The complexities of social media management
One of my responsibilities as a digital marketing intern at a fashion start-up is social media management. To some, social media management sounds like a relatively easy task. However, there are many complexities when it comes to content curation across platforms such as Instagram, Facebook, and Pinterest.
Branding is an important aspect of content curation. Having a consistent brand voice and image is necessary to not only curate an aesthetically pleasing social media feed, but also to minimize confusion for the consumer. Although some social media posts may have relatively short captions, a lot of thought goes into the planning of them. Captions are particularly difficult to master, because each caption should be relevant yet relatable to the target market and audience. Shorter captions are more user-friendly, so quality over quantity is certainly a best practice for social media posting. It is also important to use relevant hashtags to drive traffic to each social media post and increase the company’s visibility in a crowded market.
There also may be brand guidelines for digital marketing efforts. My company, specifically, has a default color palate and word font for any graphics I create. There is also a marketing calendar planned a month in advance, where each day the social media post must meet specific criteria. For example, our company alternates the days in which an Instagram post includes an actual person in the photo. Similarly, there are themes for each day of the week such as Self-care Sunday, Motivation Monday, and Mid-week Inspiration Wednesday.
Creating content that adheres to such guidelines requires extensive planning. Social media managers truly deserve more credit and appreciation, because a well-curated social media feed requires both creativity and strategy!