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What does an SMM manager do, why is it needed for business, and how to become one

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The development of digital technologies and the increasing popularity of social networks have created a new market for professions, where the SMM manager has become a key figure in brand promotion. Companies no longer view social networks as entertainment tools – they are now full-fledged business platforms that generate revenue. A skilled specialist helps businesses build communication with the audience, increase sales, enhance brand recognition, and foster customer loyalty. Understanding the details of the profession will help you grasp what an SMM manager does, what tasks they perform, and what is needed for a successful start in the profession.

Who is an SMM Manager, What They Do, and Why Businesses Need Them

An SMM specialist is involved in the strategic management of social networks, develops content strategies, optimizes advertising campaigns, analyzes effectiveness metrics, and interacts with subscribers. Businesses require professional promotion on social networks because modern consumer habits are formed here.

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By 2024, around 4.95 billion people will be actively using social networks, with the average user spending 2 hours and 31 minutes on them daily. Brands understand that without a quality presence in the media, they lose a significant market share. Companies of any scale need professional management of their accounts: small businesses use social networks for direct sales, medium-sized businesses for building long-term relationships with customers, and large corporations for shaping their image and managing reputation.

What does an SMM manager do? They:

  1. Increase audience reach and engagement.
  2. Develop engaging content that encourages interaction from subscribers.
  3. Set up targeted advertising to attract new customers.
  4. Manage brand reputation and respond promptly to crisis situations.
  5. Analyze metrics and adjust promotion strategies.

What an SMM Manager Does: Key Tasks

A promotion specialist is responsible for a wide range of functions that require not only creativity but also analytical thinking. The work is based on several key directions.

Development of Promotion Strategy

Before starting work on social networks, it is necessary to define goals: increasing sales, enhancing loyalty, attracting new audiences, or strengthening reputation. An SMM manager analyzes the market, evaluates competitors, defines key metrics (KPIs), and develops a strategy. For example, when working with a clothing brand on Instagram, goals may include a 20% increase in engagement over three months, gaining 15,000 new followers per quarter, and a 12% increase in average purchase value.

Content Creation and Management

Quality content is the foundation of successful promotion. The specialist develops a plan, determines publication formats (texts, photos, videos, stories, Reels, podcasts), monitors trends, and analyzes audience reactions. For a fitness brand, content may include workout videos, expert posts from trainers, customer reviews, engaging marathons, and challenges.

Setting Up and Managing Targeted Advertising

Targeting allows for attracting a paying audience. The employee segments customers, tests creatives, and analyzes ad effectiveness. For instance, when launching ads on Facebook for a cosmetics online store, audience sectors are created: women aged 25-35 interested in organic products, and men aged 30-45 looking for gifts.

Engaging Subscribers and Reputation Management

Communication with the audience is key to increasing loyalty. An SMM manager responds to comments, handles negativity, participates in discussions, organizes contests, and engaging activities. For example, in an IT company’s Telegram channel, polls, discussions, and AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions are conducted.

Metrics Analysis and Reporting

Working on social networks requires constant data analysis. The specialist tracks engagement indicators, reach, conversion, ad campaign effectiveness, and adjusts strategies. For example, if there is a 30% decrease in activity on Instagram, content audit is conducted, new formats are tested, and posting schedules are changed.

Skills Required for an SMM Manager

Successful specialists combine a creative approach with the ability to analyze data and manage advertising budgets. Important skills include:

  1. Knowledge of social network algorithms (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Telegram).
  2. Copywriting and storytelling (ability to write engaging texts, create viral content).
  3. Working with graphics and video (Canva, Adobe Photoshop, Premiere Pro, CapCut).
  4. Advertising setup (Facebook Ads Manager, TikTok Ads, Google Ads).
  5. Metrics analysis (Google Analytics, Facebook Pixel, Yandex.Metrica).
  6. Crisis management (handling negativity, reputation restoration).

Becoming an SMM Manager

The profession does not require a university degree but demands a deep understanding of digital marketing. Training can be obtained through online courses, internships, and practical work on real projects.

Where to study:

  1. Courses: Netology, Skillbox, GeekBrains, Coursera, Udemy.
  2. Certifications: Facebook Blueprint, Google Digital Marketing.
  3. Practice: working on small projects, managing personal accounts.

How to gain initial experience:

  1. Create and manage a personal blog to test strategies.
  2. Participate in volunteer projects and intern at small businesses.
  3. Complete tasks on freelance platforms (Fl.ru, Upwork, Kwork).

Career Prospects

The digital marketing market continues to grow. By 2025, the social media market volume will exceed $200 billion, and advertising budgets will increase by 12% annually. The outlook creates a stable demand for specialists capable of promoting brands online.

