Career advice

Become a Social Media Manager

Social media managers are experts at all social media platforms. They curate the online presence of a company and gain supporters through posting on social media, communicating with their audiences and creating content strategies.

  • Average salary in UK £32,326 (Glassdoor)
  • Average salary in US $51,322 (PayScale)
  • Average salary in Canada CA$46,131 (PayScale)
  • Average salary in Australia AU$80,000 (Seek)
Source: Payscale

What skills do you need to become a social media manager?

  • Writing ability

    Social media managers create and oversee content on all social media channels, so they must be comfortable with writing content. In particular, they must be able to adapt their writing style to suit a brand voice, attract different audiences and succeed on different channels.

  • Strong communication

    To be a manager of any team, you must have great communication skills. This will ensure that the team can run smoothly and everyone understands their role. Additionally, social media managers must be able to communicate well with the public, as the role is customer-facing, and they are in charge of portraying a good brand image online.

  • Eye for design

    A lot of social media is extremely visual, so a social media manager has to understand what looks good online. It helps to have some design skills so that creating excellent content online is easier and the brand image is attractive and cohesive.

  • Organisational skills

    Social media managers are often juggling many tasks at once, so it is vital to be organised in this role. Not only do they have to organise a range of staff members, but they are also in charge of organising and maintaining the content calendar, monitoring all channels, replying to comments and researching trends.

Develop these skills. Start a short social media management course.

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1 ExpertTracks

A series of courses designed to help you specialise your skills. Start a free seven-day trial, subscribe to keep learning at your own pace, and cancel your subscription whenever you like.

Institute of Data & Marketing

How to Create a Social Media Strategy

Learn how to create an engaging social media strategy, improve brand image and social engagement online, and measure your results

3 courses

10 weeks

Intermediate

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Courses
9 Courses

Learn new skills, pursue your interests or advance your career with our short online courses.

University of Leeds & Institute of Coding

Create a Social Media Marketing Campaign

4.8 (445 reviews)

Learn to plan and launch a successful social media marketing campaign with the Institute of Coding and the University of Leeds.

2 weeks

3 hrs per week

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Accenture

Digital Skills: Digital Marketing

4.7 (1456 reviews)

Learn about some of the different digital marketing strategies and techniques that are available for businesses to use.

2 weeks

2 hrs per week

Free digital upgrade

Find out more
Accenture

Digital Skills: Social Media

4.7 (842 reviews)

Learn how to use social media for business, from creating a social media presence to measuring success.

2 weeks

1 hr per week

Free digital upgrade

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Coventry University

Get Started With Digital Marketing

4.6 (19 reviews)

What is digital marketing and why is it so valuable to businesses in today’s world? Find out with Coventry University Online.

2 weeks

3 hrs per week

Included in Unlimited

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King's College London

Digital Skills: Embracing Digital Technology

4.7 (163 reviews)

Improve your digital skills for study, life and work, and learn how to navigate the web effectively and safely.

4 weeks

3 hrs per week

Free digital upgrade

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Taipei Medical University

Social Media in Healthcare: Opportunities and Challenges

Understand how social media is used in healthcare, to improve communication and information sharing, with this free online course.

5 weeks

2 hrs per week

Included in Unlimited

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Institute of Data & Marketing

How to Develop Your Social Media Content Strategy

Discover how to plan effective content as part of your social media strategy on this digital marketing course.

3 weeks

4 hrs per week

Find out more
Institute of Data & Marketing

Running a Social Media Campaign: Customers, Influencer Engagement, Analytics

Discover how to effectively manage live social media campaigns, engage influencers, and get insights from social media analytics

3 weeks

4 hrs per week

Find out more
Show more Become a Social Media Manager courses 

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The benefits of taking social media management courses online with FutureLearn

Learn flexibly online, for free, around the world

Develop valuable skills with a short, online social media management course wherever you are. Start learning for free, on desktop, tablet or mobile.

Upgrade or buy Unlimited for extra benefits

Upgrade your course for ongoing access to the course content, tests, and the chance to gain a Certificate of Achievement. Buy Unlimited for access to hundreds of short courses in a year and the ability to keep access to courses you gain a certificate on.

Meet social media management experts

Learn with experts from top international universities. Learn with social media managers all over the world.