block is responsible for the path of business development in social networks. Conventionally, we have point A - this is where we are now and point B - this is where we want to go, and planning is the path between these two points.

Let's now look at what exactly is included in this block:

Collection of information

This is the first thing an SMM specialist starts with. In order to plan steps to promote a business, a social media manager must understand what the company does, what its target audience is, what the price range of the products is, how the business is developing on the Internet, whether there are large and well-known competitors, etc.

In general, in this block of SMM, a specialist must clearly understand what kind of market it is, who the potential clients are and what place a particular company occupies in the niche.

Drawing up a portrait of the target audience

From collecting information we smoothly move on to detailed elaboration, and the first is the target audience. The SMM specialist carefully develops a “client portrait”, which includes a list of the client’s problems, desires, pains, dreams and a description of how a specific product can solve or fulfill them.

This stage is very important, since the success of future business promotion will depend on it, because the SMM manager will already clearly understand to whom and what he is offering.

The SMM specialist also develops a strategy for business development in social networks: what result should it achieve, in what time frame, what tasks should we complete, what methods and techniques will we use, what resources will be used, what is the budget, etc.

In general, a development strategy in SMM is a general plan for promoting a business over a long period of time, identifying specific tasks.

Drawing up a content plan

The last task in the planning block is, which includes a list of specific topics for publications for a certain period, for example, a week, a month, a quarter, six months or a year.

Essentially, this is what the SMM specialist will broadcast on social networks.

example of a finished content plan

Block two: working with content

After the strategy has been developed, deadlines and tasks have been determined, the SMM specialist proceeds to the next part - this is working with content for social networks. This block includes both textual and visual information.

Working with text content

An SMM specialist must have the skill of writing selling, engaging, informational, educational and other types of texts for various social platforms. After all, do not forget that the main channel for communication with the audience is text. But this does not mean that you cannot find a professional copywriter for your team;)

Working with visual content

In addition to text, an SMM manager must have a good understanding of visual design for text content, that is, find interesting pictures, catchy videos or photos. Of course, an SMM specialist does not have to be a designer, but skills in graphic programs will be a definite advantage.

Block three: working with the audience

Planning and content are just the preparatory part; the main work lies in working with the audience. All interaction with potential clients can be divided into two directions: attraction and involvement.

Attracting an Audience

The main task of this direction is to gather a new target audience using various communication channels:

• advertising: The social media manager must be able to find opinion leaders or bloggers who have a target audience;

• mutual PR: this channel involves an agreement with a blogger, businessman, opinion leader or other participant in the social space for two-way advertising on a free basis, that is, you will talk about him in your community, and he will talk about you in his;
• viral content: creating content in a group that quickly spreads among a wide audience or touches on a trending event in the world.

Audience Engagement

The main task of this block is to work with the existing audience, maintaining activity and interest using the following tools:

• communication: creating surveys in a group, answering customer questions, voting, feedback, collecting reviews, opinions, etc.;
• cleaning from bots, swearing and unnecessary comments: You will agree that it is more pleasant to read a feed where all the answers are “to the point” and from real people, and not constant spam or bickering “like in the 90s.” Plus, if you have order in your comments or discussions, this will create a positive image about your brand;

• processing objections: This is a very important block for working with engagement. After all, our clients are not always happy with everything: some are not satisfied with the price, others with the terms of delivery or payment, and the SMM specialist must competently handle these objections so that the person has a positive impression of the company, that is, basic sales skills will be completely not superfluous;
• creation of active events: holding competitions, marathons, sweepstakes, flash mobs, promotions, etc.

Block four: analytics

Now we have come to the final block - statistics. An SMM specialist must be able to analyze the results of his activities and make the necessary adjustments, for example, to the content plan, advertising campaigns or work with objections to achieve greater efficiency.

These are the duties that an SMM specialist should perform. Please pay attention to the fact that there are tasks that are performed at the beginning of the work, there are those that are performed at the end, but most of the responsibilities are the constant work of the SMM specialist. Now let's look at how much an SMM manager can earn.

How much does an SMM specialist earn?

Work for hire

As for the regions, the salary of an SMM specialist varies from 20,000 to 60,000 rubles.

Example of a vacancy for an SMM specialist in the city of Lipetsk

As for Moscow and the Moscow region, wages there start from 50,000 to 100,000 rubles.

Example of a vacancy for an SMM specialist in Moscow

Freelance work

If you want to work “for yourself,” that is, to independently look for clients for SMM promotion, then the price for such services starts from 5,000 rubles per client to infinity, since everything will directly depend on your skills and portfolio.

An example of a price list for one of the SMM specialists on the freelance exchange

How to become an SMM specialist from scratch and for free

If you decide to master this profession, then you can do this in six ways: specialized courses, books on SMM, free projects, internships in marketing agencies, maintaining your account and freelance exchange. Let's look at each of them in detail.

Specialized courses

I won’t go into too much detail on this point. All you need to do is search for “SMM courses” or find marketers who specialize in this area and choose the course that suits you. In addition, there are now a lot of free courses, marathons or webinars, so you can find training for every taste and color.

