9 Essential Skills of a Successfull SMM-specialist: Research

Each year, there is an increasing demand for niche specializations in the digital space. However, before choosing a specific niche, it is important to explore the fundamental areas and acquire the essential skills that are characteristic of an SMM specialist in general.

The British agency Red Website Design has identified 9 key skills for achieving success in marketing and social media. We summarize this extensive research and share the main insights.

Skill 1: Writing and Editing

Text is the foundation of social media content. Posts that are written clearly and targeted at the audience carry the most value and weight. The ability to create engaging posts can significantly increase user engagement and minimize quick scrolling. For businesses in particular, effective writing is crucial in building relationships with audiences and potential customers.

Here is a brief guide on how to improve your writing and editing skills for social media marketing:

Understand who your posts are for. Using both internal and external tools, conduct research and create a "profile" of your potential client. This profile might include categories like age, gender, location, key interests, and "pain points." The profile of your subscriber, viewer, or potential client will help you determine the right tone of communication and the solution to the presumed pain point you can offer.

Adapt content for each platform. Every social network has its own unique audience, format of interaction, and touchpoints. This applies to text as well—its length, visual aspects, and writing style. For example, on Telegram channels, people often read long, thoughtful text posts, while on Instagram, visual content is of greater interest.

Master the art of storytelling. People remember interesting and captivating stories more than facts or statistics. A well-told story can evoke emotions, build trust, and generate a strong response from viewers.

Write with SEO in mind. Writing posts based on search engine optimization principles can boost your reach and attract user attention to your content. Adding keywords and hashtags on most platforms helps you get discovered by the right audience.

Include a clear and compelling call to action (CTA). Every social media post should have a purpose, whether it’s driving traffic to a website, encouraging newsletter sign-ups, or increasing engagement with the post itself.

Use visual elements in your posts. Images, videos, and GIFs effectively complement text and increase engagement.

Develop authenticity and a unique writing style. The writer's personality can shine through in the text. This might be humor, storytelling elements, or a specific way of writing certain words. A distinct style enhances recognizability and contributes to building a personal brand.

Skill 2: Listening

In social media, it's important not only to speak well and "loudly" but also to listen. This skill involves actively monitoring trends and popular discussions, gathering feedback from the audience, and effectively responding to users' needs.

How else can "social listening" be applied?

• Tracking mentions using tools (e.g., Hootsuite and Mention). This allows you to quickly respond to opinions about your brand.

• Working with reviews. This means responding quickly to complaints and gratitude, identifying recurring issues, and actively addressing them.

• Analyzing industry trends. Observing thought leaders and tracking popular content to stay updated on current ideas.

• Understanding audience sentiment. Monitoring this helps adjust campaigns based on user reactions.

• Engaging actively. Participating in relevant discussions, Q&A sessions, and conversations.

• Studying competitors. Analyzing their successes and mistakes helps improve your own strategies.

• Data analytics. Use the insights gained to improve your content strategy and refine your customer "profile."

• Flexibility. Quickly adapt actions on social media and respond to changes in audience sentiment.

Skill 3: Customer Care

Social media is more than just a platform for promotion; it's a space for active, real-time engagement with your audience. Continuous communication can turn casual followers into loyal customers, improve retention, and enhance brand reputation.

How can you excel at customer interaction on social media?

Quick and timely responses. Customers expect a reply within a few hours. This could be an acknowledgment of their issue or an update that you are working on a solution.

Personalized communication. It's important to address customers by name, respond specifically to their inquiries, and remember previous interactions. This creates a sense of care and attention.

Patience with complaints. Handling complaints requires empathy and patience. It's crucial to acknowledge the issue, offer a solution, and, if necessary, move the conversation to private messages.

Automating routine tasks. Adding FAQs or implementing chatbots for standard inquiries helps reduce the flow of questions and speeds up problem resolution for customers.

Proactive approach. Monitor discussions about your brand and respond even to mentions where the brand is not tagged directly. This shows your initiative and attentiveness.

Building a social media team. As your business grows, it's important to delegate tasks among team members, ensuring that each person understands their responsibilities and is fully accountable for their area.

Analytics for improvement. Review data on response times, customer satisfaction, and common issues to enhance your service quality.

Turning customer service into marketing. Handling complaints transparently can build trust, and sharing customer success stories can foster positive brand perception.

Consistency across platforms. It's essential to maintain the same level of service across all social platforms so that customers have a uniform experience.

Skill 4: Analytics

Analytics is the foundation of any successful social media marketing strategy. Understanding the effectiveness of your social media efforts through data analysis allows you to determine what works, what doesn’t, and where improvements can be made.

Set clear goals and KPIs. Before analyzing data, it’s important to define specific goals and key performance indicators (KPIs). The goals should align with broader business objectives, whether it’s increasing brand awareness, generating leads, or driving more website traffic.

• Example of goals: Increase brand awareness by 20% or attract 15% more website traffic.
• Example of KPIs: For Instagram — engagement (likes, comments), for LinkedIn — click-through rate (CTR) and conversions.

Use built-in analytics tools. Most platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn, offer free built-in analytics tools that help track key metrics like reach, engagement, and audience demographics.

• Instagram Insights allows you to see how many people interacted with your posts and when they are most active.
• YouTube Analytics provides information about watch time, helping you analyze viewer engagement.

