Social Media Manager Job Description and Skills

Social Media Manager Job Description and Skills

Social media manager job description: what the role involves, the skills and competencies to assess when hiring, and how to test candidates.

Marketing


7

mins

Social Media Manager Job Description and Skills

Social media manager job description: what the role involves, the skills and competencies to assess when hiring, and how to test candidates.

Marketing


7

mins

/

Social Media Marketing Manager

About the role

A Social Media Marketing Manager job description covers running the social media strategy, overseeing content creation and scheduling, and reporting on campaign results. The role delivers brand visibility, audience engagement, and leads that support sales. Hiring managers should assess marketing expertise, analytical skills, strategic communication, and AI fluency.

Social media manager responsibilities also include measuring the success of every campaign, monitoring user engagement, and suggesting content optimization. Employers use both Social Media Marketing Manager and Social Media Manager as titles, so a social media manager job description often covers the same work. The role works closely with other departments so the strategy aligns with company goals.

Core duties from the job description:

  • Strategy. Develop, implement, and manage the social media strategy.

  • KPIs. Define and report on the most important social media KPIs.

  • Content. Manage and oversee social media content creation and scheduling.

What are the essential Social Media Marketing Manager skills?

The essential skills are marketing expertise, analytical skills and KPI reporting, data analysis, strategic communication, and AI fluency.

Skill

Why it matters

Bryq assessment and level

Marketing expertise

Guides how campaigns are planned and run across platforms.

Marketing Roles

Analytical skills and KPI reporting

Needed to define KPIs and report results.

Analytical Skills (intermediate)

Data analysis of campaign and engagement metrics

Turns campaign and engagement data into better decisions.

Data Analysis (intermediate)

Strategic communication and messaging

Shapes consistent messaging across platforms.

Strategic Communication (intermediate)

AI Fluency

AI tools affect content drafting, scheduling, and analytics.

AI Fluency Assessment (functional)

The core work is running campaigns and measuring their success. Marketing knowledge, analytical skills, and data analysis support defining KPIs and reporting results, while strategic communication shapes the messaging across platforms. AI tools now affect content drafting, scheduling, and analytics.

Levels are a starting point. Bryq lets you set the level each role needs.

Which nice-to-have skills help a Social Media Marketing Manager stand out?

Creative content ideation, time management and multitasking, web design and publishing basics, and cross-department relationship building add value but are not needed on day one.

  • Creative content ideation. Supports content production with fresh ideas.

  • Time management and multitasking. Keeps content creation and scheduling on track.

  • Web design and publishing basics. Supports publishing content smoothly.

  • Cross-department relationship building. Helps align the strategy with company goals.

Use these skills as tie-breakers between candidates who are equally strong on the essentials. Never screen out candidates who can learn them on the job.

Which competencies predict success as a Social Media Marketing Manager?

Communication and Learning Agility are the essential competencies for this role.

  • Communication. The manager writes and approves content, aligns departments, and responds to audience engagement.

  • Learning Agility. Platforms, algorithms, and best practices change constantly, so campaigns need quick adjustment.

The optional competencies are Empathy, which helps in understanding audiences, and Leadership Potential, which helps in guiding contributors.

What AI skills does a Social Media Marketing Manager need?

AI fluency for social media managers means using AI daily, with good prompts, to draft, schedule, and analyze content, then checking the outputs.

AI matters in this role because it already changes how social content is drafted, scheduled, and analyzed. The risk is publishing AI output without checking it, so managers edit for brand voice and accuracy. Advanced workflow design is not required for most of the work.

  • Content drafting. Draft and adapt post copy, captions, and image or video concepts for different platforms and audiences, then edit for brand voice and accuracy.

  • Performance analysis. Summarize engagement and campaign data to spot trends and suggest content optimizations for the next posting cycle.

  • Scheduling and listening. Use AI-assisted scheduling and social listening tools to find optimal posting times and monitor brand sentiment.

How do you assess Social Media Marketing Manager candidates with Bryq?

Bryq measures all the essential skills and traits for a Social Media Marketing Manager in one integrated candidate profile: cognitive ability, personality traits, soft and hard skills, including AI fluency. Bryq builds an ideal profile for the role and matches candidates against it.

All Bryq assessments are validated by I/O psychologists. Profile Fit is independently bias-audited under New York City Local Law 144 (code4thought, April 2026). The AI Fluency Assessment is built on peer-reviewed and subject-matter expert research. A person makes every hiring decision.

Social Media Marketing Manager (Social Media Manager) job description template

Copy and paste this template, then replace the text in square brackets. To write or rewrite your own, use Bryq’s free job description AI skill, which works in Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot.