Books on SMM

If you don’t yet have the time or funds to purchase courses, then books can be excellent guides to the world of SMM.

Here is a selection of books that will help you get a high-quality theoretical basis in this area:

1. Instagram administrator. Earning Guide
2. Hard SMM. Making the most of social media
3. Targeted advertising. Right on the bull's eye
4. SMM FROM ZERO. Secrets of promotion on social networks
5. Social Media Marketing
6. SMM for beginners
7. SMM Training. Principles of making money on Instagram
8. Guerrilla marketing on social networks. SMM manager operating instructions

Free projects

If you have already received the theoretical part or want to see all the intricacies of SMM immediately in practice, then free projects will be an excellent start for you, where you can gain experience and get material for your portfolio.

For example, you can find such projects in groups on VKontakte by searching “looking for an admin”, “group administrator”.

An example of a recruitment announcement for a group development project on VKontakte

Internship in marketing agencies

Many agencies or companies want to independently develop their own SMM specialist. And this is a great chance for beginners to get their first experience, but, however, for minimal pay in this area.

In order to find such employers, go to any website where vacancies are posted, enter “SMM specialist” in the search and set the “no experience” filter.

Example of vacancies in SMM for beginners

Maintaining your account

Yes, don’t be surprised by this point, because your social media account is an excellent platform for gaining experience in writing content, placing ads or working with an audience.

The main thing is to choose your niche, draw up a portrait of your target audience and post content regularly.

Personally, when I studied the field of SMM, I started with this method - I kept my Instagram account as a blog about making money remotely on the Internet. And I received offers to manage other accounts.

An example of one of the proposals for maintaining an account on Instagram

Freelance exchanges

Freelance exchanges are a field where you can find your first customers. But you shouldn’t count on huge amounts of money right away; remember, first you need to gain experience and build a portfolio.

Select an exchange, register on it and take on any orders for SMM or maintaining accounts on social networks.

Let's sum it up

After reading this article, I think that the question “Who is an SMM specialist” no longer arises in your mind. Now you know what kind of profession this is, what skills you need to have, how much he earns and how you can master this field of activity for free.

Yes, indeed, now a social media specialist is a very popular profession, but there are still few good specialists in it.

And if you decide to plunge into the world of SMM, then my advice is to start with courses or books, and then gradually move on to practice, for example, find a project or manage your account. At first it will bring minimal income, but as your competencies grow, you can earn from 50,000 rubles per month.

Every schoolchild who created a group and read a couple of videos on YouTube began to consider himself an SMM manager from God! The profession of social media manager appeared not so long ago, so few people clearly understand what an SMM specialist does and what his responsibilities are.

Meanwhile, the demand for SMM specialists is growing rapidly, and the pages of many companies are in a half-dead state. So, who is an SMM manager and what does he do? Let's immediately dispel the main myth - being an SMM manager is not only about publishing content. But what exactly does a social media manager do?

« You can’t just answer in a nutshell...»

SMM specialists are responsible for overseeing brand channels on social networks. They monitor, moderate and respond to audience comments. They create with other brands, create and publish content: videos, images and text.

An SMM manager must understand the differences between platforms such as Facebook, FaceBook, VKontakte and instant messengers, and must also be able to recognize and understand his audience on each account.

Top-notch communication and writing skills are as important as a good sense of humor. Since an SMM specialist will interact with an audience that produces a whole range of emotions, from criticism to praise, including outbursts from trolls and haters, you need to have thick skin and nerves of steel.

An SMM manager must be able to prioritize which comments need responses and which do not. It is necessary to stay on top of new trends and technologies. An SMM specialist must be able to come up with compelling content on the fly.

Sounds great doesn't it? If you decide to become an SMM manager yourself or further hone your skills in social networks, study the Convert-Monster online course program.

This guide, in simple words, will help you determine what an SMM specialist should do, set boundaries between your work and the manager’s, and what to pay more attention to.

The 6th stream of the online course starts on November 11 “ SMM manager", this is 40 hours of practice 2 times a week. Take your first lesson for free.

A complete guide to working as an SMM manager

Everyone has long recognized the amazing value and benefits of social media marketing. Perhaps you are one of them! You've seen how such marketing stimulates quality traffic and sales, and how SMM increases your reputation on the Internet.

However, as a business owner, you won't spend time on this, so it can be quite difficult to know where exactly to focus your attention.

It is not easy to determine which SMM manager will best handle the promotion of your company or determine the job responsibilities of an SMM specialist.

SMM marketing is an integral part of the Internet marketing strategy. At its core, social media is about people, communication, formation and sales.

Once you've hired the best candidate, you'll need a social media manager job description to set goals, track progress, understand exactly how your money is being spent, and be accountable for

5 skills of an SMM manager

Managing profiles and pages has become a complex and multi-faceted role that helps businesses achieve their highest goals. This is work that cannot be carried out in isolation within a company.

