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Managing multiple campaigns across several social media channels can be challenging, and even further complicated with multichannel campaigns across several brands. Mastering the art of social media project management is not only critical for campaign success but also strengthens and enhances outreach and engagement. 

Defining Social Media Project Management 

Social media project management is a set of tools and processes that allows marketers to plan and manage social media campaigns across multiple social networking sites. By implementing a specific process, professionals can more effectively measure campaign performance, maximize brand awareness, and deliver greater ROI. Social media project management also allows for more effective engagement on a limited budget due to the availability of paid, free, and open-source tools. 

Understanding the fundamental principles of project management can have a positive impact on the success of any social media marketing campaign. Many project managers would be challenged when handling a multichannel marketing campaign. Social media engagement, however, involves a panoply of parts, people, and skills. Understanding how all of these parts and skills work together can mean the difference between simple outreach and thorough engagement.

Components, Guidelines, and Best Practices

Regardless of campaign size and scope, effective social media project management consists of several key components: 

• Campaign Planning – Identifying campaign goals, outcomes, and analytics are critical when engaging in any multichannel social media campaign. Identifying where conversation is happening, who drives the conversation, and the quality of conversation are critical first steps in engagement. 
• Content Ideation and Creation – developing messaging and themes around content, determining appropriate content types
• Creation and Archiving Assets – Crafting specific content types such as copy, video, and infographics) that effectively engage users is a very important part of social media project management. Archiving that content for later use (or reuse) is also critical to ensuring a successful campaign.
• Editorial/Calendar Planning – One of the best practices in project management is task scheduling, and social media content is no exception. Establishing set dates and times for appropriate content – while providing enough room to take advantage of sudden opportunities – facilitates a smooth-running set of campaigns. 
• Formal Strategy (Including Workflows and Approval Processes) Although this should already be part of a social media governance strategy, having formal workflows and approval policies in place identifies which team member is responsible for a specific task. It also ensures timely delivery and engagement within a specific campaign.
• Social media monitoring and listening – Although these may seem obvious, many campaigns focus more on social media monitoring over social listening. Focusing on the former provides insight into volume and types of conversation, but the latter allows for observation of conversational dynamics. Both are critical for ensuring that any social media campaign maintains a strict alliance with its goals, focusing on context as well as quantity.
• Data/Analytics Reporting Structure – Although formal analytics reports may be integrated as part of the campaign, social media project management relies on both qualitative and quantitative data to determine campaign progress, areas of need, and possible interventions. 

Remote Consideration: Special Tools and Skills

Mastering social media project management is not just a matter of finding the right tools, since there are many free, open-source, and/or paid options. Many social media marketing campaigns, for example, rely heavily on remotely distributed teams performing various tasks. However, there are tools and skills that can streamline social media project management across several sites.

• Using remote-friendly software platforms can ease social media campaign functions for remote workers
• Another crucial skill for remote (and in-office) social media project managers is time management and time tracking. Multiple web-based software platforms can make it easier for remote workers, and are often available in free and “freemium” versions.
• Finally, the importance of “soft skills” such as empathy, creativity, and problem-solving can make a huge difference within every level of social media project management. Both social media marketers and project managers rely on soft skills in their everyday work, and drawing on those skills when managing larger campaigns can make social media management more pleasant and productive. 

Putting It All Together

Effective social media project management consists of knowing what needs to get done, identifying individual responsibilities, developing “how” tasks are accomplished, and establishing goals. Although a more technical aspect of social media marketing, proper project management allows for complicated tasks and processes to be completed to ensure both campaign success and brand strengthening.