What is everyday life like as a Social Media Manager at a Marketing Agency?

How long have you been working as a Social Media Manager and how did you initially get into it? 

I have been with The Social Co for over three and a half years as part of the Social Media Management team.

I’ve been working in digital media since university as part of my two degrees, as well as working as a freelance football writer.

I used my social media accounts like Twitter to create engagement around my articles, so taking those transferrable skills from both my writing and studies was pretty seamless.

When I heard the agency was hiring I jumped at the chance to take those skills into a full-time environment, working with brands across the UK.

How many clients will you work with at any one time? 

As things stand I am currently working on 15 accounts, which span across our internal socials, So Invest accounts, as well as a range of brands in varying industries such as health, hospitality, automotive, housing, transport, training and sport.

Can you walk us through a typical day in your life as a social media manager? How do you structure your workday to stay productive?

A typical day as a Social Media Manager is quite a whirlwind of events given how fast-paced and endlessly changing the industry is.

I always try and block out my diary each hour for tasks, however, I think everyone in Marketing who works with external clients will agree this rarely stays the same given how many reactive things occur.

My regular tasks involve content planning, client meetings, content creation briefs, Reel creation, design/animation briefing, research and analysing results, plus I am currently in the process of Paid Social training.

There isn’t any time free to not be productive!

How have the skills you’ve gained with a career in social helped you in your personal life/career?

I think the main thing I can take from this role is that by working with businesses across such a wide range of genres, I have learned so much about topics I probably would not have ever looked into unless necessary.

I had one client who worked in personal protection insurance, so when I came to buying my first home, rather than going in blind I knew exactly what type of cover I needed and that all came from doing extensive research for the client.

By working so closely with businesses in different areas, I feel far more knowledgeable both inside and outside of work than I did three and a half years ago.

Who is your dream client? 

I imagine everyone working in the office would be able to guess this, but as a lifelong fan, working with Sunderland AFC has always been a dream of mine.

Last year, I had the pleasure of working with their marketing team for my client at the time, Avec Sport, and it was fantastic to work on the launch of two of their retro collaborations.

Aside from that, naturally, I always find sport-related clients most enjoyable, but equally working with great people regardless of the subject makes everything ten times better.

How do you maintain a healthy work-life balance while managing the demands of being constantly connected to social media?

In a job where you’re never really done or finished, I think it’s important to do things that help you switch your mind off from it all.

For me, that comes most easily through competitive sports. I recently started playing Sunday league football again, and I love playing Padel Tennis at True Padel.

I recently took up golf, however I was +43 over nine holes on my debut, so how successful that will be is still up for debate.

What are the biggest challenges you face in your role, and what do you find most rewarding about your job?

These answers are actually both intertwined.

The biggest pressure we face is that we are dealing with people’s businesses and are responsible for everything on their digital output. If our content and strategies fail, that of course has a knock-on effect on the brand’s profitability and success.

I take great pride in knowing that a strategy I had a key role in putting together was a success and helped a business achieve its digital goals.