In fact, some argue that it is no longer a job at all; that SMM tasks and responsibilities should be everyone's responsibility. Social media skills are increasingly required for all roles. We are seeing an increase in demand for savvy business candidates across the business. Additionally, we see this requirement spanning many levels, from executive assistants to senior vice presidents

Regardless of whether you are looking for an individual social media manager or just an experienced team member, these are 5 skills that a candidate must have.

Graphics production

According to Jeff Bullas, posts with images get 94% more views than those without. Buffer says tweets with images get 18% more clicks than those without. Research from Wishpond shows that photo posts on Facebook attract 120% more engagement than other types of posts.

For a business targeting women, millennials or teens, images are even more important. Visually-driven platforms like Instagram require an almost constant supply of high-quality, original images.

For these reasons, it's more important than ever that your social media manager has the skills necessary to conceptualize and create compelling images for your social media and blog posts. While it is not necessary to have advanced Photoshop skills, a good eye for design and an ability to edit images is. It’s a big plus if the SMM manager knows where everything is built around pictures.

According to Jay Baer, ​​the ability to think graphically is more important than technical design skills:

« There are a number of software packages that help create simple, one-off images on social media, so the shift in job skills is less about graphics production and more about graphic thinking.”

Copywriting

As with graphics, advanced writing skills are not required. However, the SMM manager must have a good command of the language and be able to express his thoughts in writing.

While your social media manager may not write blog posts, they will communicate with clients on a daily basis—and 99% of the communication will be in writing.

• Can the manager convey the idea clearly in writing?
• Is the manager able to support textually on behalf of the company?
• Does the manager have the ability to convey the passion and excitement of the business or products in writing?
• Can the manager maintain top-notch professionalism and avoid awkward grammatical or spelling errors?

Customer Service Mindset

More than ever, people are using pages and groups to get help from brands, so your social media specialist should be focused on customer service.

Posting insightful or clever sayings, engaging images, and inspiring content will only help you if you respond to customer service requests appropriately.

Quick responses to questions and complaints, thinking " customer first” and the ability to take complex issues offline are all important aspects of CMM customer service.

A successful social media manager knows that your presence on social networks is the face of your brand on the Internet. Everything they say or do on social media is a reflection of the brand—for better or worse.

Understanding SEO and Content Marketing

As someone involved in the day-to-day management, promotion and distribution of blog content, understanding SEO and content marketing is a must. Social media managers should have a general understanding of how blogging and social media content fits into search results, and how content works in a business's marketing funnel.

Although SMM signals may not have a direct impact on search rankings, the indirect effects are still undeniable. Your manager must understand how reach and engagement impact not only referral traffic and revenue, but also SEO. Content is the cornerstone of your SEO efforts, and your social media manager is the gatekeeper and promoter of much of that content.

How will the manager promote your blog content on social networks? Does the manager know how driving traffic to the company's website affects the bottom line? Does he know how driving traffic to a company's website affects profits?

SMM advertising experience

If you do not have an employee working with advertising, your SMM manager should have experience working with paid advertising in SMM (or the desire and passion to learn).

According to Salesforce's 2015 State of Marketing Report, social media advertising is one of the top two priorities for marketers. In fact, 70% say they plan to increase spending in this area.

Life hack! Where to find an SMM manager? A good way to find and test an already trained SMM specialist is the new generation freelance exchange kwork.

The best books on SMM for managers

• Hard SMM: Getting the most out of social networks. Authors: Dan Kennedy, Kim Welsh-Phillips. Liters rating: 4.09
• SMM for beginners.
• Guerrilla marketing on social networks. Operating instructions for SMM manager.
• Marketing A to Z: 80 Concepts Every Manager Should Know.
• Business promotion on VKontakte. Systems approach .
• Social Media Marketing.
• SMM Training. Principles of making money on Instagram.

The work of an SMM manager

Administration includes, but is not limited to:

• Planning and goal setting
• Developing brand awareness and online reputation
• Content Management
• SEO (search engine optimization) and incoming traffic generation
• and sales

An SMM manager is a highly motivated, creative person with experience and a passion for communicating with current and future clients. This passion must be demonstrated through daily interactions with customers, with the goal of converting your fans into customers.

Community management and participation (both online and offline) are an integral part of the success of an SMM specialist. An important aspect is the company's positive and open communication, which will attract new hyper-active customers.

A social media manager plays an important role in managing a company's content. The #1 search ranking on Google is relevant content (search engine content should be the best). It is now clear that content management should be part of the job responsibilities of an SMM manager.

Content management responsibilities include:

• Create and publish relevant, original and quality content.
• and work with performers.
• Participate in the company to improve content (for example, creating online reviews, training employees, rewarding for participation in company marketing, etc.).
• Publish content regularly
• Use the right tools to manage content.
• Create a content calendar to manage and schedule specific and timely posts.
• Promote content through advertising on social networks.

This position pays full time with benefits. The responsibilities of an SMM specialist may also include:

• Digital Marketing Management
• Control
• Working with clients
• Community Management

Savvy is critical to the success of your content marketing. It is necessary to hold attention so that potential customers can learn more about your products and services, and search engines index the content, rewarding you with authority.

