A Typical Day In The Life Of A Social Media Manager

Have you ever had a friend or family member who, when you tell them you’re a Social Media Manager (or similar), turns around and asks, “so what do you actually do other than sit on Facebook all day?!” Erm…

So, for those very interested parties, here is a very brief summary of my day-to-day!

6am: My Lumie light gradually brightens the bedroom, and the alarm on my phone is gently ringing on the opposite side of the room. I (begrudgingly) drag my backside out of bed and head to the bathroom.

6:05am: I allow myself an additional 10 minutes in bed to scroll through a couple of Twitter Lists. At least this way I feel as though I’ve had some form of a lie-in…
My Twitter lists of social media practitioners and organisations are my constant source of knowledge. I review these regularly every day (mostly in my personal time) to ensure I am fully up-to-date on the latest developments and opportunities. I share my favourite pieces of content/ideas with a carefully selected gif!

6:15am: I head to the kitchen to get my lunch out of the fridge and make breakfast.

6:30am: In the car, beating rush hour on the M4.

7am: It’s time to work!

A lot of my colleagues wonder why I purposely arrive over 90 minutes earlier than the rest of the office. As well as being a morning person (who would rather have more hours in my evening), I know it’s important to have some undisturbed time to get some social media essentials done. This would not be possible when there are so many days of back-to-back meetings from 9am onward (and especially not if there’s an event to live-tweet!)

From 7am I monitor the following social media essentials:

• NOTIFICATIONS: I go through the mentions and messages for all of our brands across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest and YouTube. The Customer Experience team respond to these messages, but by seeing them myself I am aware of any potential brand issues bubbling, and if the team may require support or guidance from me later that day.
• CONTENT: I review the content I have pre-scheduled to go out that today. Whilst I work over a month ahead on my proactive content calendar, this daily review is essential to ensure that what I am publishing is still relevant, accurate, and socially appropriate in a constantly evolving climate. It also helps to prevent any accidental ‘placeholders’ being published in an incomplete state.
• LISTENING: I delve into my busy Listening dashboard. In here I have keywords for our brand and products, but also for important discussion points relevant to our audiences. I monitor our partners, influencers, and accounts of interest to find curated content. During this time, I also have a look at what is currently trending and in the news.
• REPORTING: My big data sessions are often fortnightly, but each morning I dip into my various reporting dashboards to see how we’re going overall. I also review any campaign dashboards we have to see if there’s any possible issues or queries to flag to our agencies. My colleague runs Paid Advertising on social, but if we ever closely collaborate on something I am more intense in my analytics each morning to review our performance.
• LEARNING: Back to the Twitter Lists!

9am: Every day is different! If I am office based I am:

• In meetings! These could be team meetings for Marketing, Digital, Customer Service, or ones regarding upcoming campaigns and events. There’s always a lot of actions out of each of these…
• Responding to (unending) emails!
• Planning the Always On social calendar for the month ahead.
• Designing and editing the content for next month’s plan.
• Reviewing and providing feedback on the social plan for our top-line campaigns, which is often led by an inter-agency team.
• Curating User Generated Content, seeking permissions, and then editing and scheduling accordingly.
• Checking back into the Listening dashboards and inbound mentions when I can.
• Developing our Sprinklr Social Media Management platform.
• (I squeeze a lunch break in, usually at 12pm.)

If I’m at an event, I am:

• Tweeting non-stop!
• Taking photos/shooting videos.
• Scrolling through the event hashtag like a madman. It’s important to engage in conversation of the day as well, not just hammer out content non-stop.
• Charging one device with a remote charger in my bumbag whilst using another.

4pm: I check back in on my Listening dashboard for a final sweep before I leave.

4:30pm: It’s time to get back in my car and head down the M4. Working early allows me to leave early and try to get through before rush hour builds up.

5/5:30pm: I often cook dinner as soon as I get home, whilst either listening to music or watching Impractical Jokers on Comedy Central.

6pm: My evenings vary by day, but my main activities include:

• Participating in Twitter Chats, usually being the instigator for off-topic, gif-heavy side chats!
• Reading, a lot
• Writing in my journal
• Going to Aqua Fit classes
• Having dinner and games/movies nights with friends

10pm: Where possible, I aim to be asleep by 10pm each night. It’s the only way I can hack the 6am alarm clock!