You spend your days meticulously planning content for clients. You’re a master of Reels, a wizard with captions, and you’ve got a hashtag strategy that could rival a CIA agent. You’re the one telling everyone to “show up,” “be consistent,” and “build a community.”
Then you look at your own social media.
Your camera roll is a disaster. Your last post was three weeks ago. You haven’t asked a single client for a testimonial, and the thought of posting on your personal account makes you want to curl up in a ball and hide. The irony isn’t lost on you: you’re a professional builder of brands, but your own is a construction zone.
If you feel this deep in your soul, you’re not alone. The struggle is real, and it’s a universal part of the job that nobody talks about.
This is a brutally honest look at five things a social media manager should do but probably never does. This isn’t a lecture. It’s a reality check that proves your best work often happens off-screen, and sometimes, the best strategy is simply to give yourself a break.
The Never-Ending Task: iPhone Cleanup
You’ve got a system for your client’s content. A meticulous, color-coded, perfectly organized system. But your own camera roll is a warzone. It’s a chaotic graveyard of screenshots from competitors, half-finished Reels, random photos of your cat, and a thousand ideas you swore you’d get to someday.
The irony is not lost on us. We spend our days obsessing over visuals and brand aesthetics for others, yet our own digital hub is a monument to disorganization. The notification that your storage is almost full isn’t a surprise—it’s a way of life.
This is a universal truth for creators. We’re so busy capturing, creating, and compiling content for our clients that we rarely have the time to go back and clean up our own mess. It’s a testament to how much we’re working and how many ideas are constantly flowing through our minds. It might feel like a personal failing, but it’s actually a sign that you’re doing the work.
The Myth of Constant Creation: Posting on TikTok
Everyone knows the golden rule of TikTok: if you want to grow, you need to post. A lot. The common advice is to post 1-3 times per day to get traction. You know this. You tell your clients this. But when it comes to your own account, it’s a completely different story.
You spend your entire day in the app, but you’re not creating. You’re researching trends for a client, scripting their next video, or editing their content. Your creative energy is spent on other people’s brands, and by the time you’re done for the day, the last thing you want to do is create a dance or a lip-sync video for your own account.
The irony here is brutal. You’re the one who understands the algorithm better than anyone, yet your own TikTok account is a barren wasteland. But here’s the thing: your success isn’t measured by your own follower count on TikTok.
It’s measured by the results you get for your clients. So, while you “should” be posting every day, it’s a task that’s almost always the first to get deprioritized, and that’s completely normal.
The Easiest Task I Never Do: Asking for Testimonials
As a social media manager, you know the power of social proof. You’re constantly telling your clients to share testimonials and reviews. You know that a glowing recommendation from a happy customer is the most powerful marketing tool in the world.
So why don’t you do it yourself?
The irony is brutal. You finish a massive project, the client is thrilled, and you have a perfect opportunity to ask for a testimonial. But instead, you just move on to the next task. You feel awkward asking for it, or you’re already thinking about the next deadline. It’s the easiest and most valuable thing you could do for your own business, but it’s almost always the last thing on your mind.
This is a common struggle for people in the service-based industry. We’re so focused on delivering for our clients that we often forget to promote our own wins. It’s a missed opportunity, but it’s also a sign that you’re dedicated to your clients’ success above your own.
The Personal vs. Professional Battle: My Own Socials
This is the ultimate paradox of being a social media manager. You’re the one telling everyone else to engage daily, post consistently, and show up as an authentic brand. Yet, your own social media is a graveyard.
The struggle is real. You spend your day commenting on your client’s posts, responding to their DMs, and building their community. By the time you clock out, the last thing you want to do is open the app and do the same for yourself. Your personal account becomes a quiet corner of the internet, a place you rarely visit because your entire identity is tied to your work.
The pin highlights two crucial points here: “engage daily on my own social media” and “post on my personal account”. Both are tasks you know you should do, but they are often the first to go when you’re busy delivering for others. It’s not laziness; it’s a direct result of being so committed to your clients that your own profile becomes an afterthought.
The Final Takeaway: The Unwritten Rules of the Game
You’ve made it. You now have a brutally honest look at the five things a social media manager should do but probably never does. You know that your messy camera roll is a sign of your creativity, not your disorganization. You understand why your TikTok account is a ghost town, and you can finally admit that you’re terrible at asking for testimonials.
The truth is, these aren’t failures. They are the unwritten rules of the game.
The most successful social media managers and creators aren’t the ones with the most followers or the cleanest camera rolls. They are the ones who prioritize their clients’ success, who spend their energy building other people’s brands, and who understand that their own personal social media is a side project.
It’s time to let go of the guilt. The irony of the job is real, but it’s also a testament to your hard work. So, stop feeling like you’re not doing enough, and start celebrating the fact that you’re doing the work that really matters.