Unified content strategy

One of the most frequently asked questions I receive is:

To know the answer to this question, you must have a clear understanding of who you are as a brand and who your target customers are.

• What is it about your company that is so unique... that makes people buy from you? Answer this question in detail.
• Describe your target customers. What are their interests, concerns and problems? How can you help them make a purchasing decision?
• Don't forget about those fans who are not yet on the market. What can you offer them to make their communication with you interesting?

Promotion strategy

It is essential to continually grow your fan base and promote your content. Now we need " pay to play" in social networks.

Social media advertising is a very valuable tool for getting your message heard. However, SMM advertising (Facebook, VKontakte, Instagram) is not like the one you are familiar with. They vary in content, placement, and targeting... and when done right, they're a lot more fun.

The best way to gain subscribers to your Facebook or VKontakte page is to use advertising. A small budget with carefully chosen images and a clear call to action will increase likes, engagement and leads.

Engagement strategy

Your SMM manager must listen, respond, ask questions and engage the audience. You should carefully consider how it will respond to organic (unpaid) links in the comments section.

People will ask questions and sometimes engage in sales. The social media manager must have knowledge and experience of your sales process in order to respond correctly.

If a customer asks a question, answer it and see to it that you engage them even further, ultimately directing them to a product page, registration form, or meeting.

As your page grows and your content appears more often in news feeds, it will be easier for you to attract new fans and build relationships with them.

Conversion strategy

With a growth and engagement strategy in place, the job of a social media manager is to convert fans into customers, and your marketing plan should have clear steps.

More advanced forms of marketing use appeal. Don't forget to include a call to action and an application form to make sure the customer has an easy path to purchase (and your social media person has a way to follow up on this).

I have found that most companies need advice and training from SMM promotion specialists, without interrupting the project, or need to find smart SMM specialists. Online courses from Convert-Monster for SMM managers can help you.

Measurement and analysis to establish ROI

You need to identify the key performance indicators that matter most to your business. Here top 7 indicators(or KPI) to determine ROI:

1. Audience Growth
2. Audience Engagement
3. Content Coverage
4. Interaction by content type
5. Frequency and quality of responses
6. Negative reactions

Measure your results daily. Your results should be tied to your goals and a clear picture of the income you are generating.

What does an SMM manager do and do?

SMM promotion management and daily activities of an SMM specialist include:

• Development of relevant content topics to reach the company's target audience.
• Create, curate and manage all published content (images, videos and texts).
• Monitor, listen and respond to users in a “social” way, warming up potential customers for sales.
• Conduct online propaganda and open streams for promotions.
• Develop and expand the community through popular bloggers
• Monitor the design (i.e.: cover of groups or pages, profile photos, thumbnails, advertisements, profiles on other social networks, blog, etc.).
• Creation and management of promotions.
• Monitor comments and respond to each comment.
• Analyze key metrics and update strategy as needed.
• Create reports to management outlining results (ROI).
• Be an advocate for the company in social media spaces, participating in conversations and answering questions wherever appropriate.
• Create a comprehensive marketing plan.
• Manage strategies that are proven by testing and metrics.
• Collect reviews from happy clients.
• Monitoring trends: tools, applications, new channels and design.
• Continuously learn to remain highly effective.
• Search for both threats and opportunities in user-generated content surrounding the company. Report noticeable threats to management.
• Analyze anecdotal evidence and translate it into recommendations and plans to revise the campaign's marketing strategy.
• Monitoring of effective cases (best practices).
• Analyze, review and report on campaign performance to maximize results.

Qualifications and experience

Ideal SMM manager:

• Has knowledge and experience in the principles of traditional marketing. Marketing knowledge is preferred, but experience in other areas is not required.
• Demonstrates creativity and documented immersion in social media.
• Proficient in the theory and application of content marketing.
• Experience searching, creating and publishing content.
• Demonstrates the ability to move from the creative side of marketing to the analytical side, and is able to analytically demonstrate why his ideas are valid.
• Shows in-depth knowledge and understanding of social media platforms and their audiences (VKontakte, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, etc.) and how each platform can be used in different scenarios.
• Has excellent writing and language skills.
• Has a working knowledge of the blogging ecosystem relevant to the company's industry.
• Effectively communicates information and ideas in written and video formats.
• Practices excellent time management (time management).
• Is a team player with the confidence to take initiative and guide other employees when needed. (ie: content development, content creation and editing, and online reputation management).
• Gets up to speed quickly and can learn new tools.
• Maintains a working knowledge of SEO principles including keyword research, Yandex Metrics and Google Analytics. Highly knowledgeable in the principles of “search and social.”
• Has functional knowledge and/or personal experience with . If you know WordPress, then you can understand any other .
• Demonstrates good social customer service techniques such as empathy, patience, advocacy, and conflict resolution.
• Has a great ability to identify potential negative or crisis situations and resolve conflicts.

Final thoughts

What you need in an SMM manager now is a little different from what you might have needed a couple of years ago; especially when it comes to creating graphics and setting up ads.

