Social media manager

What does a social media manager do?

A social media manager plans, publishes and reports on an organisation's content on social platforms.

The role covers brand accounts, replies to followers, paid social campaigns and partnerships with creators.

In Singapore, the job usually sits in a marketing or communications team. At a small firm, one person may do all of it. Larger organisations split the work between a manager, in-house creators and an agency.

You work with designers, video editors, the brand team, customer service, PR and legal. You also brief influencers and media agencies, and you report results to the marketing lead.

What the work involves

• Plan and schedule posts across Instagram, TikTok, Facebook, LinkedIn and other channels in a content calendar.
• Write captions and scripts, and brief designers or video editors on visuals and short-form clips.
• Reply to comments and messages, and flag complaints or risks to customer service or PR.
• Set up and adjust paid social campaigns in Meta Ads and TikTok Ads.
• Track mentions and trends with social listening tools and note what your audience responds to.
• Pull performance numbers into a monthly report and suggest changes to the plan.

Pay in Singapore

Back to top

Skills a social media manager needs

Back to top

Social media manager job description

We are hiring a social media manager to run our brand channels in Singapore.

You will plan content, look after the online community, manage paid social campaigns and report results to the marketing lead. You will work with designers, creators and agencies to publish on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and LinkedIn.

Responsibilities

• Build and maintain a content calendar tied to campaigns, product launches and local events.
• Write copy and direct visuals and short videos for each platform.
• Respond to comments and messages within agreed times and follow an escalation process for complaints.
• Plan, launch and optimise paid social campaigns in Meta Ads and TikTok Ads.
• Find, brief and manage influencers and creators, including contracts and content approval.
• Monitor brand mentions and competitors using social listening tools.
• Report on reach, engagement, traffic and conversions each month and recommend next steps.
• Make sure posts, contests and creator content follow company policy, advertising guidelines and the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA).
• Manage freelancers, agencies and any social media executives on your team.
• Test new formats and AI tools for content, with human review before anything is published.

Requirements

• Diploma or degree in marketing, communications, mass communication, business or a related field. Some employers accept strong portfolios instead.
• Typically 2 to 5 years of experience running social accounts for a brand or agency.
• Strong writing skills, and a portfolio showing posts, campaigns and results you handled.
• Hands-on use of Meta Ads Manager, TikTok Ads Manager, Canva and a video editor such as CapCut.
• Experience with a scheduling or listening tool such as Sprout or Meltwater, and basic analytics reporting.
• Writing in more than one language is an advantage for brands that reach Chinese, Malay or Tamil audiences.

Back to top

Social media manager career path

Most social media managers start in executive or creator roles and move up through campaign ownership, team leadership and wider brand responsibility.

1. Social media executive

   Entry

   You publish posts, reply to the community, pull basic reports and help produce content under a manager's direction.

2. Social media manager

   Mid

   You own the channel plan, content calendar, paid social budget and monthly reporting, and manage creators and agencies.

3. Senior social media manager

   Senior

   You set strategy across several channels or markets, guide junior staff and tie social results to business goals.

4. Head of social or digital marketing

   Lead

   You lead the wider digital team, set budgets and work with brand, PR and sales leaders on overall marketing plans.

The titles are ones commonly used in Singapore; employers may name the levels differently.

Related jobs and their pay

Back to top

Social media manager interview questions

We wrote these questions from the skills this job needs. They are not an official question bank.

1. How would you build a social media strategy for a Singapore brand launching a new product?

   What a good answer covers

   • Starts with the business goal and target audience, not the platform.
   • Picks platforms based on where that audience spends time in Singapore.
   • Defines content themes and formats, with a mix of organic and paid.
   • Sets metrics for each stage, such as reach, engagement and sign-ups.
   • Plans how to review results and change the approach after launch.

2. Walk me through how you build and manage a monthly content calendar.

   What a good answer covers

   • Maps content to campaigns, product dates and Singapore events such as public holidays and festive seasons.
   • Balances content types and avoids only promotional posts.
   • Sets approval steps and deadlines for design, video and legal checks.
   • Leaves room for reactive posts and trending topics.
   • Reviews last month's results before planning the next.

3. Which metrics do you report for organic content, and which for paid, and why?

   What a good answer covers

   • Separates reach and engagement from outcomes such as clicks, leads or sales.
   • Explains vanity metrics versus ones tied to goals.
   • Mentions cost measures for paid, such as cost per click or cost per lead.
   • Compares results with a benchmark or past period.
   • Turns numbers into a clear recommendation for the team.

