| Detail | For this role |
|---|---|
| Department | Marketing |
| Level | Manager |
| Reports to | Head of Digital Marketing |
| Direct reports | Social Media Executive, Community Manager, Influencer Marketing Executive |
| Experience | 5 to 8 years in social media or digital marketing, including 2 years managing brand accounts and a team |
Social Media Manager job description template
Copy this job description, replace the text in square brackets and post it on your careers page or a job portal.
Job title: Social Media Manager
Department: Marketing
Reports to: Head of Digital Marketing
Location: [City], [office, branch or site]
About the role
A Social Media Manager runs a brand's presence on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, LinkedIn, X and newer platforms. They set the social strategy and content calendar, lead designers, video editors and executives, handle community responses and escalations, work with influencers, and coordinate paid social with the performance team. The role exists in consumer brands, restaurants, hospitals, schools, real estate and B2B firms, and is judged on engagement, reach among the right audience, response times and brand safety.
Key responsibilities
- Build the social media strategy for each platform, with audience, content pillars, tone and goals linked to business objectives.
- Plan the monthly content calendar of reels, posts, stories, shorts and live sessions around launches and festivals.
- Brief designers, video editors and writers, and approve every post for message, visuals, accuracy and brand guidelines.
- Set response rules and escalation paths for comments and messages, and step in on complaints that could become public issues.
- Plan creator collaborations with the influencer team, including briefs, disclosure labels and content approvals.
- Coordinate paid boosts and campaigns with the performance team so that organic and paid content support each other.
- Track reach, engagement, follower quality, saves, shares and website traffic, and report monthly insights.
- Monitor brand mentions and trends daily, and decide quickly whether and how the brand should join a trending topic.
- Control account access with two-factor security and admin rights limited to named people.
- Coach social media executives and community managers on writing, platform features and handling tricky comments.
Requirements
- Graduate degree in mass communication, marketing or any discipline
- A digital or social media marketing certificate is an advantage
- A portfolio of brand accounts grown or managed
- 5 to 8 years in social media or digital marketing, including 2 years managing brand accounts and a team
KRAs and KPIs for a Social Media Manager
Key result areas for the appraisal form, each with a KPI you can measure every month or quarter.
| Key result area | How to measure it |
|---|---|
| Engagement | Engagement rate per post at or above the platform baseline set at the start of the quarter |
| Audience growth | Followers in the target audience growing each month at the planned rate |
| Response time | Customer comments and messages answered within 4 business hours on all platforms |
| Calendar delivery | At least 95 percent of planned posts published on schedule each month |
| Brand safety | Zero posts withdrawn because of factual, legal or brand errors |
| Social traffic | Website visits or leads from organic social at or above the monthly target |
Skills and tools
Tools used day to day: Meta Business Suite, YouTube Studio, LinkedIn Pages, Hootsuite or Sprout Social, Canva, Social listening tool, Google Sheets.
Reporting line and career path
Next roles: Head of Digital Marketing, Head of Brand, Digital Marketing Manager
Interview questions for a Social Media Manager
- A customer's angry video about our product is being shared widely. What do you do in the first hour?
- How do you decide whether the brand should join a trending meme or topic?
- Walk me through how you would build a month's content calendar for a restaurant chain.
- Our reach keeps falling even though we post daily. What would you change?
- How do you measure whether social media is helping sales?
- How do you brief a video editor so that the first cut is close to final?
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What does a social media manager do?
A social media manager plans and runs a brand's social media accounts. They set the strategy and content calendar, approve posts, lead designers and executives, manage comments and escalations, coordinate influencers and paid social, and report reach, engagement and business results.
What is the difference between a social media manager and a social media executive?
A social media executive creates and schedules posts, replies to comments and prepares reports. The social media manager decides the strategy and calendar, approves content, handles sensitive responses and escalations, works with influencers and paid teams, and answers for results.
What skills does a social media manager need?
The role needs strong short-form writing, a feel for visuals and video, knowledge of each platform's features and analytics, and good judgement about what the brand should and should not say. Staying calm with angry customers in public is just as important.