When you're looking for the ideal candidate or looking to outsource the role to a contractor or agency, look for someone who not only has experience, but also a desire to learn and keep their skills up to date.

It is in your best interest to hire the best social media specialist as you need to expand your online presence to participate in today's hyper-active consumer demand on social media. Your online reputation and future sales depend on it!

Do you love hanging out on social networks and communicating with people there? I can congratulate you, you are one step away from becoming an SMM manager! Joke. In fact, an SMM specialist (as he is also called) needs to be able to do a lot. In this article I will tell you what an SMM manager is.

The most important thing to start with: SMM is Social Media Marketing. Social media (network) marketing. Today SMM specialists are divided into subprofessions, I will talk about this in more detail in the article itself.

In this material I will tell you how people get into the profession of SMM manager, what kind of profession it is, and what pitfalls there are.

SMM manager - what is it and where did this profession come from?

Today's SMM originated from “big” marketing: when social networks such as Facebook, Instagram, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki, Twitter became popular, well-known companies and brands came there. They always come to where their target audience gathers (people to whom they can sell a product or service).

And since there is a target audience on social networks, there must be those who interact with it. A specially trained manager who can speak to social networks in their language. This is how the profession of social media manager appeared: a multi-armed multi-legged man who is able to create, analyze, and communicate with people and build a long-term strategy.

The more an SMM specialist can do, the better for him. A big agency will tear away a cool professional, or a company will simply hire him to become its representative on social networks. But in practice, an SMM manager needs to be able to do so many things that it’s almost never combined in one person.

Skill 1: Social Media Promotion

Where any audience attraction begins: advertising. In social networks it is divided into three global types:

• Official advertising based on the platform itself
• Unofficial advertising in other people's accounts, public pages, channels
• Self-promotion through various kinds of likes, comments, and private messages.

The first two methods are paid, the second is conditionally free. Not everyone can do promotion; they are specially trained to do this. They study the specific target audience of the brand, model an “avatar”, that is, the audience’s pains, needs, and prosperity. And then they test a bunch of different hypotheses on how exactly to interact with them. Attract with video or photo advertising? What language to speak? How to get a person to click on an ad? What will hook him?

This is a separate large branch of marketing, it is called targeting, from the word target - goal. I will not dwell on it in detail now, I will only say that targetologists are in great demand today and are taught in many places. But one targetologist, in isolation from the other so-called generation chain. leads - not effective. If you simply bring clients to subscribe to the group and do nothing else with them, then there will be no effect from your promotion - the business needs clients, not subscribers.

I write in detail about targeting in the article “ Who is a targetologist and what are his tasks?”

There are a lot of social networks, and your eyes are filled with opportunities for promotion!

Skill 2: Analytics

Another responsibility of a multifaceted specialist is to analyze WHO came to him. Study the portrait of your audience. Is it predominantly men, women or about equally? Do they have the same needs, or do they want different things from you? What objections do they most often come to you with? What cities do they live in? They have children? What is their average income? Do they make a single purchase from you, or return frequently? How many regular customers are there compared to new ones?

An SMM manager should be able to ask himself, answer all these and 1001 other questions, and then present them in the form of a report to his employer. Firstly, this way you show that you are not just sitting still, posting pictures about cats in public, but studying the market, doing what you are paid for. Secondly, by receiving such invaluable data, your customer can adjust his own market behavior strategy. Simply put, having learned that tourists are buying your backpacks, he can order an advertising campaign aimed specifically at those who are going on vacation.

Naturally, you also need to analyze the reaction to your posts on social networks. Which of them get more likes, reposts, and comments? Why? What time? This is necessary to understand what people respond best to in order to further build a content plan.

That is, filling the group with content that will further increase engagement (likes, reposts, comments). After all, the greater the involvement, the better the entire group reacts, the more new clients come, the greater the company’s profit.

Skill 3: Content Creation

An SMM manager must be a good copywriter. Be able to write briefly, concisely, interestingly. Do you know that in long text VKontakte automatically cuts off the first paragraph, most often? leaving only 5 sentences above the “More details” tag? And you, as a group administrator, only have 5 lines to interest the reader before he scrolls through your post.

Content is critical, but it should not be too loud, offensive, or out of line. It should be written in a language understandable to the reader, but immediately convey the essence for which the text was written. Remember that VK is not a lecture hall, not a philosophical treatise, but a place of entertainment and communication. And if you have something to say, then say it right away. Without long introductions, introductory speeches, which make you bored.

The above applies not only to VK, but also to Instagram and Facebook. On social networks, people respond well even to advertising posts if they are written in an unconventional way. Non-advertising content should be written as captivatingly as possible, so that the person feels that you are addressing him personally and giving him something truly interesting. Useful, necessary. And never publish several identical posts at a time, otherwise you will simply be hidden from the feed. And you will lose contact with your subscriber.

When they talk about a four-armed, multi-legged SMM guy, it’s only partly a joke...

Skill 4: Design

You might think that design should be done by designers, not SMM specialists. But the fact is that in public spaces, design plays not only the role of decoration. This is also an element of communication with subscribers.

