A Day In the Life: Digital Marketing Specialist

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Ever since I began working in the digital marketing field, I realized quickly how others perceived my job.

“Oh, that sounds easy. So you just sit on Facebook all day?”

“What’s happening on Twitter today?”

“Your job sounds SO fun!”

Sure, my job is fun (to me), I could tell you what the trending hashtags on Twitter are for any given day, and I do spend a considerable amount of time on Facebook (but not just for myself). However, there’s a lot more to this gig than meets the eye. To understand what we “Digital Marketing Specialists” do on a daily basis, let me walk you through my typical day.

8:30 a.m.: Walk into work, make a 3rd cup of my life source (a.k.a. coffee) for the day, open laptop. Proceed to open tabs, including Facebook Business Manager, Gmail, Nuvi, Constant Contact, WordPress, and Canva. Try not to panic over the amount of tabs open on my browser. Check my email inbox, respond to emails. Check Asana, our task management software, for my daily tasks. Get my bearings for the day.

8:45 a.m.: Go through all of my clients’ accounts on Facebook Business Manager to see how Page Likes, Engagement, and Post Reach has changed over the last week. Check all accounts for any messages, comments, likes, shares, etc., and engage accordingly. Review any boosted posts or page promotions for ad dollars spent, engagement, and results (this could be anything from new Page Likes to Call Now clicks to Website clicks). Check on any running contests or promotions to see who has entered and engaged. Announce random winners if the contest has ended. Keep in mind, this isn’t just one or a couple accounts. This is in the double digits.

9:30 a.m.-10 a.m.: Depending on the amount of content or engagement I need to check, I then move on to any tasks that are of the highest importance for the day. This could be email campaigns that need to be sent out, new paid promotions on Twitter or Facebook, pre-approval content for a client, or new blog articles.

11:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m.: Again, depending on the volume of tasks, this may take me right up until my lunch break.

12:00 p.m.: Return from lunch break. Check off any tasks that have been completed so far for the day on Asana.

12:05 p.m.: Begin researching and brainstorming content for any one of my many clients. This includes news articles, industry blogs, inspirational quotes, funny memes, community involvement, and call-to-action posts. Also, I check for upcoming holidays or special events that pertain to my clients. While we do want to “sell” our clients’ offerings through social in organic and paid content, we also like to sprinkle in some general human interest posts. Social media users want to be entertained, receive helpful tips, or read insightful news articles, so we make sure our clients remain relevant and interesting. Because of my experience in social media thus far, I’m able to churn out this content rather quickly. So I research, create, and schedule content two weeks out for each client on each of the platforms they are on (Facebook, Google+, Instagram, Twitter) before moving on to the next. Obviously, I can’t fit all of them into one day, so I try to do as much as I can.

3:00 p.m.: Take a break from being a mean social media content creating machine. Make some more pumpkin spice flavored coffee (no shame). Brainstorm for content ideas, contests, promotions, etc. with the team, if we need to.

3:30 p.m.: Check Instagram and Twitter for engagement for the clients who have accounts on these platforms. Make sure feeds are cohesive and consistent with a good variety. Notice what receives a lot of engagement and what does not.

4:00 p.m.: Move on to Pinterest. Although Pinterest sounds like a fun platform to play around on, it definitely takes more strategy for a business account. My clients’ Pinterest boards are relevant to their business and also to their target audience. The platform also allows for promoted posts (in other words, advertisements) as well. We pin original content to their boards and aim to pin 2-3 pins per board each day.

5:00 p.m.: Depending on how much I need to pin, I like to tackle any other outstanding business before I leave for the day. Any emails that have come through the pipeline, client requests, anything my teammates need.

In between the above tasks, we answer and make phone calls to our clients, check analytics, and discuss any important matters within our own business. We could also have social media consultations, networking luncheons, team meetings, and new client boarding process meetings that could shift our entire schedule. Somehow, in between our crazy work day, we also do research to stay up-to-date on social media marketing trends to stay knowledgeable for our clients.

We also try to make time to be human and have fun in the office (yes, I’m talking about the pumpkin war).

Of course, this is absolutely a rough estimate of how my day is structured. Working in social media and digital marketing, every day is not the same. We work to balance each day effectively in order to give value to each of our clients. Our business model allows us to offer the utmost Customer Service, Content, and Consistency to the client relationships we have built.

Social media and digital marketing dips into crisis management and public relations as much as it does advertising and brand management. I can’t say it enough: There’s way more to this field than meets the eye. No wonder we go through so many K-cups per day.

 

Eleni Hampton | Twitter: @eleni_gabriella | Instagram: @elenihampton | LinkedIn: Eleni Hampton | 314-884-1192

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  1. […] This post was adapted from an article I wrote for the Harness Digital Marketing blog.  […]

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