Social Media and Digital Engagement Manager

Gannon University - Erie, PA

Full-time - Mid Level

Erie, PA

Educational Services

About the position

The Social Media and Digital Engagement Manager oversees the operational planning, establishment, execution, and evaluation of the university's official ongoing social media communications and engagement. This individual is responsible for producing relevant content for all current and future social media platforms aimed at targeted audiences. The content produced can include event coverage and the development of engaging content around upcoming or recently completed events. Additionally, this role involves overseeing and providing leadership to staff and students who contribute content to the university's main accounts, as well as providing support and consultation for other areas on campus that engage on social media through their own channels. The Social Media and Digital Engagement Manager monitors all official online venues to ensure they are updated and maintained consistently, which is crucial for maintaining a positive online presence and reputation management. This individual also educates and trains the Gannon University community on the proper use of social media and online communications. Engaging regularly in social listening aids data-driven decision-making at the university, and this person serves as the subject matter expert on social media and online content management. As a member of the university's Crisis Response Team, the Social Media and Digital Engagement Manager is on call 24/7 to assist in distributing information during difficult times. In addition to these responsibilities, the manager assists with and at times directs the department's external and internal marketing efforts, including operating social channel campaigns. This role requires a proactive approach to planning, writing, creating, editing, scheduling, and publishing relevant daily and long-term content across all social media channels in real-time. The manager develops unique, platform-specific voices and content for each of the university's flagship social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn. The position also involves performing ongoing social listening, timely review, moderation, and reporting of conversations on social channels, supporting crisis communication efforts, and managing Gannon's online presence by responding to comments, direct messages, and mentions on all official university accounts in a timely manner. Regular reporting and applying analytic insights to drive improved performance of university campaigns and initiatives are also key components of this role. The manager collaborates with various departments to set and achieve engagement and frequency goals across channels, develops and reports on paid social media campaigns, and supports photography and video production for marketing and daily social media use. Overall, the Social Media and Digital Engagement Manager plays a critical role in cultivating university brand awareness, positive brand engagement, and search engine optimization, while also guiding student employees in the development of social media and content creation skills.

Responsibilities

• Plans, writes, creates, edits, schedules, and publishes relevant daily and long-term content across all social media channels in real-time.
• Develops unique, platform-specific voices and content for each of the university's flagship social media channels, including Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
• Performs ongoing social listening: timely review, moderation, and reports of conversation on social channels.
• Supports crisis communication efforts and reputation management of the university.
• Manages Gannon's online presence, responding to comments, direct messages, and mentions on all official university accounts in a timely manner.
• Reports noteworthy interactions and social media sentiment to the Marketing Team.
• Produces regular reports and applies analytic insights to drive improved performance of university campaigns, publications, public relations, and other Marketing and Communications initiatives.
• Crafts recommended responses to blogs, other social media sites, and online news outlets.
• Performs daily maintenance of official university social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, LinkedIn, and other relevant social networking sites.
• Assists in the planning, development, implementation, management, social media coverage, and reporting of marketing initiatives such as events, publications, publicity, announcements, web, marketing research, recruitment, advertising, and search engine optimization.
• Works collaboratively to set and achieve engagement and frequency goals across channels.
• Develops and reports on paid social media campaigns both independently and in support of existing marketing campaigns.
• Supports photography and video production for marketing, campaign, and daily social media use.
• Writes or supports the creation of articles, news releases, emails, blogs, posts, and other content to cultivate university brand awareness, positive brand engagement, and search engine optimization.
• Assists and coordinates university media and communications, collaborating on the writing of publications, press releases, public relations, advertising copy, media relations, social media copy, scripts, fact sheets, webpages, emails, and other items as needed.
• Participates in weekly content meetings to align social media with all areas of content and communications.
• Follows all university-affiliated social media to engage and share content on official university platforms.
• Creates relationships and provides partnership, education, and direction to departments, faculty, staff, and students in developing strategic social media presences.
• Provides continual feedback and recommendations to university departments, faculty, staff, and students on their social media efforts.
• Regularly reviews competitor social media content and creative, continuously benchmarking other top social media brands and recommending optimizations for our own.
• Constantly develops new content, finding new ways to repurpose and repackage existing university content.
• Builds strong relationships with media, community, stakeholders, etc. by providing constant, relevant, and newsworthy information and responses on social media sites.
• Guides student employees in the development of social media and content creation skills.
• Facilitates student ambassador takeovers for authentic content creation on university channels.
• Actively supports SEO research and content recommendations, attending trainings, participating in implementing research and recommendations, and applying to web and social content creation.
• Performs other duties as assigned.

Requirements

• Bachelor's degree, preferably in communications, multimedia, marketing, or a related field.
• Three-to-five years of work experience in marketing, multimedia, social media, or a related field.
• Excellent written and verbal communication skills, with the ability to create engaging, influential content in a variety of mediums.
• Experience in managing social media programs and platforms.
• Resourceful, problem-solving style that thrives in a fast-paced, entrepreneurial environment and fosters collaborative relationships.
• Solid project management skills, with the ability to independently manage multiple projects on time.
• Proficiency with Office suite of products (Excel, Word, PowerPoint, Outlook).
• Design experience with HTML, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, and other software a plus.
• Proficient knowledge of Adobe CC for creation of static and motion graphics and assets preferred.
• Editorial experience or knowledge preferred.

Nice-to-haves

• Photography skills are a plus.