What does a social media manager do, and how do you become one?
What a social media manager does: daily tasks, skills, tools, KPIs, rules to know and how to become a social media manager, step by step.
In 30 seconds
- A social media manager decides what to post, where and when on a company's accounts to reach a goal, replies to people and measures results.
- The job has three parts: content, community (comments and messages) and numbers (reach, engagement, clicks).
- They know the rules: disclosed advertising (IAP Digital Chart and AGCOM guidelines in Italy), rights to photos and music, prize promotions, privacy (GDPR).
- Italy has about 41.2 million social media user identities, 69.7% of the population (DataReportal, late 2025).
A social media manager runs a company’s presence on social networks: they decide what to post, on which channels and when, coordinate the people who create content, reply to comments and messages and measure results to improve. They’re not just “the person who posts photos”: they decide why, for whom and with what goal.
What a social media manager does every day
- Checks comments and messages from overnight and replies to urgent ones, passing support requests to the right colleagues.
- Looks at the numbers from the last few days’ posts: reach, saves, shares, clicks.
- Prepares the week’s content with designers, photographers, video makers or creators.
- Schedules posts at times when the audience is online.
- Listens: what people say about the brand and the sector, which questions keep coming back, what competitors do.
- Writes a report, weekly or monthly, on what worked and what to change.
The 3 parts of the job
- Content: chooses themes (the pillars), formats and calendar. How to organise it is explained in how to build a social media content calendar.
- Community: replies, moderates, handles criticism. There’s a dedicated article: community management.
- Numbers: reads the analytics and decides what to change. The main metrics are in social media metrics and in engagement rate: what it is and how to calculate it.
Social media manager skills
| Hard skills | Soft skills |
|---|---|
| Short writing adapted to each channel | Organisation and deadline management |
| Reading analytics and KPIs | Staying calm under public criticism |
| Basic design and vertical video editing | Curiosity about trends and new formats |
| Social advertising (budget, audience, objectives) | Teamwork with designers, creators, customer service |
| Rules on advertising, rights and privacy | Explaining numbers to people who don’t know them |
The most used tools
- Platform tools: Meta Business Suite (Facebook and Instagram), TikTok Studio, LinkedIn page analytics, YouTube Studio.
- Scheduling: the platforms’ native features or external tools that manage several accounts at once.
- Design and video: tools like Canva or Figma for graphics, editing apps for vertical videos.
- Calendar: a spreadsheet or a project management app shared with the team.
- Social listening: tools that collect brand mentions and keywords.
- Trackable links: UTM links, to know how many site visits come from each post. You can create them with Peacchy’s free UTM link builder.
Social media manager KPIs
| Goal | KPIs to watch |
|---|---|
| Getting known | Reach (especially non-followers), impressions, follower growth |
| Building relationships | Engagement rate, comments, shares, saves |
| Driving visits and sales | Link clicks, site visits from social, conversions |
| Customer service | Average response time, messages resolved |
Choose the KPI before posting: a post meant to get you known isn’t judged by likes.
Words to know
- Reach: how many different people saw a piece of content.
- Impressions: how many times it was seen in total, including repeat views by the same person.
- Pillars: the 3-5 themes the account always talks about.
- Organic and paid: normal posts and those promoted with a budget.
- UGC (user-generated content): content created by customers, to be used only with their permission.
- Algorithm: the system that decides the order of content for each person. See how social media algorithms work.
Rules to know (in Italy and the EU)
- Advertising must be disclosed: if a creator receives money, products or other benefits, the content must be recognisable as advertising from the start, with labels like “#adv” or “advertising” or the platform’s paid partnership label. Italy’s Digital Chart from the advertising self-regulation body (IAP) requires it. Since 2025 AGCOM, the Italian communications authority, also has guidelines and a code of conduct for “relevant” influencers (at least 500,000 followers or 1 million average monthly views on one platform), with fines up to €250,000 (up to €600,000 for child protection).
- Other people’s photos and music aren’t free to use: you need permission or a licence. See user-generated content and rights.
- Prize promotions in Italy follow precise rules (Presidential Decree 430/2001): rules document, notification to the Ministry, a guarantee covering the prizes’ value. See social media advertising and giveaway rules.
- Personal data in comments (order numbers, addresses, phone numbers) must not stay public: reply privately (GDPR).
Social media in Italy in numbers
According to DataReportal’s Digital 2026 report (late-2025 data):
| Figure | Value |
|---|---|
| Social media user identities | 41.2 million (69.7% of the population) |
| Internet users | 53.1 million (89.9%) |
| YouTube ad reach | 41.2 million |
| Instagram ad reach | 29.9 million |
| Facebook ad reach | 28.5 million |
| LinkedIn registered members | 25.0 million |
| TikTok ad reach (18+) | 22.0 million |
Platform figures aren’t active users and aren’t fully comparable, but they give an idea of where the audience is.
An example
Five Leaf, Peacchy’s fictional tea shop, wants people to discover its new matcha kit. The social media manager checks the data: reels reach lots of people who don’t follow the account, educational carousels get saved more. They choose a reel to get it discovered and a carousel to explain what’s inside, and schedule both for the evening, when followers are online. The link in bio gets a UTM link to count site visits from the reel.
How to become a social media manager
There’s no single path and a specific degree usually isn’t required. A possible route in 6 steps:
- Learn the basics: writing for social media, metrics, rules on advertising and privacy. Free courses like Meta Blueprint and the HubSpot Academy social media marketing certification are a good start.
- Study real accounts: pick three brands and note for a month what they post, when and what works.
- Build a portfolio: a content calendar, 6-9 posts, a report with numbers. Even for a personal account, a non-profit or a practice company like Peacchy’s.
- Learn one design tool and one editing tool for vertical videos.
- Get first experience: an internship, a social media assistant or junior social media manager role at an agency or company.
- Specialise: in a sector (fashion, food, tech), a channel or paid advertising.
If you’re curious about other roles too, see the map of marketing roles and the social media manager role page.
Is it for you?
Probably, if at least two of these sound like you:
- You enjoy writing short texts and finding the right tone.
- You’re curious about why one post works and another doesn’t.
- You can stay calm when someone complains in public.
- You like organising: dates, ideas, priorities.
In Peacchy’s Social Simulation you can try this job on a fictional account, with a calendar, comments and analytics.
Sources
A company wants to be discovered by new people. Which number does it check first?
Correct! To get known, what matters is how many new people saw the content: reach among non-followers.
Not quite. Likes and comments tell you how much the people who saw it liked it, not how many new people saw it.
Frequently asked questions
What's the difference between a social media manager and a community manager?
The social media manager decides strategy, content and measurement; the community manager focuses on conversations: comments, messages, moderation, groups. In small companies it's the same person.
Do you need a degree to be a social media manager?
Usually no specific degree is required. Studying communication, marketing or business helps, but your portfolio and proven skills count most.
Do you need to know design and video?
It helps, but it isn't the heart of the job. The social media manager decides strategy and messages, often working with designers, photographers and creators. Being able to edit a short video and use a simple design tool is almost always expected for junior roles, though.
How many platforms should they manage?
The ones where the company's audience is. Two well-run channels beat five abandoned ones.
Is it the same job as influencer marketing?
No, but they're close. The social media manager runs the company's own accounts; influencer marketing chooses and manages collaborations with creators.
Can you be a freelance social media manager?
Yes, many work for several clients, often small businesses. You need a portfolio, a clear contract (channels, number of posts, reports, response times) and the ability to juggle several calendars.
Topics:Social mediaMarketing roles