Social media manager skills represent a combination of technical abilities and interpersonal aptitude needed to create engaging content, interact with audiences, and lead marketing campaigns. They allow professionals to leverage the power of social media platforms to promote products or services and help businesses reach their goals.
In this article, we’ll explore the essential social media manager skills every professional needs to have on their resume. We’ll explain each skill and show why it’s important.
Without further ado, let’s dive right in!
Key Takeaways
Social media management skills combine the technical expertise and interpersonal aptitude needed to create content and engage with the audience.
Some of the most prominent abilities include proficiency in analytics, graphic design, customer service, project management, and writing.
When showcasing these skills on your resume, you should put them in a dedicated skills section and prove them by linking them with relevant achievements.
You can improve your social media manager skills by focusing on automation and continuous learning and by having personal projects.
13 Key Social Media Management Skills to Add to Your Resume
Let’s go through some of the most important and prominent social media manager skills and qualifications to add to your resume.
#1. Analytics
Proficiency in analytics gives social media managers the ability to use information to perfect their strategies. Leveraging data is essential to running a business using social media, where a lot of success depends on accurately interpreting various metrics such as engagement rates, clicks, and conversions.
Social media management professionals often use the platform’s native insights and various third-party tools to analyze information and make decisions. This can help them identify what type of content resonates with the target audience and performs the best.
Analytical skills further help professionals determine when to post content, how to set up marketing campaigns, how to drive sales, and more.
#2. Visual and Graphic Design
Visual and graphic design skills are fundamental social media manager skills for content creation. They allow these professionals to craft visually appealing images and videos that grab attention and resonate with audiences.
On the one hand, graphic design skills encompass theoretical knowledge, such as color theory, typography, composition, and branding. On the other hand, they also include software skills, such as proficiency in Adobe Creative Suite or Affinity Designer.
These are essential skills for social media managers due to the visual nature of these platforms. Eye-catching visuals boost brand recognition and increase engagement, leading to a more profitable business.
#3. Customer Service
Social media professionals with strong customer service skills can promptly address customer concerns and solve their problems to maintain a positive brand image. Typically, this involves responding to comments and messages on the brand’s posts.
A customer service-savvy professional can turn a negative comment into a positive experience or use a positive comment to further strengthen the brand's bond with the audience.
This is one of the core social media manager skills and responsibilities, as social media platforms are often businesses’ first points of contact with their customers. Good impressions translate to brand loyalty and positive word-of-mouth, allowing businesses to experience explosive brand growth.
#4. Writing
Writing skills are vital for communicating on social media platforms. They are used in every aspect of social media management, from coming up with ideas for posts to writing insightful captions and engaging with the audiences in comments and messages. Posts can be short-form X/Twitter messages, longer Instagram carousels, and even long-form blog posts on LinkedIn.
This skill combines a strong command of grammar with creativity and the ability to write in a brand’s tone. That way, social media managers can craft compelling narratives that capture the viewer’s attention, convey important messages, and encourage further action, like commenting, sharing, and liking.
#5. Project Management
Project management involves organizing and executing tasks to ensure the project’s completion and meet the necessary goals. Social media managers usually have to work on content calendars, advertising campaigns, influencer collaborations, and budgeting, all of which require strong project management skills.
This is a multifaceted social media manager skill that encompasses various other abilities, like time management, delegation, and multitasking. On top of that, it also includes proficiency in relevant project management software, such as Asana or Trello. By using all of these abilities, social media managers can obtain consistently good results while being efficient in their work.
#6. Creativity
Creativity helps social media managers come up with inventive and engaging content ideas. It allows them to craft unique posts that resonate with target audiences. Moreover, creativity plays a critical role in campaign management, where original strategies can lead to exceptional results.
Creative thinking ensures that content stands out in a crowded social media landscape. This is particularly important when it comes to following rapidly changing trends. Being able to spot trends in time and use them for your content while providing a unique twist can significantly boost the brand and make it relevant and relatable.
#7. Digital Marketing
Digital marketing is a social media manager skill that involves promoting products or services through online channels. Social media professionals proficient in digital marketing understand the target audience, know how to craft compelling ad campaigns, and are adept at optimizing content for maximum performance.
This is one of the key technical skills for social media managers, and it includes knowledge of tools like Facebook Ads Manager or TikTok Ads Manager. Social platforms are powerful digital tools for reaching wide online audiences, and understanding how to make targeted ad campaigns can lead to significant increases in lead and sales generation.
#8. Platform Expertise
Platform expertise refers to an in-depth knowledge of a specific social media website. Social media is an umbrella term for a wide variety of platforms with unique mechanics, content, and audiences. Understanding the platform’s algorithm, features, and nuances helps managers create optimal content and strategies to maximize the impact they have on audiences.
This is an essential skill, as, for instance, what works on TikTok likely won’t be as effective on LinkedIn. Knowing when and how to create short-form videos, when to focus on written content, what types of graphics to leverage, and how to interact with the audience ensures optimized reach and maximum engagement across all channels.