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Social Media Marketing Manager

About [Company name]

[Add a short description of your company.]

About the role

As our Social Media Marketing Manager, you will develop and run our social media strategy, oversee content creation and scheduling, and report on campaign results. Your work builds brand visibility, audience engagement, and leads that support sales.

Responsibilities

  • Develop, implement, and manage our social media strategy.

  • Define and report on the most important social media KPIs.

  • Oversee social media content creation and scheduling.

  • Measure the success of every social media campaign.

  • Use social media marketing tools to increase efficiency and effectiveness.

  • Keep up to date with the latest social media best practices and technologies.

  • Partner with other departments so the social media strategy aligns with company goals.

  • Monitor user engagement and suggest content optimization.

Qualifications

  • Proven work experience as a Social Media Marketing Manager or similar role.

  • Excellent knowledge of various social media platforms, best practices, and website analytics.

  • Solid understanding of content management.

  • Ability to deliver creative content (text, image, video).

  • Familiarity with web design and publishing.

  • Strong analytical and multitasking skills.

Skills and competencies we look for

  • Marketing expertise

  • Analytical skills and KPI reporting

  • Data analysis of campaign and engagement metrics

  • Strategic communication and messaging

  • Comfort using AI tools in daily work

  • Clear, effective communication

  • Quick learning as platforms and best practices change

Working with AI

  • Use AI tools to draft and adapt post copy and captions for different platforms, then edit for brand voice and accuracy.

  • Use AI to summarize engagement and campaign data, and check the results before acting on them.

What we offer

  • [Salary range]

  • [Benefits]

  • [Work location and arrangement]

Equal opportunity

[Add your equal opportunity statement.]

Frequently asked questions

A social media manager plans and runs the social media strategy, oversees content creation and scheduling, and reports on campaign results. The essential skills are marketing expertise, analytical skills and KPI reporting, data analysis, strategic communication, and AI fluency.
Communication and Learning Agility matter most. The manager writes and approves content, and platforms and best practices change constantly. Empathy and Leadership Potential are useful additions.
Yes. AI tools already change how social content is drafted, scheduled, and analyzed. Managers should use them daily with good prompts and check the outputs for brand voice and accuracy.
Bryq combines Profile Fit, skills assessments for marketing, analytics, and strategic communication, and the AI Fluency Assessment. Together they give a complete view of each candidate, and a person makes every hiring decision.
No. Web design and publishing basics are a nice-to-have skill that adds value but is not needed on day one. Use it as a tie-breaker between equally strong candidates.
A social media manager plans and runs the social media strategy, oversees content creation and scheduling, and reports on campaign results. The essential skills are marketing expertise, analytical skills and KPI reporting, data analysis, strategic communication, and AI fluency.
Communication and Learning Agility matter most. The manager writes and approves content, and platforms and best practices change constantly. Empathy and Leadership Potential are useful additions.
Yes. AI tools already change how social content is drafted, scheduled, and analyzed. Managers should use them daily with good prompts and check the outputs for brand voice and accuracy.
Bryq combines Profile Fit, skills assessments for marketing, analytics, and strategic communication, and the AI Fluency Assessment. Together they give a complete view of each candidate, and a person makes every hiring decision.
No. Web design and publishing basics are a nice-to-have skill that adds value but is not needed on day one. Use it as a tie-breaker between equally strong candidates.
A social media manager plans and runs the social media strategy, oversees content creation and scheduling, and reports on campaign results. The essential skills are marketing expertise, analytical skills and KPI reporting, data analysis, strategic communication, and AI fluency.
Communication and Learning Agility matter most. The manager writes and approves content, and platforms and best practices change constantly. Empathy and Leadership Potential are useful additions.
Yes. AI tools already change how social content is drafted, scheduled, and analyzed. Managers should use them daily with good prompts and check the outputs for brand voice and accuracy.
Bryq combines Profile Fit, skills assessments for marketing, analytics, and strategic communication, and the AI Fluency Assessment. Together they give a complete view of each candidate, and a person makes every hiring decision.
No. Web design and publishing basics are a nice-to-have skill that adds value but is not needed on day one. Use it as a tie-breaker between equally strong candidates.

You can explore more job profiles on Bryq.

Assess your next Social Media Marketing Manager with Bryq

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Author

The Bryq I/O Team

Bryq’s I/O Psychology Team is a group of industrial-organizational psychologists who design and validate the science behind our assessments. They write about what research says on hiring, skills, personality, and performance, and how HR leaders can apply it to make fairer, evidence-based decisions.

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