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In this day and age, social media manager is an exciting full-time career that lets you work from home and make a living killing.
Unfortunately, the problem is anybody can do it. It’s simple and easy to do.
So, you’ll have to become knowledgeable and passionate about becoming a social media manager before 2021 rings your doorbell if you want to come on top.
Whether you have experience or not, you can become an expert social media manager in no time.
I am a firm believer in on-the-job training and learn as you go, and this is exactly the kind of job that fits the bill.
In my opinion, it is the easiest way to earn money online.
In this article, I will give you some tools and resources to help you get ahead.
Contents
WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA
“forms of electronic communication (such as websites for social networking and microblogging) through which users create online communities to share information, ideas, personal messages, and other content (such as videos)”
In layman’s terms, it’s a place where you talk to other people and share things.
It’s a place where you go daily to see what your friends, family, and colleagues are up to.
It’s a place online where communication takes place between people all over the world.
In today’s modern world, you have to be there.
“More than half of the world now uses social media”
WHAT IS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Businesses exist to make money. Let’s not dance around this.
We are all in the business of making money.
Social media manager has to grow the client’s business, convert leads, and make money for their client.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER JOB DESCRIPTION
As a social media manager you are responsible for:
1. Getting to know the brand
Understanding the brand voice helps you choose your managing strategy. There is no one strategy that fits all.
2. Help choose the right social media channels for your client
Different businesses have different needs (YouTube channel, a blog, an e-commerce website). Find out what their online presence is currently and where they want to go.
3. Help choose the goal of social media management
What is the objective of running social media channels?
Is it to just post content online so that everybody can see, or is it to get clicks to a specific website service to capture leads?
Those are different goals that require different managing strategies. Social media manager needs to know the client’s goals so he can set everything in place.
You have to post online content that is strategic and goal-driven.
4. Define your audience
It is important to know exactly who is on the other side of the screen.
That’s how you will know what content to make. Are you trying to entertain or educate?
In any case, what you put online has to be engaging for your target audience.
“Social media users are now spending an average of 2 hours and 24 minutes per day multi networking across an average of 8 social networks and messaging apps.”
5. Research
Study your competition. See what they’re doing, find what you like, and try to use it as inspiration for your own content. You can see what platforms the competition is using, how often they are posting, and what kind of content works best.
Do this often, whenever you’re writing a calendar or a campaign.
Think about your drawbacks, what needs to be corrected and improved, and implement new strategies.
6. Plan
Plan and manage content that is going to be put on social media platforms. Write and schedule posts. Create a calendar of what’s going online and when it is going to happen.
Try to pick the best time when people are going to be the most engaging. Decide what pictures to choose, what videos to put up along the articles, and write meaningful email newsletters.
If you’re using multiple platforms, think about exclusivity — posting unique content on each platform.
Facebook users (2.50 billion according to the latest statistics) deserve different content than Instagram followers. TikTok has 800 million monthly active users.
Plan effective and unique marketing strategies to capture some of these users.
7. Captions
You can’t just post pictures online without a proper send-off. You need to think about captions carefully because they matter. Look at your competition and how they design their captions. Captions can be very short, lengthy, a quote, a joke, or a call to the website.
Study what is effective and implement it in your social media marketing strategy.
8. Post
Posting content is only a fraction of your workday.
An expert social media manager answers to comments and messages posted by the audience. You are also a moderator. Monitor what goes on and intervene.
Make sure you always respond to inquiries. Your job is to write engaging comments and share them.
There is also a darker side to being a social media manager. You have to prevent spams, remove it, flag, or block it.
9. Tracking engagement and conversions
There are a lot of tools available to make sure you’re using techniques that are actually working.
Make sure you are using Google Analytics and Facebook pixel.
You can get reports and analytics about the best times to post, what content is performing the best, demographics analysis.
As a social media manager, you can track how many people are viewing and what posts, what is the conversion rate, how many comments there are, etc. Tracking analytics helps you determine what is working and what is not.
Make sure things are optimized. Test to see what’s working and adjust your plan and calendar accordingly. Analytics point to successful methods so the content creators can steer in that direction.
One thing that can help you is that you should become an expert communicator. You should be on your phone religiously.
You should understand where people are paying attention, whether it’s Tik Tok or LinkedIn.
Become consumer-centric. Just watch, observe, and pay attention to what people are doing. It’s all there.
10. Run ads
You can learn how to do ads, or work with an advertising agency that specializes in ads.
This can’t be avoided if you want to reach a lot of people fast. You gotta spend money, to make money.
WHO CAN BECOME SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
Anybody. You don’t need experience, a college degree, or a certificate.
A certificate will help you stand out, but it isn’t essential.
I do recommend becoming a Microsoft Advertising Certified Professional.
