Why every marketing manager needs a social media manager

Introduction

“Marketing Manager” is a title covering one job but multiple roles. They’re the heart of the marketing team, often responsible for everything from PR to events to social media strategy. 

Those who hold this position are extremely skilled at keeping multiple plates spinning at once, but even they will struggle to succeed at all things at all times. Unfortunately, social media management, which requires constant attention to be effective, can be neglected.

What the Marketing Manager needs is support. A trusted partner that can take the strategy, the brand, and the vision and execute on it. After all, creating a social media strategy is one thing, but implementing it day to day is quite another. Enter, the Social Media Manager. 

The many roles of the marketing manager

The Marketing Manager position includes a large and growing set of responsibilities. A March 2026 study of Marketing Manager job postings identified “scope inflation” as one of the biggest challenges of the role, with listings expecting candidates to cover responsibilities including Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), Pay Per Click (PPC), content, social media, email marketing, public relations, events, brand, and analytics. 

How is one person expected to cover all of those responsibilities? Unsurprisingly, this has had an impact on mental health, with 65% of marketers reporting feeling overwhelmed and 47% saying they feel ineffective in their role, according to a 2026 study from Marketing Week.

Social media management is one of the areas that Marketing Managers find hardest to cover because it requires constant attention. Trends change fast, platform algorithms are regularly updated, and if the Marketing Manager is pulled in other directions (which is almost inevitable), performance can quickly slip.

Beyond the social media strategy

One of the biggest challenges for Marketing Managers is fulfilling a job function that blends both strategic and executional work together. Marketing managers are expected to set strategy, report to leadership, own budgets, and align with other departments, while at the same time doing the work: creating content, scheduling posts, engaging with their audience, and tracking analytics. 

Typically, Marketing Managers are the owners of the social media plan but, once the strategy has been created, it needs to be executed. This in itself is a full-time job, including responsibilities such as managing the content calendar, creating content including text, images, and videos, customising social media posts for different platforms, and tracking performance. 

Without the time to undertake these tasks, Marketing Managers have no choice but to default to simpler, more generic posts, reusing copy, and abandoning any plans for something more creative and meaningful. 

Failures in follow-up

Marketing Managers also have precious little time to analyse the performance of social media posts. This means that successes and failures are often not identified and fed back into social media plans. Worse, it means that when social media is performing well, the company isn’t making the most of it by following up with the engaged audience. 

Failing to communicate directly with target accounts is one of the most common mistakes made by companies, either because they fail to recognise that social media should be about engagement, not just broadcast or, in a lot of cases, simply because they don’t have the time to identify engaged audiences and follow up with them. This negatively impacts the return on investment from social media (social media ROI).

Paid social media

Organic social media is demanding enough on its own, but if a company is combining an organic and paid social media (i.e. social media advertising) strategy, the need for a Social Media Manager becomes even more urgent.

Social media advertising needs continuous monitoring to make sure that the budget is creating results. Ads are constantly tested to assess performance and adjust campaigns to ensure the objectives are being met. 

Being a marketing manager is a full-time job, just like being a social media manager. One person can’t successfully do both roles without burning out.

The role of the social media manager

If you’re a Marketing Manager reading this post, you probably recognise these challenges! So could a Social Media Manager help? These are a few ways you can tell if a Social Media Manager is what you are looking for: 

• You need strategic guidance on what to post on social media: Social Media Managers are experts in their field and can provide you with the knowledge you need to inform your social media plans.

• You don’t have the time or ideas to create content: Posting is the role of the Social Media Manager with years of experience and insight to draw upon.

• You want to post consistently but struggle to keep it up:  A Social Media Manager will own the social media calendar and ensure you post at the optimal frequency for your target audience, with no gaps.

• You don’t have time to engage with your audience and build relationships: Social media is all about engagement. Having a Social Media Manager to follow up with your target audience will lead to conversion.

• You’re not sure what’s working or how to track performance: Analysis and ongoing optimisation is important to ensure return on investment on your social media campaigns.

• You want to build a strong brand presence with organic social media content: Creating a brand identity on social media requires expertise in creating accounts and then the ability to deliver a consistent storytelling strategy across all platforms.

Hiring a Social Media Manager isn’t about replacing your Marketing Manager, it’s about strengthening your team. More support means more time for the strategic work your Marketing Manager was actually hired to do.

How to convince your boss

Surely you - the Marketing Manager - are convinced by now! Now let’s convince your boss…

Maybe it’s time for an honest conversation about burnout. Some education wouldn’t go amiss (remember that they probably aren’t a social media expert)! Explain to them that social media isn’t a small side task that can be squeezed between meetings, show them the hours taken up designing those LinkedIn images or writing the post copy, and gently remind them that the brands they interact with every day have entire marketing teams behind their content.

If they need the business case, here are some places to start:

• Not having a Social Media Manager weakens the brand: Inconsistent posting lowers visibility, weakens brand recognition, and makes competitors easier to remember.
• Doing social media properly is time consuming: Modern social media now requires time-intensive skills like copywriting, video editing, design, analytics, and community management.
• A Social Media Manager would free up your valuable time: Hours spent editing posts and chasing trends is time not spent on campaigns, partnerships, strategy, and lead generation.
• Social media support will strengthen your team and reduce the risk of burnout: Replacing a burned-out Marketing Manager costs significantly more than supporting one before they leave.

Looking for a social media manager?

Are you looking for a Social Media Manager to relieve the burden, while improving your social media performance with their expertise and knowledge? Contact us to outsource your social media marketing today.