3 ways Social Media has Changed in Recent Years and How It Affects You as a Social Media Manager

When social media first started no one knew how it would build and create a new extension of a brand and how the brand relates to the consumer. As social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter started to gain popularity brands joined the platform. At the beginning of social media platforms, users did not know what to use the platforms for. People would post images of their family or what they were eating and not be concerned about the quality of the image. However, times have changed and social media is used to promote brands and users are more concerned about the quality of their content they post.

Not Being a Priority of an Organization’s Strategy

At the beginning of social media platforms brands created a profile and quickly learned they could use the platforms as a way for free advertising. In the early days of social media, the idea of having a team dedicated to social media was not at the top of mind for companies. Some companies are still learning how to implement the strategy of social media beyond using it with the goal of advertising or promotional tools. In a study from 2018 about Fortune 500 companies’ uses of social media only 45% of them use Instagram. In 2018 Instagram reported having over one billion users. Fortune 500 and other companies are missing out on reaching consumers by not being on social media and prioritizing their social media strategy. It also hurts the company by not having a strategy with goals for their social media.

Facebook started in 2004 and is continuing to grow in users and ways for companies to reach consumers. One of Facebook’s goals for 2021 is to grow its eCommerce. This can greatly benefit companies who use eCommerce and need to increase their reach.

The change of organization’s priority of social media and the strategies that come with it affect you as a social media manager in how you create and plan content for the brand. If an organization understands how strategizing their social media content to go with their current campaigns or to have a specially targeted social media campaign to their audience you will be responsible for the content creation and given clear goals for social media. However when there is not a strategy with goals it can be difficult to know what content to create and what to plan for.

Content Creation and Planning Tools

In the rise of social media platforms and the increase of social media manager positions in organizations, developers saw a need for management tools and the need for content creation. Hootsuite is a platform used to bring a company’s social media platforms into one place. It assists in planning what content to post on your platforms and scheduling your posts. Hootsuite is also very beneficial in allowing you to easily see when your brand is being talked about on social media. Social media planning and organizational tools like Hootsuite are valuable to social media managers. Hootsuite also creates content about how their social media managers create and plan content using their platform. Not only is it a planning tool, but also a brand helping you as a social media manager to be inspired.

As a social media manager we can wear many hats and one of them can be graphic design. Canva is an easy to use graphic design website that is a beneficial and helpful tool for social media managers. You can create graphics to use on your social media platforms and website. It is easy to use and includes templates for inspiration or to use for your content. It also includes a planning calendar for the content you created using Canva.

Using tools that help you stay organized in your content creation and planning helps you succeed as a social media manager. Social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram have the planning and scheduling of posts options however tools like Hootsuite bring all of your social media accounts into one place. It also helps you in seeing all your content at once.

Less promotion and Focus on Empathy

In the early days of Facebook, brands used posts as a free advertisement and some companies still do. However, as social media managers it is important to find a balance in the messages, we promote on our organization’s social media pages. We need to create engaging, informative and interactive content for our followers. When we create content that brings depth to the users or information that helps them solve a problem they are facing can result in higher engagement and an understanding that the brand cares about the consumer. Social Media Managers need to go beyond promoting their organization or brand and showcase empathy in their content. Empathy showcases how the brand cares and can help build connections to followers.

Having empathy in the social media posts you plan and create helps you build a relationship to your followers and consumers. When creating and developing social media posts with empathy it causes the social media manager to step back and think about what their brand message is and how it can impact followers.