Social Media is one of the reliable succours that have made businesses boom day by day and gained acknowledgment at the first level. Also, social media marketing is one of the important slices of digital marketing that has been gaining huge popularity. While surfing you come across many advertisements on social media stating new launches or offers, showcasing the brand value and sharing feedbacks as well as appreciations.
Nowadays, the businesses see Social Media as a platform for engaging with consumers and informing them of the latest company news and products as people are consuming social media in their daily chores more than any other online platforms. Moreover, the marketers are blazing trails in the social media marketing sector, creating business’ marketing campaigns that are interactive, shareable and inclusive of the online community. For the most innovative of social media marketers, the focus isn’t only on campaigns, but on letting consumers take the view on thrones as a brand’s social presence.
As social media engagement is a top priority for most companies, they are looking for the right candidates or marketers who know how to use Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and other sites to build their brand and gain market share at the best possible ways. This increased focus often means hiring new, specialized talent to lead innovations in this space. For those who have a keen interest in social media and want to pursue their passion as a career, they need to know and adhere few aspects to be successful in the same. Let’s start with the basics:
What is Social Media Marketing? Who is the ideal Social Media Marketer?
Social Media Marketing refers to the process of gaining traffic and interacting with audiences through social media sites via promotions for business purposes. It is one form of the digital marketing that can be used to reach customers for all the marketing goals like:
- Increase sales leads or new leads
- Build trust through word of mouth
- Provide a genuine feedback
- Develop a reputation as an expert
- Drive traffic to websites
- Discuss and develop new products
- Keep people informed about special events and anything else regarding the business
- Provide proper customer service
By investing only a few hours on social media, over 91% marketers have claimed and accepted the fact that “Social Media Marketing has greatly increased their exposure and always benefited the brand in a positive manner. On its regular execution, it has created a wide audience for business.”
An Ideal Social Media Marketer:
The job is a good fit for those who are naturally social, enjoys creative content creation, believes in thinking out of the box, embraces results/analytics and reporting on metrics to show the value of social media efforts.
What do they do?
Social Media Marketers are responsible for maintaining a brand’s presence and building visibility and customer relationships within the social channels. This encompasses many different activities, ranging from creating social media business profiles to developing posts, from engaging with customers to building relationships with influencers.
How to make a successful career in Social Media Management?
If you have the deep interest in being Social Media and want to get involved in this emerging field, you need to follow these few aspects to claim success in developing the career in social media.
Learn the Basics:
Social Media Marketing is not only about tweeting, sharing and creating memes; there is much more to it. More than 25% of the time spent online on social networks, like Facebook, Twitter, etc. and 60% of buying online occurs based on the reviews that are seen on social media. Therefore, this is a serious discipline to follow. You can learn the basics of social media marketing in Digiperform or you can avail for only short-term Social Media based certifications such as Social Media Marketing Certification offered by various Digital Marketing Training Institutes as well companies.
Explore your Passion for the Job and other Communities:
Once you get enrolled in a company, you need to be more experimental and realistic as well. If you want to succeed in this emerging field, you need to have a real belief in new communication channels, technologies and ways of working. You need to act as a personal advocate for the value that social media can bring to an organization – be it a small, family-owned operation or a corporate one.
Also, you need to create your fan base as well. Make sure that when someone views your profile, you’re also connected to industry experts. The connection plays a big role in the social media career, not only will their expertise add value to your growing skill set, being well-connected is a definite advantage in the social media world. Later, you can use same connections for your professional work as well. There are various sites that make managing these relationships more simple and accessible but make sure you also attend events and seminars to get yourself noticed.
Offer your Skills for Free or Freelancing:
Learning all the social media possibilities and putting them into practice is the most valuable way to prove your proficiency. If you’re starting out on your own or even working somewhere, offer a free social media analysis to a couple of small companies in your industry/region. Get involved where you can with friends’ businesses/personal fronts and document the steps you’ve taken to achieve results, and your success. It will help you to earn extra as well. If you’re already part of a large marketing department, volunteer your skills and time for any internal social media initiatives that are going on whether it’s your project or not.
Learn Advanced Social Media Marketing skills:
Most of the clients definitely know the difference between good and bad social media. You’ll need to learn some advanced skills if you expect to stand out as a skilled social media marketer. These advanced techniques include:
- Optimizing YouTube videos with descriptions, tags, titles, annotations, etc.
- Custom Facebook apps
- Custom Twitter and YouTube headers
- Knowledge of hashtag marketing
- Knowledge of webcasts, Google+ Hangouts, email capture forms, etc.