Social media management has evolved massively since MySpace was first introduced two decades ago. It’s become a complex profession with the modern social marketer juggling an abundance of tasks and responsibilities.

Social pros are now expected to be graphic designers, copywriters, brand strategists, crisis communicators, and front-line customer service agents—all wrapped into a single individual’s capacity. And to top it all off, they are expected to keep up with the ever-shifting social media trends across multiple platforms.

Put simply, social media managers (SMMs) are overworked and overwhelmed, with two in three working 40 hours or more per week, and two-thirds saying they have too many responsibilities.

But it’s not all bad news – in fact, the majority of social marketers (77%) are happy in their job, and those who spend the majority of their time (90-100%) focused on social media are significantly less likely to feel overburdened.

With social channels having become the modern-day passageway to customer relationships, social media managers require holistic support to be well positioned to help brands reap the rewards of deepened customer relationships on social.

Social marketers have come to know customers best

With over 4.7 billion social media users globally there’s no question that your brand’s target audience lives on social. That means social media managers are now key drivers of customer championship. They are the first to know who the customer is, what the consumer trends are, as well as what is happening in both the organisation and the wider world.

Nowadays, social channels are often the first touchpoint brands have with their customers – it’s where relationships are built, fostered, and protected – which makes social media managers critical to overall business success. After all, without customers, there is no business.

But in our Social Trends 2024 Report we heard that brands are still missing a trick when it comes to customer engagement on social channels. Over half (56%) of consumers think brands should be more relatable on social and 34% say a focus on self-promotion is a major turn-off in how they perceive brands. Yet, 48% of marketers are still publishing product, brand updates, or company news multiple times a week.

There clearly remains a disconnect between what consumers are looking for from brands on social and what they’re seeing on their screens — it’s simply not resonating. By zeroing in on the content that performs well and focusing on relationship-building on champion social channels, brands can help bridge that lingering gap and deliver true value to their customers. But it’s important to remember an important rule of thumb here: offering value to audiences 9 out 10 times is how brands can build trust and lay the groundwork to then reasonably extract value in return.

How social marketers can demonstrate their value

In addition to drawing new parallels between social marketing and customer relationships, it has been a longstanding challenge to prove the business value of social media — not to mention, the social marketing function. How can social marketers ensure their influential presence is recognised and set themselves up for success to contribute most effectively within their organisations?

We cannot underestimate the importance of fair and equitable wages that reflect the changing landscape (and responsibilities) — and this is an area that we have learned from social marketers has room for growth. A good first step social marketers can take is to advocate for themselves by explicitly asking for pay raises and budget increases to support their varied workload. Forty-eight percent of SMMs feel they don’t have enough budget to do their job well, but, reassuringly, three out of four social marketers who’ve asked for a raise, got one.

With the proper budgets to implement effective social strategies, simplicity reigns supreme; the next step is to align social efforts with specific objectives and metrics that matter most to the organisation. This approach elevates the impact of social media marketing across the organisation.

But in order to achieve this, there needs to be a very clear understanding of collective business goals. This may be increasing brand awareness, driving web traffic, generating leads, or boosting sales.

Different goals require different metrics. Once those goals are established, identifying meaningful metrics that ladder back up to those business goals comes next – such as conversion and clickthrough rates, engagement, quality of comments, and customer sentiment. Rather than vanity metrics – like number of likes, followers, and shares – these meaningful metrics will measure genuine social ROI.

Arguably the most important (and fun) step — analysing the metrics and never ceasing to test and iterate. Marketers can use tools like Google Analytics to track how social media traffic behaves on their website. Useful metrics to monitor include bounce rate, time spent on site, and conversion paths. Marketers can also directly ask customers on social media about their preferences regarding the content or offers they find valuable.

By following these steps, social marketers will ensure their efforts support business goals and demonstrate true ROI, whilst ensuring customer relationships are being fostered all at the same time.

How brands can support their social marketers

The most crucial gap to fill is the lingering misunderstanding leaders have about the huge role social marketing plays in organisations – from customer service to brand reputation, and ultimately revenue. In fact, over half of social marketers say their bosses don’t understand social media.

Social platforms offer a unique opportunity to directly build relationships with both loyal customers and target audiences. However, brands are missing out on this opportunity by not supporting their social teams adequately. Almost half (41%) of social marketers say their work has a negative impact on their mental health, and 51% feel they don’t have enough time to do their job well.

So how can brands turn the tide on these worrying trends, and unleash the full potential of their social marketing team?

A great challenge for leaders would be to spend a day in the life of their SMMs to get exposed to the full breadth of what they do. Also, by asking for their social team’s opinion on marketing strategies and, crucially, giving them a seat at the table and the opportunity to share their expertise, brands will gain invaluable insights into how social marketing can work best for their business.

Senior marketing leaders also have an important role to play. We sit in a unique position to advocate for our social media managers as key drivers of customer relationships. Our social teams are constantly building relationships for our brands that directly lead to revenue, yet they often don’t get the recognition or appreciation they deserve as marketers. Our dedication to social media professionals around the world goes beyond the realm of tools and solutions. We need to ensure they feel seen, understood, and supported, and ultimately prioritise their position within the organisation.

Leaders – don’t overlook your social pros

At the core of social is connection and relationships, and ultimately, relationships drive revenue. By taking the time to support their social marketing teams, brands will ensure they don’t overlook the chance to cultivate deep and long-lasting customer relationships.

Social marketers are brands’ modern-day customer relationship gurus — full stop.  By shying away from better understanding this vital function, leaders are missing out on the opportunity to get closer to their current and prospective customers. The more leaders lean into their social experts, the better they’ll understand their customers — and from there, the possibilities are endless. For everybody.