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Average Salaries for SMM Managers in 2025

The specialist’s income depends on competency level, experience, and work region. In Russia and the CIS, average figures vary based on qualifications:

  1. Junior (novice, up to a year of experience) – 40,000-60,000 rubles. Main tasks include social media management, basic analytics, and content work.
  2. Middle (2-3 years of experience) – 80,000-120,000 rubles. This level involves in-depth analytics, setting up ad campaigns, and developing promotion strategies.
  3. Senior (3+ years of experience) – 150,000+ rubles. It includes team management, developing large-scale marketing strategies.

Conclusion

Understanding what an SMM manager does allows you to assess the prospects of the profession. Demand, flexibility, and growth opportunities make the specialty attractive for those willing to develop in digital marketing. Mastering the profession requires practice, learning advertising tools, analytics, and content work.

Related posts

Remote format in SMM has become the norm. Companies trust texts to freelancers, experts hire copywriters on a permanent basis, and bloggers scale content through outsourcing. In this context, copywriting for SMM remotely requires special accuracy, attention to context, and result orientation. Competition in the feed is growing, so one unsuccessful paragraph — and attention shifts to the competitor.

Basics: how to write texts for social networks with a focus on results

Before creating a catchy post, it is important to understand in what format and for what purpose it will appear in the feed. Content on Instagram, VK, Telegram, or Facebook requires adaptation. There is no universal formula, but there are basic pillars that simplify the launch:

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  1. Focus on emotions, not informativeness. Users do not come for articles — they seek quick meanings, images, reflections of their desires and fears. Therefore, copywriting for SMM remotely should evoke a reaction: joy, anger, worry, inspiration.
  2. Structure and rhythm are mandatory. Even the most powerful offer loses its power in a solid block of text. Paragraphs, markers, rhythm, broken lines, pauses — this is not just visual. It is an attention-holding tool.
  3. Consider the platform. For Telegram — conciseness and usefulness. For Instagram — storytelling and emotions. For VK — a mix of formats. For Facebook — expertise. Copywriting for SMM remotely requires adapting the style to the platform’s mechanics.

AIDA model: how to use it in social networks

One of the most effective algorithms is the classic AIDA structure. It is suitable for posts aimed at selling, persuading, engaging, or prompting action.

Scheme:

  1. Attention. The headline solves everything. It should cause a stop effect: an unexpected fact, contrast, question, pain, number. Example: “Spends 4 hours a day — earns less than a schoolboy on a marketplace.”
  2. Interest. Mini-stories, pain, insights help maintain attention. Format: “When the client didn’t show up, I thought — it’s a failure. But it turned out, that’s exactly how stable growth begins…”
  3. Desire. Offer. Problem solution. New path. Bullets, benefits, “before/after” comparisons are appropriate here. Format: “In 7 days — a client base. Without targeting. Without investments. Text only.”
  4. Action. Call to action. Simple action: “Write + in DMs”, “Download template”, “Go to the bot”. Copywriting for SMM remotely requires clear steps, without phrases like “if interested, write”.

Mistakes: what kills engaging texts for social networks

A copywriter may know the rules but lose in the details. Mistakes are found not in logic but in liveliness of presentation:

  1. Dry style without visuals. Without images, metaphors, and “pictures in the mind,” the text does not engage.

  2. Too long warming up. If the reader doesn’t grasp the essence in the first 4 seconds — they’re gone.

  3. Common words instead of triggers. “Just,” “clearly,” “convenient” — do not work. Better: “launched in 2 evenings,” “works even from scratch,” “responds for you.”

  4. Lack of a problem. Without pain and a request, the text turns into a note without reason.

Sales texts: hacks and formulas

Copywriting for SMM remotely includes a hybrid of formats: stories, benefits, cases, instructions. It is important to quickly deliver the essence, convey value, evoke a desire to save or share.

Formulas and techniques:

  1. PAS (Problem – Agitation – Solution). Description of pain → Aggravation of the problem → Solution through the product or experience. Example: “Lack of clients → You think it’s all because of the crisis → In reality — a weak offer. Here’s what worked for three students in a row…”

  2. Before – After – Bridge. What was → What became → How to get there. Example: “Blog grew for 3 years to 10,000. Now — +1200 per week. Method: video + stories with viral delivery.”

  3. 4U (Useful – Urgent – Unique – Ultra-specific). Benefit → Urgency → Uniqueness → Clear specificity. Example: “3 phrases that will make viewers watch stories to the end. They work even on a cold audience.”

