Social media is no longer optional for brands, businesses, and organizations. In the US alone, 92% of companies (consisting of 100 plus employees) use social media as a marketing tool.
However, these companies rely on the efforts of social media experts like a director of social media to plan, execute, and manage effective and productive social media strategies. A director of social media manages a team of social media experts to build and develop a company’s online presence.
Below, we have explained the role, responsibilities, skills, salary, education, and much more about a social media director. So, dive in and find who exactly is a social media director and how to be one.
What is a social media director?
The director of social media is in charge of a team of social media specialists that manage the social media presence of a brand or the company.
He coordinates with various social media teams, such as the social media marketing team, social media content writer team, social media designers etc., to form unique social media strategies and improve a company’s social media presence.
He stays up-to-date on what’s happening on different social media channels, including Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. He monitors all social media business accounts to determine engagement and form interactive social media campaigns for upcoming events and new product launches.
Most importantly, he is an expert in evaluating real-time data and matrices to determine performance, suggest improvements, and find new opportunities to grow and catch people’s attention.
What does a social media director do?
The responsibilities of a social media director vary based on the needs of an organization or employer. However, his primary role is to help a brand grow through social media.
He is responsible for a number of tasks such as setting clear social media objectives, identifying the target audience, creating effective marketing strategies, improving relationships with the customers, and boosting conversions.
Here is the list of tasks that a director of social media is expected to perform.
- Design and execute a social media marketing plan that generates results.
- Build an online presence on all prominent social media platforms, including Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter, depending on the needs of the industry you are representing.
- Use innovative ideas and strategies to drive more audience and grow the social media community.
- Make sure that relative content is produced and published on social media channels at the right time.
- Listen to the customers and observe their responses while increasing sales and leads.
- Direct influencer outreach programs and other advertising strategies to identify whether anything needs to be improved or removed.
- Go through different review websites to check the brand’s overall rating and customer reviews about your services or products.
- Research trends and use them to connect with your audience on an emotional level.
- Analyze results of campaigns to revise advertising and content marketing campaigns.
- Interact with stakeholders and inform them about the progress (or failures) to ensure they know how different teams are promoting the presence of the organization and increasing conversions.
Social media director skills
A director of social media needs to be multi-talented as he has to direct different teams and perform various tasks. Enlisted below are some skills employers expect a social media director to have.
- You should know all the social media platforms like the back of your hand. You need to understand the difference between each platform so that you can generate maximum results on all of them.
- You need to have an understanding of digital marketing approaches such as search engine optimization (SEO), content marketing, affiliate marketing, email marketing, and influencer marketing.
- Top-notch communication skills are very important for a director of social media because he has to communicate with stakeholders, advertising teams, writers, designers and even customers when the need arises.
- You need to have strategic thinking skills to identify the current issues, find their solutions, and design an effective strategy that connects well with the brand’s goals.
- Your social skills need to be strong so that you can build strong social relationships, connect with your customers, and understand their needs.
- You should have the leadership qualities to direct and manage different teams at the same time and make sure that everyone is on the same page about the company’s goals, initiatives, and problems.
Tips for becoming a successful social media director
Get a degree in marketing or communication
Social media directors come from different backgrounds. Employers normally prefer applicants that have a bachelor’s degree in communication, marketing, or social media.
Know that any degree you choose will open doors of opportunities for you, but if you want to pursue a career in social media, it is better to have a related degree.
Build a social media skill set
Since a director of social media performs several tasks, he needs to have a broad skill set. In this internet era, there are so many opportunities for people to improve their skill set using free or paid resources available on the internet.
You can use these resources to learn social media skills like marketing analytics, strategy development, Photoshop, writing, reporting, communication, and project management.
Gain relevant experience
Learning by doing is the best idea to understand how different social media channels work. So, sharpen your social media skills with practice.
Apply for an internship in your area. Contact small businesses or non-profit organizations to offer them your services. Don’t be afraid to work for free when you are learning.
Build a compelling portfolio
Your portfolio is the key to getting a good job. A portfolio shows your abilities, skills, and the results you have produced for previous clients. It tells employers how hiring you can be beneficial for them. Consider creating a business website to display your best projects.
