Do you remember when social media was considered a flash in the pan? Or a passing trend? Now, a strategic social media strategy is vital to businesses — both large and small — and can drive significant brand lift and ultimately conversions for a company. This increased focus has resulted in a spike in the demand for social media marketing professionals.
Though social media has been around for more than a decade it has evolved to become a legitimate business communication tool.
In our previous blogs discussing social media marketing, we explained how you can prepare for a social media marketing interview and the salary you can expect in the field. In this blog, we will dive further into how you can get started with a career in social media marketing.
Career Paths to Get Started in Social Media Marketing
A professional in this field wears many hats. While some are generalists, others specialize in specific roles. Some of the job roles that you can consider under the umbrella of social media marketing include:
- Community Management
- Marketing Generalist
- Content Marketing
- Brand Strategy
Five Tips to Kickstart your Social Media Marketing Career
Do your Research
Do your research before choosing this field as a career option. Like any other profession, social media also comes with its own nuances. For instance, the role of a social media professional is extremely fluid and requires one to be constantly in touch with the changes happening in the domain. If you want a more steady job then reconsider your choice.
Decide if You’re a Generalist or a Specialist
Decide whether you want to be a generalist or a specialist.
While some companies are hiring generalist social media professionals, for the others it is important to be specialized.
The job role of generalist social media professionals requires them to be jacks of all trades like creative design, customer support, content marketing, brand marketing and of course social media channels. A specialist’s role can vary from specializing in particular social media platforms to different aspects of the field like copywriting, creative design, reputation management etc.
We think the best way is to have a basic understanding of all the popular social media marketing channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Reddit, YouTube, Instagram and build your specialization in any 3-4 platforms.
Practice Content Creation
Creative content creation forms the backbone of social media marketing. Don’t confuse content with only text — content comes in various forms like videos, blogs, infographics, images. Take the time to understand the requirements for every platform and for every content format. For instance, the kind of content that should be posted on on LinkedIn is very different from the short-lived content formats like a tweet or a Instagram story.
Work on Your Personal Branding
If you want to make a career in this field as an independent consultant or a freelancer then personal branding is going to come handy. Sharing your knowledge with a larger audience will help build credibility and support you in your endeavor to be an independent social media professional. One of the best ways of doing this could be to create your own creative social media presence. You can create your own Facebook page, write LinkedIn blogs, create thought leadership content on Twitter or even start a blog to showcase your knowledge of the field.
Learn, Unlearn & Relearn
As mentioned earlier, social media marketing is a very fluid field of work hence it requires constant learning. Learn the latest tools and techniques in order to excel in the field. There are enough online courses that can help you get skilled in the field.
Check out our Digital Marketing Nanodegree program which has a detailed course and a project on the subject to help you keep abreast with the latest trends in social media marketing.
