Cerebra

So there I was, chatting to a high school buddy and catching up on the past 6 years when he turned and said, “So you just update a status, send a tweet and get paid! Hook me up with a job.”

His sarcasm wasn’t appreciated. If it weren’t for him putting on 20 odd kilograms and living with his mother, I would probably have felt the need to defend myself. Instead, I let the heathen have his small victory while I quietly contemplated all it is that I do.

Here’s a day in the life of a content manager:

I take in briefs, develop content plans, chase approval, source creative, create and manage content calendars, publish and moderate content on various social channels, collate stats and feedback, make sense of analytics tools from a number of sources. I even compile a big report at the end of it all with strategic insights as to how we could possibly maintain or change perception where necessary.

I used to think a monkey could do what I did, until I saw a few monkeys try.

Years of taking feedback, dissecting it, and analysing exactly what’s going on has given me insight into what works and what doesn’t. Sure, this insight will be different from client to client and there will always be some teething issues when you take on a new community, but at this stage, myself and other community managers are now able to design tailor-made content for our individual audience with the aim of adding the most value, generating the most positive sentiment and useful insight.

If you’re looking at candidates for a Content and Community manager vacancy, you should look for a few qualities aside from the obvious requirements of creative writing skills, knowledge of the nature of the platforms, being ‘spunky’, and be active in the social space. Watch closely for:
• Problem solving skills – Throw them a logic puzzle in the interview, how do they cope?
• A basic understanding of human behavior and interaction – How do they handle you? Do they have tact?
• A background in linguistics (or willingness to learn) – How you are able to structure a message is as important as how fun you can make it sound.
• Good organisational skills – My lack of this makes me realise how important it is to have!
• Patience and thick skin – Don’t throw ‘Sensitive Sally’ behind the front desk into the social trenches. She will hurt herself.

The social media rabbit hole goes deeper than what anybody is aware of yet. There is a definite science to what we do in the industry. There is method in our madness!

Image source: zazzle.com