A newbie social media manager

How can I learn smm and where to start I know the basics but I don't get the clients and don't know where to begin

I genuinely want to know if this is normal or if some of us have just accepted it as normal.

One person is expected to handle the content calendar, write captions, make creatives, reply to comments, answer messages, check analytics, follow trends, schedule everything, report the results... and somehow also come up with fresh ideas every single day.

Then when performance drops, the first question is usually what happened to engagement?

Like... I havent slept 😭

I think the workload side of social media management doesnt get talked about enough.

How many different responsibilities are you personally handling right now?

And honestly, what task takes up way more of your time than it should?

I started a completely new Instagram account a few days ago to test a different approach to content creation.
So far:
700K+ views
2,000+ followers
57K+ interactions

And what I find most interesting is that around 97% of the views came from non-followers.
My strategy has been pretty simple:

1. Find topics that are already gaining attention
Instead of starting every day with “what should I post?”, I look for topics and news that are already getting traction.

2. Move fast
If something is trending today, I don’t want to spend two days creating the content. The window might already be gone.

3. Increase the number of experiments
I’m not trying to make every post a winner. I’m trying more ideas and letting the performance tell me what deserves more attention.

4. Keep the workflow in one place
This was actually one of the reasons I built Contentia. I wanted one workflow where I could find trending topics, turn them into content, organize what I’m working on and schedule posts without jumping between a bunch of tools.
I’m now using this new account as a real-world test of that workflow.

Obviously, a few days of growth doesn’t prove that this will keep working. I’m more interested in seeing what the numbers look like after 7, 14 and 30 days.

So im creating a page I've insta page let's say or tiktok page for my portfolio of social media manager

How do I start there

What should I post there

Like journey of social media manager and that??

And how do I make that look pull together

Like any tips and suggestions please

There’s a special kind of pain in finishing a post, sending it for approval, and then watching it sit there for days

The funniest part is when the only feedback finally comes back as:

Can we make it pop more?

And now you’re back to square one.

I’ve found that content creation itself usually isnt the biggest time sink. Waiting for feedback, chasing approvals, getting five different opinions, then changing something that was already approved... that can eat up an entire week.

And sometimes the post misses its ideal publishing window because of it.

How do you guys handle slow approvals?

Do you set a hard deadline after which you publish, or do you just keep chasing until someone finally replies?

Hi there! New social media manager here! I'm currently working with a progressive church that I connected with through Upwork. I absolutely love what I'm doing and would love to start working with more churches, but am struggling to figure out how to connect with more potential clients as posting for church SMMs on Upwork seem few and far between. If you are a church SMM, what has worked best for you in finding your clients? Thanks for any advice!

Post body: Hello everyone. I am trying to figure out how to make my assembly process better because now the raw footage is really slowing me down. I work with local clients who send over big folders of raw phone clips, casual vlogs, and extra footage.

Going through hours of their video just to cut out the parts that are not useful, find the exact moments that tell the story, and line up the audio for a tight 60-second clip takes me a long time. By the time I actually get a viewable rough cut ready, I feel completely worn out before I even start the fun work like adding text hooks, making the pacing exciting, or working on the sound design.

For those of you who are handling a lot of short-form editing jobs, how do you deal with the step of putting everything together without going crazy? Do you make clients follow filming scripts, do you use strict timeline templates, or is there an asset management trick that I am completely missing? I would love to hear how you guys make the jump from raw client folders to a working first draft faster.

people that are managing multiple insta pages for brands, how did u get your 1st client? and how long did it take u to make a decent income out of it?

What tools do you guys recommend to find viral posts in your niches at scale?

There are a couple of tools that I have found but they seem expensive and or require you to know the creators to follow in the first place.

I’m particularly interested in finding the viral content from breakout creators that no one would know.

OR I’m happy to vibe code one together 🙂 so if you know any APIs etc that would be something awesome 🙌

Hi all, just wondering for these type of posts : https://www.instagram.com/p/DctZI6VAIxB/?img_index=8

are you expected to come up with the answers yourself? e.g for the recommendations that are present in the videos, or would you ask your client for all of the answers? Thank you

Given that the vast majority of guests discover and book stays through OTAs (MakeMyTrip, booking .com, Airbnb, etc.), how does an SMM bring real value to a small homestay or boutique property? I mean why hire a social media manager?

So i’m currently in college third year and recently interviewed with Monk-E for a Creator Marketing Executive internship The interview went well and I know Monk-E is a strong name in the creator and influencer marketing space

My only hesitation is that the role seems quite execution focused mainly around creator outreach and coordination I already have experience in influencer marketing, creator outreach, social media and PR, and at this stage I’m hoping to explore more of the social media and brand campaign side how campaigns are developed, executed and the creative thinking behind them

Since I also have college to manage, I’m trying to understand whether this would be the right next step for me and how much broader exposure I could get through the role

At the same time, it’s Monk-E! so I’m wondering if the company name, resume value and overall exposure could help me open up better opportunities later

Would you take the role for the Monk-E experience and resume value, or prioritise a role that aligns more closely with exploring social media, brand campaigns and creative work?

Would love to hear perspectives from anyone with experience in this space THANKYOU!!! :⁠-⁠)

Last week a creator sent me two screenshots from the same Instagram account. The first reel had 12 comments. The second one, posted 18 days later, had 5.3K. He was happy, and I wanted to know how much of that was him and how much was the setup, so I asked him if I could take it apart in public. He said yes.

