What Is A Social Media Strategist? (Social Media Strategist Job Description)

There are social media managers…social media writers…but what about social media strategists?

Social media strategists are your one-stop shop for a full and active life on social media. They know everything about past, present and future social media trends. They also have a natural talent in writing short, catchy stories that hook the reader instantly.

Social Media Strategist Job Description

Social media strategists are responsible for developing and executing social media campaigns for businesses and organizations.

They are also responsible for monitoring the social media landscape and providing insights to clients.

Social Media Strategist Duties and Responsibilities

So…what do social media strategists actually do on the day-to-day?

A day in the life of a social media strategist might look something like this…

1. The first thing that a social media strategist will do is surf the internet a bit and find out what the big news stories are. They might just do a quick scroll on Google News or their favorite news app and see if there is anything interesting going on that could apply to their company.

2. Next, a social media strategist might scroll through their notifications and respond to comments, re-post any stories or posts the company is tagged in and like/comment on any posts by other accounts that are relevant.

3. The next step would be to double check the scheduled posts for today, making sure there are no errors before they go live. If the posts are not yet written, then some time will be spent finishing the scheduled posts for the day.

4. After this, a social media strategist might spend some time creating reports, sending out emails, meeting with other departments to collaborate on posts and other behind-the-scenes tasks.

Some of the daily duties and responsibilities of a social media strategist are:

Scheduling and posting content to the company’s social media channels
Creating videos and graphics that will be used in social media posts
Use the company’s editorial calendar to create monthly social media schedules
Adjust content based on feedback from analytics
Stay up-to-date with news and pop culture
Knowledge in how to build a community of followers
Monitor and respond to conversations online in order to form a connection with customers.

Social Media Strategist Skills and Qualifications

A social media strategist will typically have to have the following qualifications:

Experience making content for various brands
A bachelor’s degree in communications, public relations or business
Good writing and communication skills
Experiencing producing content for a wide range of platforms (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok etc…)
An understanding of how brands participate in online communities
Experience using social media analytics software, Google Analytics, Google Workspace, Microsoft Excel, PowerPoint, Canva and Adobe Suite.
Strong attention to detail.
Ability to analyze data and apply to a social media strategy

Social Media Strategist Salary and Job Outlook

Social media work is no longer a part-time gig. Companies are looking to employ social media strategists long-term and on a full-time basis.

How much does a social media strategist make salary-wise?

According to Glassdoor, Social Media Strategists can make between 24K and 200K per year. It really depends on how much experience you have as a social media strategist and how much money your employer has allotted to marketing and social media efforts.

What is the job outlook for social media strategists?

The opportunities for growth as a social media strategist is tremendous. As a social media strategist, you might advance into a career as an advertising manager, a public relations specialist or a marketing executive.

Social media strategist vs. manager

What's the difference between a social media strategist and a social media manager?

A social media strategist will tend to focus on the big picture…the big plan of what the company should do in terms of their overall social media reach.

They will recommend certain types of posts, platforms and schedules based on their market research and will come up with a plan on how to execute these new ideas.

A social media manager, on the other hand is in charge of things like scheduling, editing, interacting with other accounts and responding to comments.

Oftentimes a social media team will consist of a social media manager, a social media strategist and a social media content creator.

The social media strategist will decide what is to be posted, a social media content creator will create the content and the social media manager will plug it into the scheduling app and keep up with any interactions or things that need adjusting.

Many social media managers are strategists and vice versa. Some social media strategists will be able to offer a complete social media service to their clients including management and content creation. It all depends really!

Conclusion

Social media strategists build the foundation for a quality social media campaign.

Sometimes they perform both management and content creation tasks, other times they are solely focused on strategy.

Certain social media services like Mixbloom will act as a 3-in-1 social media strategist and offer content creation, management and strategy all in one service!