It’s no wonder that social media is taking over the world in almost every possible way. Now more than ever, we all feel the need to connect with each other and communicate beyond what we used to do. With so many platforms to network, learn, and use, it is clear that every person, and now every business, needs a social marketing guru on staff. The social media landscape evolves daily, and companies and brands need to ensure they have strategies and people in place that can evolve with it.
Since social media marketing is becoming a degree at many colleges, you don’t have to spend that much money to get a job.
If you want to know how, keep reading.
Obviously, you need to be able to navigate all the social media landscapes and have an understanding of what each of them are before you can market a brand or business.
Get started by opening an account with the biggest social media giants: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and the new and growing TikTok. Adopting your own account and interacting with others will allow you to understand the technical side of things.
There is much more to knowing how to “publish”. Probably the most important area of a social media marketer is having a social media strategy. You will be responsible for defining, developing and incorporating your brand through all these channels. It’s very important! The best way to reach your audience or customer is social. You can achieve this as follows:
• Conduct a thorough analysis and research on your competitors – see what they are doing (good and bad).
• Understand your goal. What is your marketing objective? Develop your social media strategy on what you would like to do and what you want your target audience to learn from you or your brand.
• Distinguish the content pillars that will guide your social marketing strategy and then determine which social media platforms will be optimal for those specific strategies.
• Create a designated calendar and plan each post on each channel. This will help you with your overall goal and save you from having to create content every day. (Side note: my favorite desktop app to do this is later.com).
Social media has become a pay-to-play field: if you don’t pay, you’re not playing. While having a social media spending budget is crucial for businesses, it can be challenging to get the best return on your investment when it comes to social media advertising.
Here are some certifications that I recommend you get before spending someone else’s money, plus, they’re free and they look great on your resume.
Facebook Blueprint
It’s great to learn about Facebook Ads and Manager and how to run paid social media with 90+ eLearning courses for Instagram and Facebook. If you’re trying to get any of these certifications, I highly recommend this one.
Hubspot Academy
Very fun courses on organic social media and digital marketing. They also explain the basics of each social media platform and how to use them all. Her blog is also extremely helpful in keeping up to date on new trends.
Google Garage
Learn Google Analytics and more about how to measure the effectiveness of digital marketing through Google.
Neil Patel
Just go and follow it. Let’s go! It teaches you a lot about SEO and content marketing. Many don’t realize this, but your social media posts need SEO help too. You can also analyze your own website for the best SEO optimization.
Social media marketing management is pervasive across all companies with a marketing function. The scope of career paths and diverse range of roles means that whether you are a community manager, content marketer, or media coordinator, social media marketing is a transferable skill that can have an impact on your career or business goals. The best part is that you can learn it all for practically free by taking online courses and getting as much experience as possible.
