Ultimate Guide to Media Management

Fifteen years ago, the idea of leveraging media to advertise businesses was pretty much unheard of. Fast forward to 2023 and every business that knows its salt has a media presence. But what makes some businesses wildly successful with their online advertising while others are not so? The answer is: that it’s all about media management.

Media management refers to the process of managing a business's online presence, which includes choosing the most appropriate platforms for that business, posting engaging content, and monitoring its success.

Media management jobs abound as many companies employ their own media manager to take care of what can be a very full-time job.

What are the different media management jobs?

With a digital media management degree, or even just with the right experience, you can pursue any of the following media management jobs:

• Media marketing manager
• Media planner
• Media buyer
• Production manager
• Broadcast manager 

According to Glassdoor, the highest media management salary in the US is $74,874. Once you have a master's in media management, you can get higher-paying managerial positions as well.

What skills do you need to be a media manager?

• Up to date with the latest media trends, i.e., what type of post is currently most successful on Instagram?
• Good communication skills to manage a team  
• Creativity to know what your audience will find engaging 
• Good analytical skills to track media success
• Organizational skills to successfully coordinate both a media team and the media itself

What does a media manager do?

• Research - Not all media platforms were created equal and not all businesses will succeed on every platform. A pizza chain may do better on less formal, GenZ-centered platforms like TikTok and Instagram, whereas B2B companies are more likely to succeed on business-centered platforms like LinkedIn. Due to the diversity of media platforms and the many different ways that each platform can be leveraged, media managers need to research which would be most successful for their business (more on that below).
• Oversee content creation - Media managers may sometimes produce content themselves but often in larger companies, they are in charge of a team of media creators and their job is to oversee and proofread content rather than create it themselves.
• Manage a team - Especially when so many companies have gone remote or hybrid, good communication practices are essential. A remote team should still have regular meetings so that everyone is kept up to par and media managers should regularly check in with team members so that they can voice concerns or questions.

Media management 101

What exactly is involved in the nitty-gritty, day-to-day details of being a media manager? Depending on what type of media manager you are, it tends to be a variation of the following:

• Establishing KPIs - What are your key performance indicators, i.e., what will tell you that your media efforts are producing results? It may be a certain amount of reactions to your post, or even more concrete - actual revenue generated.
• Set smart goals - SMART is a fantastic method to ensure that goals are set well and ultimately achieved. It stands for:

SPECIFIC - Vague goals don’t have much accountability, whereas very specific goals can be tracked. 

MEASURABLE - Are your goals quantifiable? A non-measurable goal would be ‘engage more followers’ whereas a measurable goal would be ‘get 100 new subscribers for our newsletter this month’.

ACHIEVABLE - Thinking big is great but set goals that are too big and you just overwhelm yourself and your team.

RELEVANT - Think about what will really take your company to the next level and focus on achieving goals to that end. Goals that won’t ultimately get you far are hard to motivate yourself to accomplish.

TIMELY - Set a cut-off date for your goals, otherwise they can drag on for months on end. Also, ensure to set specific targets for specific team members to motivate them to achieve their goals.

• Know your audience - This is a vital aspect of being a social media manager. You really need to be on top of trends and deeply understand what your target audience really cares about if you’re going to break through to them. The best way to do this is to simply hang out where your audience is. Are they generally on Twitter during morning hours? Make sure to be there then! Other ways to get to know your audience include sending out surveys and conducting individual client calls.
• Allow your creatives to be creative! This may sound obvious, but media managers are notorious for getting far too involved in the details of their team’s media production. If you’ve hired a talented copywriter, the best way to utilize their strengths is by allowing them free reign (within reason). The more trust you show your team members, the better they will perform.

How can Workamajig help you with your media management?

Digital media management software is the way forward for any media manager with high hopes for success.  Software like Workamajig allows you to:

Run your agency on hard data, not best guesses

Swap gut feelings for accurate data and dramatically improve your agency's profitability. Workamajig gives agency leaders the visibility needed to identify their most successful ventures. A good media management system like Workamajig allows you to:

• Do more of what works. Identify & focus on the media efforts that drive true profitability
• See how your key financial metrics trend over time with our easy-to-use Metrics Monitor

Integration gives you insight

Why use separate tools for time tracking, media management, resourcing, finance & reporting? 

Get everyone on board & gain visibility across the board.

• Don't wait hours for reports - get the data you need, when you need it, in real-time
• No need to gather & merge data from other tools - just start analyzing
• Reliable forecasts let you proactively manage agency growth & resources