For example, in the community header, any marketing guru will always tell you to place the name and a short, succinct description of what the group is about. So that a beginner can immediately understand what is interesting here. You also need to check what the header looks like on a mobile phone screen, because the VK version for smartphones simply cuts off the edges of the horizontal cover. All these nuances may be unknown to “mere mortals,” but the SMM specialist should know about them.

Just a couple of years ago, personal WIKI menu design was very popular in public pages. It was essentially a mini-page with buttons that, when clicked, opened various pages. But now VK has changed, wiki markup is a thing of the past, but everyone is writing articles. Such as you are reading now. Only you are on my website, and there articles open directly without leaving VKontakte. But design is still used there - everyone always needs pictures for articles.

WIKI markup is becoming less and less common in 2020, but this does not mean that it has lost its importance.

Design on social networks has been and will be needed. And if you can make at least a simple header for the subscription page in Senler (a service for sending messages), this will be a big plus for you in your work. By the way, a simple hat with beautiful fonts can be made even without Photoshop, for example in a free service Canva.com.

Skill 5: Communication

One of the main responsibilities of an SMM manager is to build communication. Do you remember how I started my article as a joke? But this is the honest truth. The SMM specialist communicates a lot with clients, because this is how you can win them over. And he also has to work out the so-called. negativity, covering pain and objections. And if he does it poorly, then the opinion of the WHOLE COMPANY may suffer.

Want an example? Three years ago I walked up to a KFC counter in a town near Moscow and asked for a Wedgie Twister. Since I am a vegetarian, this dish was the only thing I could order in this establishment. In response, they told me that the Wedgie Twister had been taken off the menu. In fact, I was left without breakfast that day. Seething with anger, I climbed into the official KFC public page on VK, wrote them a message in which I said exactly that - “you left me without breakfast.” About half an hour later they answered me: “Try eating a potato cutlet for breakfast.”

Is this a bad answer? Yes, it’s terrible, because in fact, they didn’t even sympathize with me, didn’t explain why they removed my favorite product from the menu, and didn’t take any part in my situation. They just offered to replace one product with another, although this product was in their portions - the cat cried. In a word, this was a bad example of SMM management.

What should a good person be like? The SMM specialist must understand that for the client he is the face of the brand. Just like any other salesperson, he is also responsible for the perception of the entire company. And I had a positive experience communicating with such people.

Want an example? No problem. I want to buy myself new headphones, I find them through a search in several stores. In one of them I see a price that suits me, but I want to clarify the availability of headphones and delivery conditions. I don't want to spend money on a phone call (or I'm an introvert and only communicate via text). Therefore, I scroll down the page to the contacts block and find a link to the public page of the VKontakte store. And there I see the “Write a message” button. I press it, and after a couple of minutes the manager answers me and tells me: the headphones are not in one store, but they are in another. And how to get there.

Skill 6: Strategy Development

To tell the truth, there are very few strategists on the market today who understand how to develop brands and services of companies on social networks. If only because social networks themselves are constantly changing, growing, and introducing something new.

One may ask: how can an SMM specialist develop some kind of strategy if this is the job of the manager? Yes it's true. But social networks are only one channel through which a product can be sold. A company may have advertising on radio, television, search engines and a public page on a social network. So, the public needs its own strategy, different from all the others.

The point is that on Instagram, VK, and Facebook, people want people to communicate with them. After all, this is a social network, it was created for the sake of communication. You can’t just constantly post advertising posts in the hope of an unrelenting flow of applications. People need to be entertained, we need to come up with competitions and activities for them. And if some kind of negative reaction suddenly arises, you need to immediately come and respond to it.

A simple example: once on VK someone wrote in their hearts that “this Tinkoff is not even a real bank.” In response, a few minutes later in the same comment thread, a response appeared from the confirmed Tinkoff account: “Why are we not a real bank?!”

You can’t deny the brightness of Tinkoff Bank’s promotion!

Please note, this is not an emotional reaction, but a thoughtful move. Firstly, Tinkoff Bank has a special person who monitors mentions of the brand on social networks. Secondly, the same or another person comes to any such mention and responds. That is, today no one reads how he was beaten somewhere on VK yesterday. And he comes right away and defends his point of view. Therefore, a strategy on HOW to do it is vital for social networks.

Another example: the Russian Post, dearly “beloved” by all of us, also began to explore the vast expanses of the Bolshoi Theater. And reacts to mentions on social networks. This is what the reaction to a photograph of the collapsing facade of a building that was freshly renovated a year ago looks like:

It’s a pity that the Post Office’s repair technology is not yet at the same level as the technology for searching for mentions of yourself on social networks...

Several technical aspects

When a community is run by a specially hired SMM specialist (administrator), it is very important that its subscribers do not feel abandoned. That’s why a good manager always responds to comments, especially with questions about the product/service.

To monitor new comments on VKontakte, you can use the VK Admin program, it is available for both iOS and Android, and is free. Allows you to immediately receive notifications about personal messages to the group, comments, and any other activities. The faster you respond, the higher the chance that a potential client will bring real money to your employer.