#9. Adaptability
Adaptability is the ability to adjust approaches to content and marketing strategies based on newfound circumstances. This is one of the essential soft skills for social media managers, as social media platforms often change algorithms and popularize new trends. Being able to quickly adapt when necessary allows professionals to overcome the challenges posed by these shifts.
This skill encompasses flexibility and decision-making, helping social media managers innovate and capitalize on new opportunities. Adaptable managers can turn a negative situation around and transform the risk of losing the audience into a chance for growth. It’s an invaluable skill that ensures long-term success on social platforms.
#10. Time Management
Time management is the ability to organize time and prioritize tasks to reach all goals and meet deadlines. Social media managers often have busy schedules and need to juggle multiple assignments, whether it’s producing content, optimizing campaigns, or interacting with the audience.
This skill allows social media professionals to remain efficient and on top of their workload in fast-paced online environments. In addition to helping social media managers remain organized, time management skills leave them room to adapt to unforeseen circumstances and react to changes requiring immediate attention without their current objectives suffering.
#11. Collaboration
Collaboration skills help social media managers work effectively with other professionals and clients. Social media space often requires professionals from different fields to collaborate on projects to achieve success. Graphic designers, copywriters, marketing specialists, and many others typically work on creating advertising campaigns and content strategies.
This social media manager skill encompasses strong communication prowess and the ability to align with others while working toward a common goal. This approach results in increased creativity, as everyone contributes to a project, as well as consistent quality and efficiency in creating exceptional content and impactful campaigns.
#12. Research
Research skills allow social media managers to gather and analyze information to derive actionable insights. For professionals in social media, this typically involves staying updated on the latest trends, understanding their audiences, and analyzing competition and marketing campaigns.
This is a crucial social media management skill necessary for effective decision-making. It encompasses critical thinking and attention to detail, giving professionals the ability to synthesize information from various sources. It ensures their strategies are relevant, competitive, and driven by data for maximum impact.
#13. Branding
Branding is the ability to maintain a consistent style, tone of voice, and identity across different social media channels. Social media managers often work with brands on multiple platforms, and they need to align their posts, writing, and visuals to match and reflect the brand’s identity.
For instance, branding experts can use a distinct color palette and unique messaging to engage with the audience and help them identify with the brand. Such consistency across all channels helps businesses gain recognition. It builds trust with customers, leading to improved engagement and increased sales.
How to Emphasize Social Media Manager Skills on Your Resume
There are two ways to put your social media manager skills on your resume, including:
Placing them in a dedicated skills section
Adding them next to relevant accomplishments
When creating a list for the skills section of your social media manager resume, you should research the company you want to join and read the job ad. That will allow you to determine which skills recruiters want to see. After that, you can create a tailored list of skills bound to impress.
However, you should also prove your competence by linking your abilities with work-related achievements or results. The best places to demonstrate your social media manager skills are your resume summary or work experience sections. When emphasizing a result, mention a relevant skill next to it to validate it.
Here’s an example of a social media manager highlighting their budgeting skills:
Highlighting Budgeting Skills Example
Monitored ad campaigns in Facebook Ads Manager to spot areas for improvement and optimize budgets, cutting down costs by 13% while maintaining the same CTR.
Here’s another example of a social media manager showcasing their customer service skills:
Showcasing Their Customer Service Skills Example
Engaged with customers on social media daily to resolve product issues and answer their inquiries, reducing customer support requests by 9%.
Notice how both examples highlight specific achievements and include numbers to demonstrate the exact results. This adds believability to your efforts, makes your accomplishments stand out, and corroborates your social media manager skills.
Compare that to a bad example of a social media manager skill highlighted on a resume that doesn’t feature a concrete accomplishment and instead sounds vague and imprecise:
Bad Example
Helped the customer support team by interacting with customers through social media comments and messages.
How to Improve Your Skills as a Social Media Manager: 3 Effective Strategies
Let’s wrap up this comprehensive guide with several tips that can help you improve your social media manager skills starting today:
Leverage automation. Many tasks and processes in social media management can be automated. You can schedule posts and ad campaigns for days in advance with minimum further input and even create automated message responses. This leaves time to focus on improving more meaningful and creative aspects of the profession.
Practice with personal projects. One of the best ways to improve your skills—especially if you’re an entry-level professional—is to have a personal project. You can run your own social media page to learn the ins and outs of the platform that you want to learn, including content creation and paid advertising.
Exercise continuous learning. Social media platforms continuously evolve, requiring you to be constantly updated with the latest changes. By following the latest updates and discussions on viable strategies, you’ll significantly improve your social media manager skills and remain competent in the space of digital marketing.
Closing Thoughts
Social media manager skills are necessary for success in the volatile digital space. They directly shape how audiences perceive brands and can help businesses go from forgettable to becoming household names.
Now that you know which social media manager skills are required to do the job well, you can put them in your resume and cover letter, grab the recruiter’s attention, and land an interview. After that, all you need to do is brush up on the most common social media manager interview questions, and you’ll maximize your chances of landing the role!