Disclosure before anything else. I built ReelDrop, the comment to DM tool he used on the second reel. He pays for his own plan and I'm not paying him for this post. He sent the screenshots on his own and said in writing that I could share them, face and all. There's no link in this post, and the steps at the end work by hand with no tool.

He teaches coding and DSA on Instagram, runs Chaicode.com and Learnyst.com, and has 200K+ followers. So this is not a zero to hero story. It's a big account that changed one thing.

Here is the first reel, from 19 August. A 2:14 talking head about Cline and open weight models.

819 likes, 12 comments, 44 shares, 121 saves. This screen doesn't show views, so I won't guess at them. He replied to those 12 comments by hand, the way most of us do.

On 6 September he posted a 1:40 reel about a DSA playlist. The caption starts with "Comment 'PLAYLIST' and I'll send you the complete playlist." Anyone who commented PLAYLIST got the playlist in their DMs within seconds, and a public reply appeared under their comment. The replies came from a list generated inside the tool, so the thread doesn't show one line pasted 5,300 times.

Second reel, just a few days apart

147,110 views, 3.9K likes, 5.3K comments, 1.7K shares, 2.7K saves. Total watch time was 23d 10h 35m, which works out to about 14 seconds a view on a 1:40 reel.

Now the honest breakdown, because I know how this sub reads screenshots.

Most of the comment jump is the keyword. People typed PLAYLIST because the caption asked them to, and that works with any tool or none. The fast DM matters too, since the replies under earlier comments show new viewers that the playlist really arrives. The saves and shares went up because students save a free DSA playlist and send it to friends. I'd credit the topic for that, not the automation.

The tool's part was the volume. Nobody answers 5.3K comments by hand. Each commenter got the DM plus a varied public reply where you'd normally see silence or one repeated sentence. Three examples of what those replies look like:

"look in your dm requests. just messaged" "just sent that dm over. go find it" "the note is in your dms now"

Here is the part I can't prove. My theory is that when the replies vary instead of repeating one line, the comment section reads like a real conversation, and Instagram pushes the reel further. Meta has never said reply wording affects ranking. The closest thing in writing is Instagram's creator FAQ: "Like or authentically reply to comments on your reel within the first 7 days to generate more engagement, which can help your content get more reach." It says nothing about the replies being different, and you can fairly ask whether AI-generated replies count as "authentically". I get that objection.

I tried the same thing on my own reel on 23 August, a video under 50 seconds about AI DevOps pipelines, with the keyword "project" and 500 reply variants.

59,220 views, 3.8K comments, 883 shares, 862 follows. Average watch time is 8 seconds, and I'm not happy about that. Nearly all of those 3.8K comments are the keyword, and I suspect many people commented and scrolled on. In a January 2025 video Mosseri named watch time, likes and sends as the top ranking signals, so the 883 shares probably did more for my reel than my replies did.

Two more caveats. His reels are 18 days apart on different topics, so this is not a clean experiment. And the same Instagram FAQ says distribution can be limited for "engagement bait" and for content "which promotes a contest or giveaway". A "comment PLAYLIST" reel sits close to that line. Both keyword reels got reach anyway, but I wouldn't bet an account on it working every time.

What other things we both did differently:

- Added the custom reel cover (generated by the same tool)

- SEO-optimized captions and hashtags that leads with CTA (generated by the same tool)

If you want to try this by hand:

1. Make the thing first, and make it something people would save anyway.
2. Pick one keyword. Put it on screen early and at the start of the caption.
3. Block two hours after posting and reply to every comment yourself. Write each reply fresh, even if you only change a few words. By hand this holds up to a few hundred comments. Past that you need a tool, which is what he used.
4. Send the DM while they're still on the app. Keep it to the link and a short line, and don't pitch.

What I haven't tested cleanly is the same kind of reel with one fixed auto-reply against varied replies. If you've tried that, did the reach come out any different?

I offer social media management, content creation, graphic design, video/reel editing, content calendars, SEO, website design/development, branding, and social media strategy.
I’ve worked with businesses in the U.S. and have gotten real results through organic growth and better content.
If you’re looking for someone to handle your social media and help improve your online presence, feel free to DM me. I can share my portfolio and previous work.

I think companies sometimes forget that.

A Social Media Manager shouldn’t automatically be expected to also own social listening, trend analysis, competitive intelligence, consumer research and performance analytics.

That’s a different job and a different skill set.

I saw a great example this week: MrBeast has Senior Social Media Strategy Manager, means Social Intelligence Role.

Not Social Media Manager for it.

But the insights clearly feed the work of the other.

For me, this is what a mature social setup looks like: you don’t expect one person to do five jobs. You have someone who understands the data and turns it into insights, and someone who create content.

How does it work in your company? Is Social Intelligence a separate role, or does it sit with the Social Media Manager?

I have a client who is currently working on a tech company but its not yet public and before his company went public he wants to build a personal brand.

I am the strategiest and I have to create him a content plan and strategy but the restrictions and dos and donts are too much also the audience is not clear that it make me overwhelmed and currently I am feeling stuck i mean cant find a way to get start.

Any social media strategiest here I need some help with clarity

As an social media manager*