The kind of people who are attracted to a career in PR tend to be ‘right-brained’, that is intuitive, creative and subjective. That’s why they are great at relationships, writing and coming up with inventive campaign ideas.

These are essential skills and talents, but to be a successful social media consultant you must add some ‘left-brain’ qualities. It takes being logical, objective and analytical too. This is because it’s essential to be able to take data and turn it into actionable insight.

Every time someone does something online it creates a data point. Every website visit, each like, every retweet or share, will leave a digital footprint. The job of the analyst is to gather this data and pull together a cohesive picture to identify trends and patterns.

Analyst skills and aptitudes

Effective social media analysis takes the right combination of hard skills and softer aptitudes. Click To Tweet The number one skill required is numeracy. It doesn’t take a mathematical genius but does require the ability to understand and work with numbers. Linguistics skills are important too. Understanding how people use language and the basics of syntax, phonetics and semantics all come into play.

Understanding human behavior and relationships is helpful in interpreting how and why people act, think and feel. Storytelling is important when it comes to creating reports that paint a picture of the story being told in the numbers.

And of course, software skills are paramount. A good social media consultant will be au fait with:

• Google Analytics and Tag Manager
• MS Excel
• Native platform analytics including Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Snap.
• Social listening tools such as Cision, Sysomos, Reddit Keyword Monitor Pro, Streamview for Instagram, Keyhole and Snapalitics, among others.

A social media consultant brings other aptitudes to the analysis piece too. Curiosity and creativity drive analysis in surfacing relevant trends and patterns. The ability to focus is important when it comes to pouring over thousands of posts and interactions. So is adaptability. Social media trends, platforms and technology are all always changing.

Analysis plays an important role every day in the life of a social media consultant. Daily monitoring is a foundational activity. Real-time social media intelligence supports service and sales along with innovation and development. It helps build advocate and brand relationships. It provides a competitive advantage and the agility to adjust campaigns and activities on the fly.

Social media audits

In regular audits, a social media consultant will examine key performance indicators (costs, sales, customer satisfaction) alongside social media metrics (reach, engagement, conversions).  An audit will include audience analysis. It will check channel performance and return on investment.

A well-rounded social media consultant will have a bachelor’s degree and/or a relevant college diploma.  Skilled analysts will also have industry certifications, for example Google Analytics, Facebook Blueprint, Twitter Flight School, Hootsuite Academy, and others.

The best social media consultants or teams are a perfect blend of left- and right-brained. Click To Tweet This balance provides both the creativity and smart insights to plan and put in place effective programs and campaigns. Find out more by filling in this form.