Firstly, it’s free. Secondly, it’s free. Thirdly, it’s Microsoft.
Another great (and free) option is Google Analytics for Beginners.
Many other platforms offer courses (some free) where you can learn great things and earn a certificate on the way.
What you really need to have to become an expert social media manager is a lot of time and enthusiasm.
If you like to connect with people, socialize online, this is the perfect job for you.
It helps if you’re a younger generation already used to handling many platforms. But, this shouldn’t stop older generations because they have the valuable life experience behind them.
HOW TO BECOME A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
You can start by managing successfully your own social media platforms. Then, move to a friend’s social media. You should approach anybody from your close circle who owns a business.
If you don’t want to mix family and business, which is understandable, you can turn to social media. Ask for help from many Facebook groups.
You can simply post online that you want to gain some experience in this field and are trying to find any client. You can offer a free trial to attract attention.
You can even offer your services for free to a business if you think that’ll get you more clients in the future. It’s a great strategy when you’re still learning and making mistakes.
If you are a beginner social media manager, you should offer your services for free for a limited period of time. How much time you will be willing to work for free is entirely up to you. Honestly, I never recommend working for free, but this is what I call an investment in the future.
Your aim is to build a portfolio that you can show to potential clients in the future. After a few months, you can go back to that Facebook group to say thanks, and add that you have helped a client go from 0 to 5000 followers.
Mention that you have some free time in your schedule and then, some of the entrepreneurs will become interested and that’s how you can grow.
When you have proof of success, you can build a business and offer your services as a successful, valuable social media manager.
Another way to go about finding clients is by posting an ad on online job platforms like Fiverr and Upwork. There is also a possibility of answering an ad posted on those sites and landing a client.
WHAT SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS TO USE
Some social media marketers swear by hitting the big 4: Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
If you belong to the younger generation, the chances are you have already used all of these platforms for personal use, and you know how they work.
As a quick reminder, let me highlight the best about each social media platform.
Instagram is fantastic for images, it is very visual and creative.
Facebook is great because of its reach. Still, a lot of people use it on daily basis. Its Share feature can help you with reaching a massive audience, especially if you go viral.
Facebook ads are another attractive option when you want to reach more people.
LinkedIn is like a version of Facebook for business professionals, mostly male.
Twitter usage is on the decline, but still relevant. It is great for real-time news, but less efficient for marketing campaigns when compared to other platforms.
Pinterest can be successful for some clients. It is a highly visual platform, where users (mostly women) pin images and make collections.
You don’t have to be everywhere from the start. It’s time-consuming, I understand.
But you do need to pick a platform and stick with it. And be good at it.
TV, radio, and newspapers are out, and Facebook, Instagram stories, YouTube, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Snapchat are in.
“30-second spots on TV are bad,
I think 5-second pictures and 8-second videos on TikTok are good.
3-minute and 19-second little docuseries on YouTube, Facebook, Instagram
are good because they’re being deployed against places
where people are actually watching it.”
Gary Vee
It doesn’t matter if it’s an old platform or a new one that won’t exist in a couple of years from now. All that matters is now. You have to become an expert social media manager in today’s communication.
“Striking a platform while it’s hot.
It’s the message, not the medium.”
Gary Vee
Diversify as much as you can. You need to be everywhere. Don’t get caught in one platform because it may go stagnate, or lose its appeal with the audience.
If TikTok disappears, the audience will have to go somewhere else. You need to be prepared ahead. Have a Facebook account waiting and adjust when changes happen.
SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER SALARY
How much money can you make as a social media manager?
I asked this question on Glassdoor, and the average salary is $50,473 / yr in the US.
It all depends on you — how much you can charge, how many and what type of clients you have. Salaries for a social media manager usually range from $300 to $1000 per month.
Obviously, if you are a highly successful social media manager and have famous clients, your salary can skyrocket.
How to set up Pricing?
When you enter into a pricing negotiation, offer a few packages. Your basic model can cover a few things for the least amount of money. Entry-level social media manager can post only once a week on Facebook, for example.
Also, have a medium package and a premium one which you will be always recommending. It offers the most (list all the items) and will provide the best results.
IMPORTANT SOCIAL MANAGING SKILLS
Learn all about the social media platforms you are using
Learn how to post content, how to engage the audience, how to use hashtags, how to DM people, how to use Story highlights, how to post on the story, etc. The expert social media manager is a know-it-all.
Learn all about the social media platforms you are not using
Don’t underestimate TikTok. It’s now mostly used by fifteen-year-olds, but it’s rapidly gaining in popularity, so who knows what will happen.
It’s your job, as a social media manager, to always keep your other eye on new emerging platforms.
Learn how to design graphics
If you are WFH, an online-based social media manager, you will not go into your client’s business and take photos. You are not a photographer after all.