Another very important feature that almost no one ever thinks about: people who joined the public and people who liked a specific post. I may have already written something on this topic above, but I’ll repeat it. The point is that if you see fresh interest in your topic and you have a task - to bring as many new clients as possible, then as an SMM manager you are obliged to use every opportunity for this.

A cool SMM manager can even use likes for promotion! Laek... Laik...

This way, a simple like will turn into the first very serious contact with a potential client. Almost no one does this, because the work seems very dreary and time-consuming. But, listen, you are an SMM specialist. Your whole job will be communicating with people, won't it?

It’s exactly the same story with newcomers. Remember what I said about analytics? It makes sense to study which post people engage with the most (for example, if it was reposted a lot). It also makes sense to greet each person who joins in private messages, ask what interests you, offer your product, and listen to the person. Just through ordinary communication you can bring dozens of clients to your business every month. From social networks alone.

Do you really need to work so hard?

A fair question: do you really need to know so much and work SO hard to work as an SMM specialist? Well, the question here is what exactly does your employer need. The tasks can be very different.

Behind the beautiful logos and shiny pictures lie mountains of work...

I had a friend who was hired for 10 thousand rubles a month to fill a public page dedicated to Moscow events. Concerts, festivals. The essence of her work boiled down to the fact that she copied photographs and texts from other similar sites, inserted them into posts with delayed publication in advance and... that’s all.

The entire work was only 4 hours a week, and for this they paid 10 thousand rubles a month. In fact, this was not the work of an SMM specialist, but of a content manager. If you get 4 such customers, then you can earn 40 thousand a month, working, well, if a couple of days a week. What I described is mechanical work that does not require skills; it can hardly even be called a full-fledged SMM.

Choose a customer that is within your capabilities, so as not to overstrain yourself out of habit. When you get the hang of it, find another one, and this way you can increase your earnings in SMM!

Another friend of mine once worked as an SMM specialist in a very cool project dedicated to online education. I didn't ask how much he was paid, but he was able to afford several trips to Europe without putting too much of a strain on the family budget. He was a full-fledged SMM manager: he monitored everything that was happening in the group, welcomed newcomers, responded to all comments and to every personal message. Analyzed the group's statistics and promoted the brand on the social network. Gave discounts. Entertained, captivated and sold.

In such a position, he had to give his all in order to maintain the image of a large educational project with which people developed a trusting relationship. And he was a very important and useful employee for the company. He was even called SMM-Jedi, hinting at the presence of superpowers. =)

And I myself once tried to work as an SMM manager for an international company that organized weddings in the Czech Republic. A month later, I realized that this story was not about me and left there. But in the process of communicating with the director and designer, we created a logo based on my idea, which they still use. And yes, I didn’t earn as much as I wanted, but I still didn’t leave without any money :)

What qualities does an SMM manager need?

1 Quality. Sociability. Of course, to work as a cool SMM specialist you need to be sociable. Love people and adore contacting them. Write to them, ask if they like everything, solve the problems they have. So, if you hate communicating with people, then you definitely shouldn’t do social media marketing, but it’s better to take up some other specialty that is not related to communication.

2 quality. Responsibility. By the way a manager communicates in public, by the commitment with which he approaches his responsibilities, the company as a whole will be judged. I already told you: the SMM specialist is one of the faces of the company. And by the way, that’s why you will be required to be able to write competently and clearly. No swearing, slang, personalization or value judgments. It seems simple, but not everyone can do it well.

The main point of any communication between an SMM specialist and a client is not to chat, but to make the client more loyal to the brand and company. And the best thing is to “close” for some kind of sale. After all, the SMM specialist is paid precisely for the final result: bringing new clients to the company and maintaining contacts with old ones.

3 quality. Seriousness. There are a lot of distractions on social networks. They are created for relaxation; people come to their favorite social networks to communicate and have fun. But the SMM specialist works here. In this he is a bit like a host of events: weddings or birthdays. Where all the guests are having fun, the host works very seriously for several hours in a row. The same is with the SMM manager, his task is to make sure that community users feel good, interesting, so that they remember the brand as something they like. And then they came to the store and bought some product from this company.

4 quality. Stress resistance. People always have complaints with which they come to the company’s official public page. And they write without mincing words. An SMM manager must be able to enter into the situation of the person with whom he is communicating. Because even simple sympathy on his part can remove a whole bunch of objections from the client. Saying “I understand you, this is a disgrace” is not at all difficult. And now you are already acting in concert with the client who wrote to you, and he no longer wants to kill you so much. Great, right? =)

See the whole picture globally

An SMM specialist can and should imagine the entire client journey from clicking on an advertisement to the final sale of a product or service. A manager must understand where a person came from to his public. He must know WHAT kind of people come to him and subscribe. A good manager constantly analyzes the situation.

An SMM manager tries to understand a person by his profile on a social network. Don’t just slap on your sales pitch, but understand who exactly you are talking to. For example, if a person has an obvious football theme on their wall, you can ask how a certain team played yesterday. Start a dialogue. And as a result, having broken through the first ice of mistrust and alienation, we can talk about business.