Study audience behavior. Analytics helps you better understand who your core audience is—age, gender, location, and preferences. These insights help you tailor content for specific groups, increasing the likelihood of engagement.

• Audience behavior analysis: Knowing when your audience is most active allows you to schedule posts for optimal engagement.
• Audience segmentation: Helps create targeted content for different groups of followers.

Track post performance. Comparing engagement levels across different types of content allows you to identify the most successful formats.

• Engagement metrics: Likes, comments, and shares help you understand what resonates best with your audience.
• A/B testing: Helps optimize content by comparing which version of a post (title, visual) attracts more attention.

Monitor traffic and conversions. Tracking where your traffic comes from and how well it converts is also crucial for analysis. What tools can help?

• Google Analytics: Helps track which social platforms drive traffic and which ones lead to the most conversions.
• Conversion tracking setup: Allows you to track user actions, such as signing up for a newsletter or making a purchase, to assess the effectiveness of social campaigns.

Optimize advertising. Using data on CTR, CPC, and conversions, you can reallocate your budget to more effective ads and stop those that aren’t performing.

Continuously adjust your strategy. Regularly reviewing analytics and tweaking your content strategy helps you adapt to changing audience preferences and emerging trends.

Skill 5: Using Paid Advertising Tools for Content Promotion

Paid advertising campaigns on social media are an effective tool for small businesses to boost brand awareness, attract customers, and increase sales. Unlike organic posts, ads ensure that your content reaches the right audience at the right time. It’s important to choose the right platform, set up targeting, and wisely allocate your budget to achieve the highest return on investment (ROI).

Key steps for successful paid promotion:

• Defining campaign goals;
• Choosing the platform;
• Setting up targeting;
• Creating high-quality content;
• Managing the budget;
• Monitoring and optimizing;
• Retargeting to increase conversions.

Skill 6: Research

This involves a detailed approach to using research to improve social media strategy. Key aspects of this skill include:

Understanding the target audience. Creating buyer personas and analyzing your audience using social tools (Instagram* Insights, Facebook Analytics) helps craft more precise content. Segmenting your audience into smaller groups allows for better targeting and increased engagement.

Competitor analysis. Researching competitor content can reveal successful strategies and help you find opportunities for differentiation. Evaluating their ads and engagement strategies helps avoid their mistakes and strengthens your market position.

Staying on top of current trends. Following industry leaders and popular events helps keep your content relevant.

Keyword usage. Using tools to find effective keywords and regularly analyzing their performance improves social media visibility.

Social listening. Tools for monitoring mentions, such as Brandwatch or Mention, help you respond to brand mentions promptly, track competitor feedback, and analyze market trends.

Using additional tools. Management, analytics, and design tools like Buffer, Canva, and HubSpot streamline the process of publishing, analyzing, and visually enhancing content.

Performance analysis. Reviewing past campaigns helps identify successful and unsuccessful tactics, allowing you to adjust your strategy for maximum effectiveness.

Skill 7: Photo Editing

The ability to edit photos is an essential part of creating high-quality visual content for social media.

• Optimization for platforms. Follow size and format recommendations for each platform to ensure the best display.

• Creating visual hierarchy. Use composition techniques to direct viewers' attention to the key elements of the photo.

• Branding. Integrate brand colors and logos to increase brand recognition.

• Testing different approaches. Experiment with new styles and content to understand what resonates best with your audience.

Skill 8: Crafting Catchy Headlines

Attention spans are short on social media, and competition for your audience's focus is fierce. That's why the first few words of your post—whether a headline or a call to action—are crucial for grabbing attention and encouraging users to engage further.

Use numbers. Lists and data-driven headlines (e.g., “5 Tips to Boost Social Media Engagement”) tend to perform better because they give users a clear idea of what to expect.

Ask questions. Open-ended questions spark curiosity and encourage interaction. For example, “Struggling with low Instagram engagement? Here’s how to fix it!” piques interest and signals that your content offers a solution.

Skill 9: Video Editing

Finally, video content has been growing in popularity in recent years. Creating and optimizing high-quality videos for social media can significantly boost engagement and conversions. Here are some key points to focus on:

Video formats and types. Different types of videos serve different marketing purposes. For example, product unboxing shows how an item looks in real life, while "behind-the-scenes" content reveals internal processes, building trust between the brand and its audience.

Planning and scripting. Everything from the theme and catchy titles to the equipment used, framing, and style should be taken into account.

Filming, production, and editing. During production and post-production, the creator ensures the final product is high quality. Lighting, sound, upload quality, and other factors affect reach and user reactions.

Optimization for social media. Format your videos for the specific platform, deliver the key message with subtitles, and create an attractive and creative thumbnail.

Conclusion

Social media marketing requires an SMM specialist to master a wide range of skills that contribute to a comprehensive and effective content creation and promotion strategy. By developing the nine skills outlined—writing and editing, listening, customer service, analytics, paid advertising, research, photo editing, headline creation, and video editing—you can craft a holistic social media strategy that drives engagement, builds personal branding, and helps achieve desired outcomes.

Useful articles on a similar topic:

• Best social media engagement posts ideas and ways how to come up with;
• How to do a competitive analysis in Digital marketing;
• Social media competitor analysis tools: Top Free and Paid;
• Easy ways to find topics for your content.