A year ago, I wrote about what a social media consultant doesn’t do. It was a response to someone misunderstanding what I do. It just occurred to me that I never wrote about the opposite. So now seems as good of a time as any to dive into what social media consultants do.

Why is this an important topic? Because it will save so much time in the long run. I’ve had several people contact me over the years to ask about work I do. And I’ve even had clients who have tried to use scope creep to get me to do things that are just not in our contract. So even though there are a lot of differences from consultant to consultant, let’s talk about what social media consultants do.

A social media consultant creates a strategy

There should be very little playing it from the hip when you’re working with a social media consultant. A great consultant can make it look like everything is effortless. But in reality, there should be a lot of planning that goes into every aspect of the content that they produce.

They should be able to confidently tell you about the audience, what the voice is and why you should be on certain social media networks. And then they should go further with that by outlining the problems your audience has and how to address them. Or they could look at questions your audience has and how to answer them. There are many different ways to tackle this. But regardless, this work should all be documented. And then you can go back to that document whenever anything feels like it’s straying too far from your goals.

They have an editorial calendar

There are a lot of moving parts when it comes to social media. There is no way a social media consultant can keep all of them in their head. That’s especially true when they’re working with multiple clients.

Having place where all of the upcoming content is written down and where the client can make any changes is vital to a great client-consultant relationship. Once again, no one is shooting from the hip. And the client has a place to reference when they need to know what’s coming up on different channels. You both catch mistakes before posting them, so everything runs smoother. And it makes sure that you are sticking with the agreed upon strategy and not just leaning on every trend or made up holiday in the world.

They create content

I think every social media consultant specializes in a certain kind of content. It’s just the nature of the job. Despite what many people think, no one can be amazing at writing, photography, graphic design and videography. They’re excellent at one kind of content and can get by on the others. So they either bring in someone to help with those they aren’t amazing at or their muddling through is enough. That totally depends on the client’s needs.

In my case, I’m excellent at writing and passable at the others. I’ve been known to hire in help for photography, graphic design and videography, so a client isn’t totally dependent on my muddling through. Especially because photography and videography has become so vital in the social media world. What’s important is that I know how to put the bigger story together with these components. And that’s what you should be looking for in a social media consultant instead of having them be amazing at everything.

A social media consultant analyzes

I often say that every piece of content put out there is an experiment. A social media consultant should be able to look at the analytics and tell you if that experiment has failed, succeeded or landed somewhere in the middle. This can tell what should be repeated and what should be abandoned.

This kind of analysis is huge when it comes to social media. If you just come at each piece of content as if it’s on an island, you won’t have as many successes. But if you look at each piece of content through the lens of past experiments, you can make each experiment better and better. That means more successes.

And this is not just about analytics. This also includes trends. A great social media consultant can analyze trends in search, news and social media. They then can tell you whether they are a good fit for your brand or if you should just pass on them. Because not every trend is for every brand. Knowing when it’s time to pass is just as important as knowing when it’s time to have some fun.

They are a community manager

Above all else, social media is social. I know that it has become more and more about pushing content at people, but that will hinder the growth of any social media account.

A great social media consultant knows how to talk to their community and how to get their community to talk to each other. Pairing that with content creation makes for a powerful duo. It can help you give boosts to content that might otherwise fail, and it can connect your community members to each other. People always remember who connected them to those that help them the most. So this can turn community members into loyal fans.

They are a coach

I think one of the most important part of my job is educating my clients. It creates a stronger relationship and a better client. So I am regularly sending clients relevant news with how it affects their accounts. This includes them in the process and we can come up with solutions together. I am not a silo. I am a part of a team. And as a part of that team, it’s fun to take up the role of coach and see what a client does with what I teach them.

That is a big part of why I offer a standalone coaching service. With that, I teach clients about what I do and give them homework assignments. I also look over their existing social media content to help them improve it. Over the weeks we work together, I love seeing the content improve and getting to cheer on their growth. A client who is growing is a client who is capable of doing more complicated work. That is always something to cheer.

A social media consultant can be a mixture

There is no one cookie cutter for what a social media consultant is. It’s fully dependent on their particular set of skills and what the client needs. So they can be a little of this and a little of that. Or they can be something else entirely. And that’s why I love this career so much. You can always evolve into something else while still calling yourself a social media consultant.

What does your social media consultant do?