Information in this blog post was obtained from Social Media Examiner, Content Marketing World, and Social Media Today
With social media becoming a focal point in a lot of careers now, it is interesting to see how much it has grown over the years. Some see social media as a type of engagement to watch funny videos, interact with friends and family, and also something to watch or view when bored. I have fallen into one of those scenarios before I started my career in social media marketing. I have TikTok, Instagram, Twitter, and all of the big-name media platforms. I would use those platforms to interact with my friends and also watch funny videos to pass the time. TikTok is a great example. I would just use TikTok to watch content that users posted and not think of how companies use their content to promote their company or ads. The point I want to make here before I dive into careers in social media marketing is, that social media is more than all of the descriptions I listed earlier. Social media has evolved and now we have seen many careers form from these different platforms. With that being said, let's dive into social media marketing.
What is Social Media?
What even is social media marketing? Social media marketing is the use of social media platforms and websites to promote a product or service. Although the terms e-marketing and digital marketing are still dominant in academia, social media marketing is becoming more popular for both practitioners and researchers. Being able to produce relevant content that users will share with their own networks helps brands increase their exposure. It also extends its reach toward fans, potential customers, and even potential employees when used as a recruitment tool.
Social media enables organizations to create relationships with their audience. It gives end users a platform to ask questions, voice complaints, and generally be heard. It also gives brands the opportunity to respond, adapt, and adjust business processes or products.
Some popular social media apps include Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram and Snapchat. Each platform has elements that make it attractive to use. And when a company uses several in combination to deliver a multichannel message, consumers can see those messages on their preferred channels. Now we will discuss essential skills that produce a great social media marketing employee.
Essential Skills of a Social Media Marketer
According to Social Media Examiner, there are six essential skills that make up a great social media marketer. Let's dive into those six skills. The first social media skill you must have is communication. Without saying that, if you want to represent an organization and engage with their customers, then you need to have strong communication skills. You also need good communication skills to get along with colleagues, put your ideas and campaigns into words, and be the voice of your brand.
One of the most important attributes of social media marketing skills is creativity. Social media users tend to unfollow a brand if the content shared is repetitive or boring. To keep followers engaged and hooked, social media marketers need to consistently come up with new and engaging ideas, creative initiatives, and campaigns. Although images and videos dominate much of social media skills, writing also plays a critical role. Whether you’re creating a post or crafting a tweet, writing stands as an essential part of a social media marketer’s job profile. If headlines aren’t magnetic or captivating enough, it’s likely people are not going to be motivated enough to click.
As multi-taskers extraordinaire, social media marketers need good project management skills. They need to create publishing schedules, track contacts, and maintain social media profiles. They will need to run reports, meet with designers and writers, manage ad budgets, and much more. Although you’re using social media as the tool, you’re still marketing, which means a must-have social media marketing principle. You don’t need a marketing degree, but you do need good foundational knowledge about how marketing works.
Change is a constant in social media, and the best social media marketers are those who can quickly adapt to a new situation or respond to something that is happening in the social media environment, whether good or bad. This makes flexibility another must-have social media skill! The last skill is relationship building. Social media marketers also need to reach out to influencers and that makes relationship-building a crucial skill to develop.
What are some social media marketing careers that are available? According to Social Media Today, there are many opportunities for this profession. Creating content, including text posts, video and images for use on social media. Promoting products, services and content over social media, in a way that is consistent with an organization's brand and social media strategy. Scheduling social media posts using applications such as Hootsuite and TweetDeck. The best way to look for a career is on your school's website, talk to an advisor or faculty member, or use LinkedIn or other related websites. Here are some examples of social media marketing careers.
Social media intern.
Blogger.
Content curator.
Social media coordinator.
Social media specialist.
Social media manager.
Social media community manager.
Marketing associate.
How do you get exposed to this industry? According to Content Marketing World, there are many ways you can get yourself exposed to this industry. With the constant emergence of new digital platforms, social media marketers are constantly looking for new ways to reach their target audience. That’s one of the many reasons why so many people are attracted to social media marketing. The process of landing your first social media marketing job can seem daunting. Besides getting on social media yourself, where do you start? That’s why we’ve created this guide. Below, we’ll detail how to launch your career in social media marketing, including the skills you’ll need and how to land your first job.
Social media marketing is when businesses use social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Instagram, and TikTok to promote a product, brand, or service. It’s one part of a brand’s larger digital marketing strategy, and entails posting content on social media sites, engaging others in conversation, and, most importantly, building communities. Being able to identity your target audience and also research will take you a long way.
8 Tips to Land Your First Job:
Take a Certified Course
Create an Optimized Resume and LinkedIn Profile
Have a Strong Portfolio
Develop a Social Media Presence
Build Your Network
Pursue an Internship That Transitions Into a Full-Time Job
Consider Agency Jobs
Prepare for Each Interview and Show That You’re Results-Driven
Social media marketing is elevating every year and is one of the largest growing careers. Being motivated, easy to learn, and become engaged. Will allow you to have success in this industry. For more information about social media marketing, go read my colleague Becca's post about them here.
Resources
Don’t miss Tomorrow’s Social Media Industry News. Social Media Today. (n.d.). https://www.socialmediatoday.com/
News. Content Marketing World. (n.d.). https://www.contentmarketingworld.com/category/news/
Your guide to the marketing jungle. Social Media Examiner. (n.d.). https://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/
Comments