What does life as a social media manager (SMM) look like? The days involve, in varying degrees and numbers, haters and mercenary influencers with spectacularly inflated sense of self-worth; clients more clueless than I when I look at my tax sheets; and trolls that would make the monstrous, Cockney-speaking kind who tried to spit-roast Bilbo's pals in The Hobbit look like an adorable class-pet.
The nights are filled with 3AM messages from people just to say a friendly "Whats up" or "your shite, mate". (Punctuation be dammed.) And self-appointed moral gatekeepers and English professors who point out mistakes, the harmless variety like spelling errors and typos, and the incredibly daft ones like "Hey @volkswagenIndia, you just tweeted 'Women would be dumb to call it a vibrator. Or maybe they do not understand real driving experience'". Followed by a never ceasing tide of profanity and mail-storms from panicked, angry clients.
The nightmares revolve around the ever-looming fear o f a misplaced post like when Star Sports tweeted the Hindi translation of daughter-f****r. Chronic paranoia and hypertension are side-orders. That's the social media manager's lot in life.
Social media and community managers are the people who strategise and meticulously chart marketing content plans for brands, and tweet, post and speak on the brand's behalf on social media platforms from Twitter and Facebook to Instagram and Snapchat. It's people! And always twenty-something digital natives, working at a 'cool digital agency', bred on Buzzfeed, with temperaments of saints, warriors and jesters for when one has to hit back with cheeky but courteous retorts. But sometimes, let's face it, they are also morons, as one user pointed out after reading Volkswagen's tweet defending its vibrating print ad. Nonetheless, social media handlers are people — blood, flesh, defects and all, not unburdened by the trappings of human emotion, who are in a strange state of "always-on" digital limbo.Instagram and Snapchat. It's people! And always twenty-something digital natives, working at a 'cool digital agency', bred on Buzzfeed, with temperaments of saints, warriors and jesters for when one has to hit back with cheeky but courteous retorts. But sometimes, let's face it, they are also morons, as one user pointed out after reading Volkswagen's tweet defending its vibrating print ad. Nonetheless, social media handlers are people — blood, flesh, defects and all, not unburdened by the trappings of human emotion, who are in a strange state of "always-on" digital limbo.
The primary cause of their nervous-wreck disposition is also the reason the job exists — the very people she or he must interact with every day. "What got my goat every time are the people I spoke to," says Biprorshee Das, who's now a senior content manager at BookMyShow. "We all love trolling brands on social media. We all love to think we know better than most when we think we can make a brand eat dirt just because we are having a bad day or because we prefer Coke over Pepsi. God help you if you've spotted a typo on a brand's social post. The "power" you think you have is maddening. I was such a specimen too till I realised and saw all that goes behind the scenes and when that incredible burden of being the faceless representative of a brand on social media rests on you." So, when he encountered these people but couldn't get inside the computer and satisfy a rather cathartic violence-pang, he wished he had done better in school and were a pilot.
But sure enough, in time, all the reasons for a hasty retreat to the aviation industry also turn into a daily source of laughs and topics for bar conversations. Like one user who wasn't particularly impressed by a client's movie programming so he suggested, "I have latest movies in HD on my hard drive. I can send. Please show those movies".
If people are the devil then clients are the deep sea. (See 'The Timeline of Laugh ter and Forgetting') Especially clients who put a premium on quantity and not quality. Gaurav Derebail, head - brand solutions organization, Flarepath, had a baptism by fire at another agency when a client wanted over 1000 creatives, +300 videos, 55 trending hashtags. He remembers, not fondly, "For over a month we worked 21-hour shifts every day." Au revoir, dear weekend. What's worse, however, is that clients still use trending hashtags, hearts and one lakh Likes on Facebook as the only metric.
However, despite all their travails, Hensila Kava, a digital media specialist at WYP and Medulla, sees the bright side of being a social media manager. Which is "you get to live out different personalities," due to creating, tweeting and posting for oneself and on behalf of multiple brands from various platforms. (There's a clinical term for that, it is Dissociative Personality Disorder.) So, when a consumer tweeted, late one night, to ask why the brand she handles is not available in Ahmedabad. She told the user not to fret, for, soon, "we'll take over the world."
An SMM's Guide To The Galaxy
Pro Tips
-Don't spam. Never sell. Follow the check list. But template-creatives and 'Reply' is not content marketing. Don't ride trending topics or hashtags without cause or thought. Create connect. "Social and cultural nuances that can be picked as a starting point for your conversation have much better response rates, considering it's so much easier for people to relate to your activity," says Sheldon D'souza, business head, Digital F5. This is important: Read! He says, "Instead of doing the 'zombie scroll' on your Facebook timeline, you'd be better off browsing sites like Mashable. Unless you've got really cool friends who share cool stuff all the time."
-Don't be held to ransom by cutthroat influencers. One expert rues the state of influencer marketing, likening it to a dance bar; "Brands are competing with each other, throwing money at the most popular individuals just to get their attention. These sell-your-social-soul individuals are by far the worst kind I have encountered."
-Be honest like Ipswich Town FC's social media guy who tweeted this; "GOAL: Town behind within the first 60 seconds as Doukara finds the net. I wasn't in my seat so no idea what happened, sorry #itfc" When things go badly wrong, don't panic. Apologise. Get answers to all possible questions and then respond.
Practical Tips
-Buy thermal wear or else share D'Souza's fate; "While everyone went for Christmas dances and made New Year's Eve party plans, we were tweeting a live cricket match from a room so cold (because we shared it with servers) we called it the meat locker."
-Keep all accounts on the phone. But if a night of drunken debauchery is on the agenda, ask the designated driver to change your phone's security code. Also, change all passwords when the account has changed ha nds. V for Vendetta is not just a movie. If the agency or employee hasn't been paid that's enough cause for covert social media warfare. In case of scheduled tweets and posts make sure a colleague has the password if emergency deletions need to be made. Like when brands' scheduled "Happy New Year" posts with pictures of fireworks off bridges and monuments went out at 12:01 AM on 31st December 2015.
-Always think in first person. Keep a Wren & Martin handy. Have fun. But, as Derebail advises, don't s**** on the timeline.
Client Speak
Food delivery app Zomato has a prolific social media presence. But we ask Pramod Rao, SVP, Growth, Zomato what makes it also one of the most creative, responsive and engaging feeds.
How much freedom do Zomato's social media managers have?
We have a fairly localised and hands-off approach when it comes to managing our social media. While the design aspect of all campaigns is either create d or vetted by the central teams to maintain a consistent brand identity, social media managers have complete freedom on local content creation and engagement. We have a strong flow of communication between all our social media managers enabling them to benefit from each other's experiences.
What are the cardinal rules?
We use our social media platforms only for engagement and not promotion as such. Our narrative to our teams is fairly simple - be there for those who use your product and reach out to you. Listen to them, act on their feedback ASAP. Help them never have a bad meal and delight them.
What are the expectations from Zomato's social media and community managers?
Being a Star Trek fan I think it would be appropriate to say the expectation is to live long and prosper. On a more serious note, our local teams enjoy interacting with our users on a day to day basis (both online as well as offline) and we hope that every conversation we have delights our customers and drives customer pride for our brand and product.