  4. Storytelling + offer. Real story where the reader sees themselves. In the end — a solution. Example: “Every morning she started with coffee and anxiety. After 2 months — subscriptions for $10,000. How it all started — in the first lesson.”

  5. Pain – Hope – Plan. Acknowledgment of the problem → Inspiring perspective → Step-by-step action. Format: “If you’re delaying starting a blog — you’re not alone. But you can start with 20 subscribers. Here’s how…”

SMM copywriting and marketing: when text sells

Texts do not work on their own. Content is integrated into the promotion strategy. Copywriting for SMM remotely becomes a link between the product, audience, and platform. Texts work especially effectively in combination:

  • post + warming up in stories;

  • reels + text + transition to DMs;

  • expert post + PDF + bot.

Texts create a flow — attention → interest → trust → action. They do not replace visuals but enhance the message. Therefore, the task is not just to write but to integrate into content marketing.

Emotions and engagement: how copywriting for SMM remotely triggers a reaction

A good text does not just convey information. It evokes emotion, creates engagement, provokes an internal response. This is what distinguishes a post scrolled mindlessly from a text that is saved, shared, and discussed in comments.

A Problem that Resonates

To hook the reader, it is necessary to hit the pain point. And not a global one, but a specific one. Not “poor sales,” but “losing a client at the presentation stage every time.” Not “tired of social networks,” but “burning out after three stories in a row because you don’t know what to say.”

Copywriting for SMM remotely is based on the ability to name these pains directly, without water and abstractions. Then the text becomes a mirror for the reader.

Hope and Plan: Not Just Suffering, but Moving Forward

Engagement is created not through suffering but through a path. It is important not only to identify the problem but also to hint at the solution. Even without a direct offer. Example: “Every third post has zero reach? Start with headlines. Here are three that will definitely work:…”

When the reader feels in control, they continue to pay attention. Trust, engagement, desire to stay close emerge.

Questions and Lively Tone

Open questions in the text engage in a dialogue. Example: “Do you also say ‘I’ll do it tomorrow’ but never write a post?”

Even without a response under the post, a question triggers an internal reaction. The reader answers for themselves, mentally engages. Additionally, a lively, “human” tone lowers barriers. Without officialdom, without unnecessary pathos. The style of “sharing with a friend” works.

Texts in the content funnel: from reach to sales

Copywriting for SMM remotely often becomes part of the marketing funnel. Every word leads to a goal: subscription, registration, sale. It is important to understand at which stage the reader is:

  1. Cold — knows neither the product nor the expertise.

  2. Warm — knows, hesitates.

  3. Hot — ready, just needs a final push.

For a Cold Audience

Posts with stories, humor, pain work. The goal is to spark interest, reach, first contact. For example: “What do warming up in stories and first dates have in common? Mistakes ruin everything even before it starts…”

For a Warm Audience

Cases, instructions, examples are important here. The task is to show value, experience, benefit. Example: “Here’s how a newbie with no followers got 9 inquiries in a week — just from the text in stories.”

For a Hot Audience

A clear offer, deadline, social proof are needed here. Structure — specificity, benefits, call to action. Example: “Launch flow: 5 days, 3 lessons, 1 PDF. All free. Only until Thursday. Link in bio.”

Content Style: How to Sound Bright but Not Banal

To write vividly does not mean to simplify. It means to speak precisely, concisely, with character. Copywriting for SMM remotely requires training in style: to be recognized, saved, quoted.

Parameters:

  1. Imagery. Not “a lot of work” — but “buried under deadlines.” Not “problems with ideas” — but “brain creaks like an old elevator.”
  2. Contrast. Show “before/after,” “thought/turned out,” “everyone does/I — differently.” Example:
  3. “When everyone publishes checklists — show how NOT to launch stories. It works better.”

  4. Rhythm. Short sentences. Interruption. Pause. Exclamation. All this creates the musicality of the text, makes it lighter.

How Copywriting for SMM Remotely Turns a Follower into a Customer

Without resonance, there will be no transition. Without transition, there will be no subscription. Without subscription, there will be no trust. And without trust, a sale is impossible.

Examples:

  1. Post: short story + pain + hint at a solution.

  2. Stories: voice, face, emotion, trust.

  3. PDF: mini-plan, instruction, benefit.

  4. DMs: offer or free consultation.

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Each text serves a function: hook → warm up → convey → sell. And in this lies the power of copywriting, especially in social networks, where attention span is 2–3 seconds.

Copywriting for SMM Remotely — a profession without which social networks do not work

Copywriting for SMM remotely has become not just a tool but the core of communication. It determines whether a business will be noticed, whether people will subscribe to a blog, whether a product will be purchased. It is the text that connects emotions, meanings, visuals, and conversions. In the conditions of remote work, speed, and competition — skillful text provides not just reach but results.