You may ask, why such complexity? Yes, because having established contact with a person, you are imprinted in his memory, and in the end he will come to you again and again. You might even become friends. By spending a little time on communication, an SMM specialist can easily create a loyal customer. And subsequently - a brand advocate who will work for you, by word of mouth. Of course, this is only possible if you have a quality product.

How to becomeSMM-manager?

Those who have read up to this point may have decided that they need to become a Doctor of Science in order to later become an SMM Jedi. In fact, there is nothing impossible here; there have long been online courses that will fill your head to the brim with everything useful that you need for this work. Take heed:

Skillbox -SMM marketer from A to Z

Bottom line

I think that an SMM specialist is a very interesting job. A competent specialist, combining several areas (targetology, public relations, copywriting) can easily earn 40-60 thousand rubles a month or more.

Moreover, being a social media manager is a necessary profession because getting a quick response from a representative of a company you interact with every day can be invaluable. Good SMM managers are needed today as they have never been needed before.

So you found out that this is an SMM manager. Do you want to become one of them? Learn, go for it. You will succeed. Thanks for reading. Good luck and see you at

Greetings, dear friends. Today we’ll talk about one of the interesting professions in which you can work and earn decent money. Considering that we are all constantly connected to social networks and spend almost all our free time there, it is also possible to find a job there. Which one? Highly paid!!!

The profession of SMM specialist has appeared recently. With the development of social networks, it is becoming more and more in demand. The work of an SMM manager is based on the tasks and principles of SMM marketing.

SMM marketing tasks

Smm ( Social Media Marketing– social media marketing) - work to attract the attention of the target audience to a website, brand, company or product through social platforms.

Objectives of this direction in marketing:

• promotion of web resources, products or services through social media. networks;
• unobtrusive placement or encouragement of posting information, links to resources in topics;
• stimulating interest among users to switch to the full version of the site from social media. networks;
• viral marketing – spreading advertising on a social network using likes, reposts, etc.

Smm specialist who is this

A manager in Social Media Marketing is a person involved in attracting attention to a brand, product, website through social networks. The main task is to interest and attract target subscribers with the offer, create a positive image of the product, provoke them to take actions to go to the main page of the site or purchase the offered product. The marketer must conduct hidden advertising so as not to alienate users.

Functions of an SMM specialist:

• administration and moderation of groups and communities - attracting and encouraging users to advertise the group on their pages, suppressing obscene language, answering questions from participants, maintaining topics;
• drawing up a plan of articles and topics for social platforms;
• preparation of videos for promotions;
• placement of fresh materials;
• analysis of traffic and sources;
• miscalculation of work efficiency;
• miscalculation of the advertising budget.

How to become an SMM specialist

Due to the novelty of the specialty, the profession of SMM manager is not taught in educational institutions. At various online courses, seminars and trainings, you can gain the knowledge that an SMM specialist should have, who he is and what he does. A professional must have the knowledge and skills:

• psychologist - be able to communicate, predict user reactions, reduce the negative reaction of the audience;
• analytics - be able to analyze the results of your work, look for effective tools;
• marketer - recognize your target audience, know in which communities they communicate;
• copywriter - be able to create interesting, attention-grabbing, unique selling content.

To work successfully you need:

• know and be able to buy likes, reposts, retweets, offers, etc.;
• process photos in a graphics editor;
• be able to work with animation, memes;
• come up with interesting texts for posts that correspond to the customer’s topic;
• know the basics of contextual advertising, internet statistics, SEO, SMS;
• be able to analyze Internet traffic.

How much does an SMM manager earn?

Salaries for social media marketing specialists. networks can vary greatly. The income range ranges from 5 to 100 thousand rubles, depending on the following factors:

• customer region;
• work experience and qualifications;
• volume of work;
• employer;
• remote work.

In the regions, the average salary of a SMM specialist ranges from 25 to 30 thousand rubles, in Moscow he receives an average of 50-60 thousand rubles, and in St. Petersburg 40-50 thousand rubles.

The qualifications of the manager are of great importance. A beginner specialist can receive from 25-30 thousand rubles. in Moscow. One year of experience in SMM marketing allows you to receive a salary from 30 – 40 thousand rubles per month. A professional with at least 2 years of experience and good knowledge of SEO and web analytics tools can earn money in Moscow from 50-60 thousand rubles. Good command of foreign languages, in addition to the listed skills, increases the lower salary threshold from 70-90 thousand rubles.

Working full-time on staff at a company or agency pays higher than working remotely. In agencies, managers manage several projects at the same time; accordingly, their salaries are higher than those who work on one project in the company.

Salaries depend on the size of the organization. In large companies, the salaries of SMM managers are higher than in medium and small companies.

The profession of an SMM specialist is today a promising and well-paid one. Demand for social marketing professionals networks are constantly growing. Having enough knowledge and constantly learning, you can master a sought-after profession with a permanent income.

Sincerely, Galiulin Ruslan.