Managing Social Media – Characteristics of a Social Moderator

As social media is becoming one of the most talked about areas in business, there are specific people behind each company social conversation. But who are these people and what skills do they have? You might think, “I have Facebook and know how to use it, I could be a social manager for a company. How hard can it really be?” But there is much more to being a social manager, social marketer or communications manager with a focus in social. Even though your title doesn’t include “social media,” the new online world may be a bigger portion of your position than you think and specific skills are needed to communicate effectively within that world.

Some of the top characteristics to look for with the role of managing a social network or blog and interacting with their communities are:

Understanding the Process
It’s important to understand all aspects of social. Monitoring, listening, overall strategy, planning and how to engage are a few. Social is so new and continues to emerge in our world today; being knowledgeable in all segments is a must.

Writing and Presentation Skills
As a writer it is your job to construct each message to pertain and speak to your community, even if it only 140 characters long. The tone of your voice should also be taken into consideration while engaging in the conversation, as one market may be comfortable with technical language and others may not. Presentation skills are also needed as most social media experts present strategies to senior level executives and speak at social media conferences.

Presence and Interaction
This is about being there but not dominating the online environment. It’s often more about the conversations you engage with and the sharing of insights you have.  Having the ability to persuade and engage in a conversation without actually coming across as a salesman or bias influence is also an important part of interaction. This step also involves the skill of knowing when to step in to direct as well as stepping back to allow greater peer-interaction but still listening to conversation.

Adaptability, Patience and Research
A social media strategist needs to be able to adapt to different scenarios and new platforms/tools/trends that emerge.  As tools are constantly being developed; it takes patience to wait for them. While waiting for new tools to be developed, it’s important to stay up to date with the most current trends, as new platforms, sites and applications launch everyday in the social world.

Someone may be experienced and have a personal account on Facebook or Twitter, but it doesn’t always mean they have what it takes to manage social media at the corporate or business level.