Muna Idriss is a Social Media Manager for Fusion 360 at Autodesk and has been responsible for the fantastic content you’ll have seen on the Fusion 360 channels over the last two and a half years. In her interview below, learn more about what being a Social Media Manager entails. And if you’re wondering – yes, that’s a sheep stealing the limelight in her photo! Muna lived and worked on a farm during her first year at Autodesk.
Question: What degree did you graduate with, and how has it affected your career? Or, what education / training do you have that has helped with your role?
Muna: I graduated from Brown University with a double major in Africana and Slavic Studies. Learning other languages and cultures is a great background for someone in a communications role. I consider myself a storyteller (I even wrote a stage play in college!) and the best storytellers have a vast trove of stories to pull from. I am an avid social media user in my personal life, and I think genuinely enjoying social media is necessary to do the job successfully.
Question: How would you describe your role at Autodesk? What does a typical workday look like? Which skills and qualities are important to be successful in your role?
Muna: I oversee the Fusion 360 Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube. A typical workday begins with a look at my content calendar to see what has gone out the door and what still needs to be scheduled. I check to see how recently published content has performed and respond to any comments. I check and respond to DMs. I attend lots of strategy meetings with other team members. I check my YouTube content queue; if videos are in the queue, I upload and schedule them. I spend time most days looking for content on social media and other Fusion 360 content channels. The ability to organize and plan is critical to doing this role successfully. Creativity and sociability are also strong skills for this role; when I’m writing copy, I often think how I would tell a friend about the content I am promoting. I believe our content resonates with our audience because of that personability.
Question: What do you find interesting about your role? What are the challenges? What do you find satisfying about your work?
Muna: Running a commercial social media account is very different from having a personal social media account. I love researching industry best practices, experimenting with my content, and then refining my approach based on my learnings. Ultimately, everyone on social media is contending with an algorithm that we do not control so being flexible in your approach is critical to achieving and sustaining success. A major challenge of the role is that it is public-facing, so when you make a mistake then everyone sees it! Thick skin is also important; social media users can be very blunt and it’s important to remember they don’t think they are talking to a real person. On the other hand, when a post does well, the applause feels great!
Question: What advice would you give to a student who is interested in pursuing a role like yours?
Muna: If I had to distill my job down to two tasks, they would be copywriting/copy-editing and creating visuals. Being good at one or both will put you in a great position. Ultimately, any social media marketing role will be shaped by the context of the product being marketed so trust your ability to learn on the job!
Make sure to follow Muna’s Fusion 360 Social Media pages to get the best content and remember to ask her any additional questions using @t_idrim about her role in the thread below.