A Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager

You know, if there’s one thing I get asked more than anything else about my job, it’s “What do you actually do all day?”

Because apparently, people think social media managers spend all day on Twitter/Facebook collecting followers and congratulating each other on getting paid to spend all day on Twitter/Facebook.

Well, Bub, I’ll tell you what I actually do all day. Behold, a look behind the velvet curtain at a Day in the Life of a Social Media Manager:

5:30 AM – Alarm goes off. I crush the snooze button because who the heck actually gets up at 5:30? Not me, clearly.

6:00 AM – Actually get up, and check mobile for the emails I missed overnight. Because apparently, advertising agency people aren’t into the whole sleeping thing.

7:30 AM – Attempt to write a post for my own blog. Generally fail because “Blue’s Clues” is playing on the living room TV, thus robbing me of at least 50% of my available intelligence.

8:00 AM – Drive to work. Begin drafting responses in my head to the emails I read at 6:00. Do NOT actually attempt to type those responses while driving. Honest.

8:30 AM – Get to work. Spend first half hour or so checking the various monitoring systems in place for our social media clients. Note stuff that will require a follow-up. Do embarrassing end-zone dance when I get a really nice client mention on a prominent social site.

9:00 AM – Check clients’ social outposts for comments that need a response. Make sure everyone is playing nicely together and that no one is posting anything that will make their legal teams’ heads spin around like a parliament of owls.

9:30 AM – Attempt to steal Jason’s copy of Wired magazine while he’s not looking.

9:35 AM – Fire up Google Analytics and other tools to see what’s up with clients’ traffic volume, bounce rates, time-on-site, etc. Attempt to avoid spraying decaf out my nose when I fail to remember seasonality issues.

10:30 AM – Meeting or presentation of some sort wherein I will usually have to explain (A) RSS (B) Twitter (C) What the &%#^ is a widget?

11:30 AM – Answer more client emails. Research new opportunities for existing clients. Talk with other agency partners and vendors.

12:30 PM – Go to lunch and once again, attempt to write a blog post. Usually fail, as Sarah McLachlan is playing in the coffee shop, thus robbing me of at least 50% of my available intelligence.

1:00 PM – General webmastery for most of the afternoon. Send content back to clients with suggested keyword inclusion. Post new content to client websites. Make sure it got proofed and approved by legal. Other nerdy content-related stuff.

3:00 PM – Take a break from general webmastery to check RSS reader, poke my head into Twitter and Facebook.

4:00 PM – Put out whatever fires have cropped up over the course of the afternoon.

5:30 PM – Head home. Spend time with husband and the always interesting and often funny small people who call me “Mom.”

So, there you have it. Not the most glamorous day on earth, but it is fun and rewarding work for a person who likes dealing with both people and technology.  

imgs courtesy indiewench and  ford on flickr.  “Blues Clues” is ® Nickelodeon.