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How to Become a Social Media Manager

by Oct 21, 2020

The role of social media managers is always evolving with the latest trends in the market. They have to have an analytical thinking approach.

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It does not end here. A social media manager has the responsibility to maintain the brand image among the followers. Sharing the future plans, marketing announcements, new product launches, any other business or product-related information, posting on behalf of the business just for the customer engagement, and replying to the comments and messages come under the responsibilities of a social media manager.

Is this the Right Career For You?

How do you know if this is the right side gig for you? You can be a student, a homemaker, or a working professional who is considering starting a side gig in free time to make a few hundred extra bucks. Before jumping into this profession, ask few questions to yourself.

  • Are you very much active on different Social Media Channels?
  • Do you love to follow the latest trends and hashtags?
  • If you know and follow the top of the line internet influencers and observe their actions?
  • Do you understand how things work on social media?
  • Understand trolling and memes?

If the answer to these questions is yes, then you can go ahead with this career option. There is so much to learn before you get started. We will help you understand every in and out of social media manager. So follow along, please.

How Much Money a Social Media Manager Can Make?

This is very a important question everyone wants to know before getting into any kind of gigs to make a passive income. According to Glassdoor and PayScale average yearly salary for this career option varies from $50,000 to $60,000. So is this a high paying job? Yes, it is.

The figures mentioned are for a job only, not for a business. If you as a freelancer can get the premium clients, then you can even make it up to 6 figures every year. Getting hired by those big and premium brands is a big challenge because for that you will need Pro-Level skills and knowledge.

I suggest starting with a job with some organization. Once you have a hold on this, you can always go on with your own business. 

Professional Tools to Help a Social Media Manager

Let me make it very clear friends. This job is not easy at all. You have to put a lot of time and energy to gain the knowledge required to handle this work efficiently. I am listing some critical and must-have skills for a social media manager.

Google Analytics

As a social media manager, you will have to understand many things. Things related to the traffic to your website mainly.

  • From where the traffic is coming to your website or brand page
  • Most visited posts
  • Most engaging content
  • Source of the traffic if it is organic or paid
  • The age group of the followers
  • Demographic details
  • Time spent by users

You see the diversity here. An SSM needs to understand this very well to plan future strategies.

Google Analytics is like a lifeline here. You can have very detailed information about all the parameters and use it for reporting purposes also. All your campaign results are there. You need the ability to analyze data from Google Analytics Tool.

Google Keyword Planner

Social media managers have to handle SEO as well. And I am sure you know that SEO cannot be managed without a good knowledge of Keywords. You will be doing lots of keyword research to improve the organic ranking of your website.

Google’s Keyword Planner is one of the best tools available for keyword research. It will be helpful if you just understand how keywords work. So better start learning this immediately.

Google Trends

Google knows everything. You must have heard it eventually. It is because Google has established itself in such a position that it internet seems incomplete without it. That is why Google Trends exist. It will let you know what is being searched in and around each search terms. You will need to have the skills to use it and analyze this data to improve the performance of your next ad campaigns, and to maximize the reach.

Social Media Management Tools

If we talk about the top-of-the-line social media platforms, the number would be around 10, and all work differently. Social medial tools like Hootsuite, Buffer, BuzzSumo, Sprout Social, and Sendible, etc. can help you manage social media accounts across the platform. You can choose as per your budget and requirement. You may find it easy to schedule your posts in advance as most of the social accounts offer this service. Having either of the tools by your side is an added advantage.

Personal Skills a Social Media Manager need to Develop

Inter-personal skills that will keep you on the top of the competition.

Analytical Thinking

You will have to analyze the data provided by all those social media tools. These tools can just fetch the data from your website or social media account. However, the analytical calculation stays with you. You have to process the data to understand the reason for reasonably low or high traffic on some posts. An analytical think approach is necessary for a social media manager.

Communication Skills

Another very important requirement, not just in this segment but everywhere. Day-to-day interaction within the teams, with clients, publishers, and followers is very obvious in every business. Strong communication skills hold the power to direct the instructions. So better, start working on it now.

Creativity

There are thousands of people around you who are already dominating the market as a social media business partner and they are also using the same tools. If you just follow the common approach, you will never be able to make it to the top. Rather, study the patterns and strategies used by your competitors, not to follow the same, but to do some brainstorming sessions so that you can develop a more effective plan for your growth.

Learn and Adapt to Changes

In the digital world, things change like anything. One campaign may not work for you but the other campaign, with different kinds of images, words may click to the users. Be ready to tilt your thoughts as and when required because that is the key to survival.

Visually Sound

It is related to the graphics and images. What kind of graphics are required for different products, the color scheme for a particular campaign or post. You will be managing these things very frequently things.

Writing Skills

To be honest, this business requires a lot of writing. So be prepared for that. Improve your writing skills. Take help from Grammarly. Learn how to write for different platforms. On Instagram, you can be funny or some funky tone but for LinkedIn,  a rather professional summary would be needed.

How to Become a Social Media Manager

Now you are well aware of the challenges, and professional requirements for this job or business. Let’s proceed further.

1. Choose a Platform

For the start, start with just one social media platform. You can go ahead with Facebook, Instagram, or even Pinterest. Why this is a better idea to start with just once a social media channel.

Because first, you will need to sharpen your skills. Things you have read will be tested here. You just have to be a pro if you really want to see yourself as a successful social media guru. So choose well.

2. Create a Website

This will be more like a personal portfolio. Share this with clients you want to work with. Put links of your social media accounts so that the clients can go through your social profiles and see how you manage certain accounts with a huge fan following.

3. Your Social Media Presence

You need to have a very good presence across social media channels with a very good number of followers. This is going to be a key factor to gain some clients initially. You will handle their social media accounts, so if you are already managing your social accounts with maximum followers, it will be easy for them to lend you their social media accounts.

4. Reach out to Clients

If you do not reach clients, you may never get a client. Competition is there and we have to deal with it. The best possible way is to reach clients is to make the first move. It is like creating a requirement for yourself. You never know who is struggling to manage their social profile and you just offered them a lifeline. So just, reach out to the clients and share your digital profile with them.

That will not be all. There is still more to do. Check this out.

  • Before approaching a client, understand his business, his presence on social media, and social strategy. This will help you to modify your approach for work.  The same you do for your target audience.
  • Put extra efforts into your digital profile. The first impression is key. Add your all clients to your portfolio. This will help to portray a very professional and strong image for your work.
  • Keep contacting the new clients, even if you do not receive any reply from them. And for clients, who offered you work, serve well so that they can come back, and even refer you on their network.

Is it hard to become a Social Media Manager?

I will use the word “challenging” to define this job or business, whatever you want to start. It is not any rocket science but it is also not that easy at the same time. As I said, no business is easy. No even selling the fruits.

You will have to learn a lot. However, in the end, the rewards will be very encouraging. This is not a lazy kind of job. The very nature of this specific segment is fast changing. Therefore, just keep the learn and adapt mode on.

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