Is social media management dead?

This is the burning question so many have been asking these past few years. With an ever changing social media landscape, it’s only natural to wonder. Whether you feel the position is outdated or simply been replaced, we’re here to bring you some clarity on what the actual future of social media management looks like and if it is, in fact, dead.

There is a lot of validity to the question. Social media is a fully 21st century experience. While the platform SixDegrees was released in 1997, it wasn’t until sites like MySpace and Facebook were founded in 2003 and 2004 respectively that social media truly entered our everyday vocabulary. 

Since then, we know social media has changed the way our society runs as a whole, but how fast is social media changing within its own bounds? In almost 20 years we’ve gone through so many different platforms. Some survived through to today, like Facebook and Instagram, while others sadly died out, like Vine (RIP). 

Traditionally, social media management was a pretty simple and straightforward job. Since most major platforms were primarily photo-based, the job of a social media manager would include organizing content, writing captions, strategizing on hashtags, and posting to the platform. In some cases a social media manager would also create graphics and shoot the photography too. Their main goal was to essentially maintain a social media presence and drive sales, which isn’t so far off from the goals brands have today. So what’s changed? 

As social media became more and more popular, it also got more competitive. On top of that, platforms have evolved and new ones have risen to challenge them.  What was once a cute photo and a cheeky caption being posted a couple times a week, is now a high value 60 second piece of video content posted multiple times a day. Social media is much more demanding now than it was 10 or even 5 years ago. Because of this, social media management as we’ve known it, is dead… okay maybe, not dead. Just rapidly, rapidly evolving. 

The constantly moving world of social media often means that the original position is now broken down into two (or sometimes more) separate ones: the manager and the creator. Why? In order to gain traction and see results, you need to be posting many different content styles, at scale, across multiple platforms, and in a highly competitive era of content. The reality is, if you’re expecting your social media manager to also create your content, you should also be expecting a much larger price tag for the work than you probably would have in the past. That’s because creating all the content and managing a whole creative vision these days demands a substantial amount of hours and an entirely separate set of skills and expertise. 

Overall, social media is a minefield with ever-changing pieces. It’s difficult to know when the next turn or change is coming, and it’s very beneficial to have someone with the expertise to pivot efficiently when they do. Having a social media manager for your business is ideal, but it’s all about having clear expectations and finding the right one for your business. So to answer your question, yes, the traditional idea of social media management is for the most part dead. Now, it is much more evolved.