Apply for the job
After learning skills, gaining experience, and developing a portfolio, you are ready to apply for the job. Whether you decide to work as a freelancer or an in-house director, you will get innumerable opportunities to work, learn, adapt and explore.
Director of social media salary
Like any other job, the salary of a director of social media varies from person to person based on the experience level, company type and size, skills, qualification, geographic location, and job performance.
According to PayScale’s data, the average salary of a director of social media is around $77,000 per year. If you are an entry-level social media director, you can expect your annual salary to be around $45,000. On the other hand, experts can expect their base salaries to be around $133,000 per annum.
Director of social media qualification
Qualification requirements of a social media director depend on the organization you are applying for, but most employers prefer candidates with a 4-year college degree in related fields like public relations, mass communication, journalism, and business administration.
Social media is a comparatively new field. Still, some schools around the world are offering bachelor’s degrees in social media, social media management, social media marketing, and digital marketing.
Many online platforms are also offering related courses to help people improve their social media skills and knowledge. A candidate having a bachelor’s degree in social media programs is likely to have the edge over others.
Social media director work experience
It goes without saying that experienced social media directors having years of experience in social media are mostly preferred over inexperienced directors.
When you apply for a social media director’s post, your employer expects you to have experience in creating social media strategies, tracking performance, social media tools, and traditional and digital marketing.
How many hours does a director of social media work?
The working hours of a director of social media can vary from 35 to 40 hours per week. Since the director has many responsibilities, he may have to give more time than others.
Social media director vs manager
Since the responsibilities of a social media director and manager are similar in many ways, people often think they are the different names for the same job. The truth is both are different from each other in many ways, particularly in their areas of focus and seniority levels.
A Social media manager oversees the social media team and monitors their performance. On the other hand, a social media director is incharge of overseeing the social media team as well as the social media manager. Social media directors may also be responsible for communicating with the upper management personnel.
Social media director job description template
Here is how a social media director job description looks like.
Job description
We are looking for a competitive social media director who will be responsible for designing social media plans and strategies that align with our vision and goals.
The social media director will be responsible for meeting with clients from different sectors, conducting research on the client’s brand, and formulating a social media strategy for the client based on the results they want to achieve. In addition to this, you will also be responsible for updating social media accounts of the client, monitoring their matrices and making changes to the content strategy accordingly.
Our requirements:
- Degree in communication or business administration and training in social media
- Knowledge of search engine optimization, Photoshop, and social media scheduling software
- Ability to monitor analytics and use related tools confidently
- Exceptional written and spoken communication skills
Social media director interview questions
Q. How did you get into social media?
This question is asked to test whether you are a casual social media user or you really have a passion for social media. In your answer, tell them which social media tools or features you like to use. Share what you like about different social media channels.
Q. Can you manage multiple social media business accounts simultaneously?
Since most businesses use multiple social media channels to enhance their reach and reach their target audience, employers ask this question to see whether you can work on different social media accounts at once or you are proficient in only one social media platform.
This question is also asked to see whether you know the difference between the audiences of different social media platforms. In the answer, tell them how you use different kinds of content to engage the audience of each platform. Name the tools you use to manage several business accounts at once.
Q. Which skills must a director of social media have?
This question is asked to test your knowledge of your own profession. In its answer, you can name the skills that we have already mentioned above. It is better to first talk about the skills you are proficient in.
FAQs
Why is social media important?
Today more than half of the world’s population uses social media to interact with others and gather information about brands and products. Seeing this, many brands consider social media channels a door to connecting with their customers, displaying their products, and boosting sales.
What are the qualities of a good social media director?
A good director of social media has a creative and strategist mindset. He brainstorms and conducts online research to come up with unique ideas that can bring profit to the brand in multiple ways. They have a strong understanding of the brand objectives and design strategies that go well with those objectives. They keep themselves updated, and value continued education.
What does a day in the life of a social media director look like?
Typically, a director of social media starts his day by checking voicemail, messages and emails so that he can send a timely response.
Throughout the day, he attends different meetings with the upper management personnel and different teams of the social media department to discuss the progress of the current campaign and share ideas to improve conversions.
He may also conduct interviews with the applicants interested in getting a job within the department. He spends his downtime analyzing social media matrices, checking comments, reading customer reviews, and checking the number of likes or new followers.