Sometimes, the client will provide you with some photos, but it will never be enough.
Nice-looking graphics will get you more audience.
You need to be able to design a nice-looking post with a quote incorporating the company’s logo, for example. This will allow you to be more self-reliant not having to bother the client to constantly send you images.
If you are not interested in learning another skill, you can hire a graphic designer yourself. You can find one on Fiverr or Upwork for cheap, and pay him/her out of your pocket.
This will improve your quality of work.
Other Social Media Manager skills
Some other SMM skills are video editing, copywriting, and creating pins (boards) on Pinterest.
HOW TO IMPROVE YOUR BUSINESS
Learn from your mistakes
Find a mentor in real life or someone from an online community you can learn from. You can follow Gary Vee and watch his YouTube videos for guidance and inspiration.
I learned a lot from Desiree Martinez and her new book. Both Gary Vee and Desiree have an unfiltered approach and are fun people. You will enjoy Gary’s book — Crushing it!
Join a Social Media Managers Facebook group
Join the community of social media managers and learn from your peers.
On Facebook, you can gain valuable knowledge, share your own experiences, comment, ask for advice, and give advice to someone just starting out.
The second best thing about this group — it’s free.
Build a portfolio you can showcase
Register in detail every success you can show to future clients. Proven case studies can persuade better and show what you can do for somebody’s business.
Build your own website
You have to market your services as an expert Social Media Manager to future clients. If you have problems building a website, please check out my article about WordPress on Workooze.
Start small if you are a beginner
Focus on the local restaurants and small mom and pop shops because most of them don’t really have a lot of social media presence and they often don’t know how to do it.
Don’t be afraid to reach out to them first. Don’t forget to do your research first and come prepared.
Show them exactly what you can do for them — increase their revenue and their follower count, for example. Also, be specific about how much it will cost.
If you are on Instagram, you can find new clients just scrolling through Instagram feed using a hashtag and the name of your city. Scroll down to find brands you can connect with and reach out to.
It is much easier to do social media marketing if you can relate to the company.
According to HubSpot‘s latest State of Marketing Report, more than 67% of brands are implementing Account-based Marketing in 2020. If you’re interested, HubSpot is a great place to find expert advice and learn about the latest marketing trends.
There are plenty of opportunities for freelancers, developing your own business, and being your own boss.
There are also opportunities for working for other marketing companies and having a boss.
TOP MISTAKES BEGINNER SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGERS MAKE
1. Not giving your audience what they want
If you feed them only what you like, what you think is relevant, you will not get their attention.
Read comments from your audience. People will tell you themselves.
You don’t have to be creative or start guessing.
2. Not replying to comments
You have to become religious about your audience. It is considered negligent when social media manager doesn’t reply with at least a thank you, or a heart emoji.
You should always write a meaningful reply if you can.
3. Selling lies
Truth sells. Whoever thinks that — Fake it, till you make it — is still real, is wrong. There are so many posers, inflating their content which is counter-productive.
If you are promoting your un-authentic self, you are aiming for short-term success.
You will start losing soon because the audience won’t like for long what you’re putting out. Long-term success can be achieved only through honesty, kindness, and good doing.
It’s karma.
4. Not seeing the big picture
What is going on right now? Do you know? Are you on top of the game?
Don’t get stuck in the past. What worked yesterday, doesn’t have to be successful today.
Who knows what the future holds? If TikTok is here to stay or go, is anybody’s guess.
Focus on what you know is certain and true for today’s market. Leave the speculating to others.
DISADVANTAGES OF BECOMING A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER
- The social media landscape is ever-changing. You can’t relax. This is definitely not a traditional occupation.
- Algorithm changes. What strategies worked before doesn’t mean they’ll work again. It is hard to predict how many new followers you will gain if you are not sure this platform will stay.
- Fussy audience. Tastes change quickly. Trends come and go. It is hard to predict what will please the audience best.
- Difficult to keep up (and keep your sanity). Again, trends change too quickly.
- The social media world is noisy. You have to be able to cut through the noise and find a way to stand out.
- Social media platforms are too consuming. Your job is to follow and study various platforms. You will spend hours and hours in from of the screen just consuming other people’s content. It’s draining.
- Social media involves being social. You will constantly have to communicate with other people. If you get a hundred messages, you will have to find the time to respond to all of them. The goal is not to leave just an emoji, but to respond meaningfully, open a conversation, or lead the audience to your site.
- You are glued to the screen. You will constantly have a phone and laptop on, always checking what’s new.
CONCLUSION
Social media industry is booming right now and this is the perfect time to jump into it.
There are tons of resources online that can help you even if you’re a beginner.
I want you to have a killer 2021, and not get discouraged by a lot of work involving the social media manager job.
If you have any questions, write a comment below and we’ll make things happen together.