What happens when the internet and marketing become the driving force of the economy? The role of an SMM manager emerges – a combination of creativity and analytics that allows companies to stay relevant and specialists to earn remotely, without being tied to an office. It’s not just an opportunity to make money, it’s a lifestyle where freedom and the internet are the main tools.

Advantages of working as an SMM manager online

In a world where work and office become blurred concepts, remote work as an SMM specialist looks like a coveted freedom. The ability to choose projects and manage schedules is the main advantage of the profession. The lack of attachment to a workplace and fixed hours is another benefit. There are other advantages that are not always obvious.

Lex

Development through working with brands

Working in SMM opens doors to collaboration with brands – both large and small. Successful managers start with small projects: working with local stores, artists, small businesses. Over time, clients become larger, projects become more extensive.

The ability to choose tasks provides freedom not only in time management but also in choosing directions for development. Some prefer to focus only on Instagram, while others work with multiple platforms simultaneously. This is where all the charm lies – complete flexibility and control over one’s career.

Where and how to find clients as an SMM manager

In the internet era, finding job opportunities is simple and convenient. Let’s talk about the main platforms.

Freelance exchanges: the first place to start

Many beginners wonder where to find their first clients. Working as an SMM manager on freelance exchanges is the most obvious and accessible option. Platforms like Upwork, Freelance.ru, and even specialized groups on social networks provide numerous opportunities to start. But do not forget about the competition: to stand out, you need to work on your profile and improve your skills.

Creating a personal brand and promoting yourself

How to find clients as an SMM manager? An effective way is to create a personal brand. Managing your own page on social networks, publishing case studies, demonstrating real results of work – this attracts the attention of potential clients.

Where to find orders for an SMM manager? Networking and participation in professional communities also help in finding clients, especially at the initial stage.

Portfolio of an SMM manager: the key to success

If working as an SMM manager is a path to freedom, then a portfolio for freelancing is a key tool on this path. A good resume is not just a collection of pictures and reviews. It is a success story expressed in specific numbers, data, cases where real changes are visible: growth in subscribers, increased engagement, improved brand recognition.

How to create a portfolio as an SMM manager and showcase yourself

You should start with small projects, even if it’s volunteer work or helping friends. It is important to demonstrate your approach and real results. Clients like to see specifics: growth in metrics, engagement, analytics. Successful cases should reflect the methods used and the results achieved.

How much does an SMM manager earn

Novice specialists who are just entering the market can expect to earn within the range of 20-30 thousand rubles per month, especially if they are working on freelance platforms for SMM specialists. With experience and skills growth, incomes increase.

Cost of services and income of experienced specialists

With increasing experience, virtuosos start managing several projects simultaneously, which significantly increases income. Experienced specialists earn 100 thousand rubles and above.

How much do the services of an SMM manager cost? The price depends on tasks, project complexity, and workload. Comprehensive account management can cost from 15 to 30 thousand rubles per month, and strategic-level services are even more expensive.

Remote work as an SMM manager on social networks

Remote work allows managing accounts on different platforms: Instagram, TikTok, VKontakte, and others. Each of these platforms has its own specifics:

  1. Remote work as an SMM manager on Instagram requires special attention to the visual aspect.
  2. TikTok – short videos, creativity, and knowledge of trends.
  3. VKontakte is more text-oriented, where descriptions and communication with the audience are important.

How to become a successful SMM manager: tips and strategies

It all starts with education. Understanding how social media algorithms work, the ability to write engaging texts, analytics – without these, it is impossible to build a career. It is also necessary to be able to interact with clients and offer solutions that meet their goals.

Organization of work for an SMM manager and personal development

For success in SMM, self-organization and discipline skills are important. Managing multiple projects simultaneously is a daily task that requires a clear plan. Developing personal pages, working on your own brand help convince clients that the SMM specialist really knows their business and is ready to offer quality solutions. A true professional is always learning, keeping up with trends, and striving for the best results.

List of useful skills:

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  1. Copywriting – the ability to create engaging texts.
  2. Analytics – understanding what works and what doesn’t based on data.
  3. Work organization – time and project management.
  4. Communication skills – the ability to negotiate and understand clients’ needs.

Conclusion

Working as an SMM manager is a real opportunity to change your life. Freedom of choice, collaboration with brands, creating creative strategies – all this makes the profession one of the most interesting in the world of remote work. Starting small can lead to large projects and significantly increase income.

The main thing is not to be afraid to try new things, learn, and develop, as success in SMM requires constant improvement and readiness to face challenges.