If you are thinking of trying your hand out on becoming a social media marketer, you should know that this involves more than just knowing how to post on Facebook or how to create a Tweet. There is more to social media marketing and management than meets the eye. In order for you to succeed in such a venture, there are some things that you need to know how to do off-the-bat.

You should be aware that before you step into this line of work that a social media marketer and manager actually does more than just post, answer questions, and tweet. They actually need to fulfill a number of roles in order to be considered effective at what they do. Those who want to get into this job need a specific skill set that includes the following:

Ability to write effective and compelling copy – Yes, you read that right. A social media marketer and manager actually needs to be a good enough writer in order to be effective at what they do. These professionals have to write more than a tweet or a Facebook post to do their job. They actually have to be able to write short articles and interesting content whenever needed. They also need to be able to write emails and write grammatically correct replies to queries and messages on these social media portals.

Efficient and Organized – This is a must for this particular job since this requires sticking to a strict posting schedule, being online at specific times of the day, and following a calendar that outlines when tweets, images, updates, and even links need to be published. Not having this skill will make a social media marketer ineffective since people rely on the information they post to be there when they look. Companies also need these posts to be up when these are scheduled to be up, and this is to not only give out information to customers at the right time but to also establish reliability.

Quick Thinking – A social media marketer or manager needs to be quick on their feet, particularly when faced with a rather volatile situation, such as a troll or flame-baiting poster on one or more of their social media accounts. Not being able to effectively counter a negative and defamatory post on one or more of the company’s social media accounts can seriously damage a company’s reputation. Being able to assuage a troll or to counter their accusations with factual and reassuring posts is a talent that very few social media marketers and managers have.

Selling Skills – SMMs also need to know how to encourage their audience to buy from their company. Being able to convince your audience to buy from your business is a bonus skill that will help your company earn from these social media portals. Some people tend to ask about products on Facebook or on other similar sites, and they do this either in a public post on your company’s wall or via a private message. Being able to convert this query into a sale is a great skill to have and will make you look good in the eyes of the company employing you.

These are just a few of the skills that you need to have when you are planning on venturing into the world of Social Media Marketing. Aside from these, you also need to have a few traits that will make you ideal for the job. These include patience, understanding, and empathy.