4. How would you set up a Meta Ads campaign to drive sign-ups, and how do you decide when to scale or stop it?

   What a good answer covers

   • Chooses a campaign objective that matches the goal and sets up tracking first.
   • Defines audiences and tests creative variations.
   • Sets a budget and a testing period before judging results.
   • Looks at cost per sign-up, frequency and creative fatigue.
   • Scales what works gradually and pauses weak ads with a clear rule.

5. How do you choose and brief influencers for a campaign?

   What a good answer covers

   • Checks audience fit, engagement quality and past brand content, as well as follower counts.
   • Writes a brief with key messages, deliverables, approval steps and timelines.
   • Requires clear disclosure of paid partnerships.
   • Agrees usage rights and exclusivity in a contract.
   • Measures results with trackable links or codes and reviews them afterwards.

6. How do you use a social listening tool such as Sprout or Meltwater, and what do you do with the findings?

   What a good answer covers

   • Sets up keywords for brand, competitors, products and sensitive topics.
   • Tracks volume and sentiment over time and watches for sudden spikes.
   • Finds content ideas and customer questions from conversations.
   • Shares insights with product, customer service and PR.
   • Sets alerts for potential issues so the team can respond quickly.

7. How do you use ChatGPT or AI video tools in your work, and what checks do you apply before publishing?

   What a good answer covers

   • Uses AI for drafts, ideas, captions and variations, and leaves final authorship to a person.
   • Checks facts, tone and brand voice by hand.
   • Avoids pasting customer data or confidential plans into public tools.
   • Follows company policy on AI-generated content and discloses where needed.
   • Checks for copyright or likeness issues in AI visuals and video.

8. Write a hook and outline for a 15-second TikTok promoting a hawker-style snack brand. How would you shoot and edit it?

   What a good answer covers

   • Opens with a strong first-second hook that fits the platform.
   • Keeps one clear message and a call to action.
   • Plans shots, captions, sound and pacing for vertical video.
   • Mentions editing in CapCut or similar, with on-screen text for silent viewing.
   • Suggests a way to test two hook versions.

1. A customer's complaint on your brand's Instagram post starts getting shared widely. What do you do in the first hour?

   What a good answer covers

   • Checks the facts with customer service or the relevant team before replying.
   • Replies publicly with a calm, short message, then moves details to private messages.
   • Escalates to PR, legal or the manager using a set process.
   • Leaves criticism up unless it breaks platform or community rules.
   • Logs the case and suggests a fix to stop it recurring.

2. Your paid social campaign has spent half its budget and results are well below target. What do you do?

   What a good answer covers

   • Checks tracking first to confirm the numbers are right.
   • Looks at audience, creative, landing page and offer to find the weak point.
   • Makes one or two controlled changes instead of rebuilding everything.
   • Tells the stakeholder early, with a clear plan and updated forecast.
   • Records what was learnt for future campaigns.

3. A creator you hired posts content that is off-brand and does not mark it as an ad. How do you handle it?

   What a good answer covers

   • Contacts the creator promptly and refers to the brief and contract.
   • Asks for a correction, such as adding a clear disclosure or editing the post.
   • Informs your manager and legal or compliance if needed.
   • Decides whether the partnership should continue.
   • Updates the briefing and approval process for next time.

4. Your team has one week to launch a campaign and the designer is unavailable. How do you keep it on track?

   What a good answer covers

   • Reduces scope to the formats that matter most.
   • Uses Canva templates or in-house assets within brand guidelines.
   • Prioritises tasks and tells stakeholders what changes.
   • Keeps a quality check before publishing.
   • Plans a follow-up with fuller creative once resources free up.

1. Tell me about a campaign or account you grew. What did you change, and what was the result?

   What a good answer covers

   • Gives a clear starting point and goal.
   • Describes specific actions rather than general effort.
   • Shares results with numbers or a simple before-and-after comparison.
   • Says what failed and what was learnt.
   • Credits others who helped.

2. Describe a time a senior stakeholder disagreed with your content approach. What happened?

   What a good answer covers

   • Listens to the concern and understands the business reason.
   • Uses data or past results to support the view.
   • Offers a test or compromise.
   • Stays professional and keeps the working relationship.
   • Describes the outcome honestly.

1. You want to run a giveaway that collects entrants' names, phone numbers and emails. What do you need to think about under the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA)?

   What a good answer covers

   • Tells people why their data is collected and how it will be used, and gets consent.
   • Collects only the data the contest needs.
   • Uses the data for marketing only if entrants agree.
   • Keeps the data secure and limits who can access it.
   • Follows Do Not Call rules where phone numbers are used, and checks details with the legal or data protection officer.

Common questions about a social media manager job

Sources