BEHIND every organisation's social media updates is a human messenger representing the company's views to its subscribers. Marcel Downes, social media executive at Digicel, is the man behind that telecommunications company's Tweets.
This week, he shares with Career & Education an insight into the career of a social media executive.
Who is a social media executive?
A social media executive is someone whose main duties include the creation of content that drives the brand and engages customers. It also includes the live coverage of various events. From time to time, I directly have conversations with customers on our various social media pages.
What is the value of the work that you do?
The value of the work I do, I believe, is tremendous. Social media has grown and many brands are seeing the need and benefits of communicating with their customers at the level of social media. Social media is the quickest way to get important messages and information out to our customers.
What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?
I enjoy the fact that I am allowed to be creative with messages and come up with ideas that can connect with our customers. I love the fact that I am able to go to various events and meet different types of people. I also love to interact with our customers as they feel more like a family when we are communicating via our social pages.
Describe a typical day on the job for you.
I am addicted to being early, so I will normally arrive at the head office before 7:00 am to check my emails to see if there is anything of interest that needs to be posted on the page. Then, by 8:00 am, I begin actively posting and monitoring our social media pages and search the Internet for articles and information that can be shared with our fans.
What skills and/or competencies are required for your career field?
You have to be quick thinking, outgoing, and not afraid to think outside the box. Of course you have to know about the latest social media trends and pages, so that you can relate to the customers on these various social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. My information technology and customer care background assist me in responding to customer queries in an accurate and timely manner.
Academically, it is best to have a bachelor's degree either in marketing or integrated marketing and communications. Also, experience in working with customer care would be an asset.
What are the challenges that you face on the job?
One main challenge is that social media is real time. You have to be monitoring a lot of different sites, trying to keep abreast of the latest trends and news that might be important to share with your followers and fans.
Why would you advise anyone to become a social media executive?
I would advise them that, if they are looking for a challenge and not a regular job, this would be the field for them. Within this field, we get to interact with different departments.
Downes is the man responsible for most conversation strings on the company's Twitter and Facebook pages.
DOWNES... social media is the quickest way to get important messages and information out to our customers (PHOTO: JOSEPH WELLINGTON)
    DOWNES... social media is the quickest way to get important messages and information out to our customers (PHOTO: JOSEPH WELLINGTON) #slideshowtoggler, #slideshowtoggler a, #slideshowtoggler img {filter:none !important;zoom:normal !important}  2/2  |
Who is a social media executive?
A social media executive is someone whose main duties include the creation of content that drives the brand and engages customers. It also includes the live coverage of various events. From time to time, I directly have conversations with customers on our various social media pages.
What is the value of the work that you do?
The value of the work I do, I believe, is tremendous. Social media has grown and many brands are seeing the need and benefits of communicating with their customers at the level of social media. Social media is the quickest way to get important messages and information out to our customers.
What do you enjoy most about the work that you do?
I enjoy the fact that I am allowed to be creative with messages and come up with ideas that can connect with our customers. I love the fact that I am able to go to various events and meet different types of people. I also love to interact with our customers as they feel more like a family when we are communicating via our social pages.
Describe a typical day on the job for you.
I am addicted to being early, so I will normally arrive at the head office before 7:00 am to check my emails to see if there is anything of interest that needs to be posted on the page. Then, by 8:00 am, I begin actively posting and monitoring our social media pages and search the Internet for articles and information that can be shared with our fans.
What skills and/or competencies are required for your career field?
You have to be quick thinking, outgoing, and not afraid to think outside the box. Of course you have to know about the latest social media trends and pages, so that you can relate to the customers on these various social platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Tumblr. My information technology and customer care background assist me in responding to customer queries in an accurate and timely manner.
Academically, it is best to have a bachelor's degree either in marketing or integrated marketing and communications. Also, experience in working with customer care would be an asset.
What are the challenges that you face on the job?
One main challenge is that social media is real time. You have to be monitoring a lot of different sites, trying to keep abreast of the latest trends and news that might be important to share with your followers and fans.
Why would you advise anyone to become a social media executive?
I would advise them that, if they are looking for a challenge and not a regular job, this would be the field for them. Within this field, we get to interact with different departments.