How to Become a Social Media Manager in 2023

Relevance of Social Media in Business:

Social media has become the most powerful tool which has become relevant especially in today’s times wherein people across all age groups are constantly glued to it and are active on it throughout the day.

On average 3.5 billion people use social media aggressively, nearly 90% of big brands are using social media and 77% expect its use to increase.

Irrespective of being acquainted with this it is interesting to know that 50% of small businesses aren’t using social media, and an additional 25% don’t plan to use social media in the future either.

Social media as a powerful source of the medium can give many long-term benefits to connect with consumers which can help to promote a brand and its services, attract new customers, retain existing loyal customers, and increase sales.

About Social Media Manager:

“Social media manager” in layman terms is a person who manages a company’s social media accounts such as Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube, Pinterest, Snapchat & Google Plus accounts.

 

To elaborate further, he is a person who writes posts and engaging content on social media(creates or posts shareable videos and images), promotes the brand on the social media by running ads, monitors social media platforms, and responds to audience comments on the posts, manages social media partnership with other brands.

According to a 2018 Global Web Index Study, 40% of digital consumers use social media as a tool when researching for products, and hence having the right resource to handle social media accounts, the right posts will definitely catch the eye of the users.

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Eligibility Criteria to Become Social Media Manager

EDUCATION:

A bachelor’s degree is mandatory for someone to become a social media manager, though a company doesn’t look for any specific qualifications as such. A degree with a focus on areas like communications, public relations, business, and journalism are particularly important and have an edge over others. A master’s degree in internet marketing is a great value add.

TOP COLLEGES TO PURSUE DEGREE AS A SOCIAL MEDIA MANAGER 

• Indian Institute of Management (Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Indore, Kozhikode)
• MICA (Ahmedabad)
• Indian School of Business (Hyderabad)
• National Institute of Securities Markets, Navi Mumbai
• Bharathiar University(Coimbatore)

EXPERIENCE: Working experience is considered as the greatest asset as in any other field and will always have greater weightage for a person applying than a fresher one. Therefore, completing an internship is always recommended. A fresher in this field can apply for a junior level/assistant profile, or he can always get part-time job opportunities/internship opportunities. There are many additional certification programs also available like Hub spot Academy Social media certification, HootSuite Social Marketing certification, etc. to and gain in-depth knowledge and to keep one updated about the latest advancements in this field 

Skills Required to Become a Social Media Manager

For someone who’s a fresher one needs to keep in mind to have the following essential basic skills such as:- 

• Grammar– Language is the main foundation or basic foundation, so as a social media manager, you need to rule out any grammatical mistakes or errors, correct grammar ensures that the reader will continue to read your post flawlessly and will have lower bounce rates.

• Research – Content is the main reason search begins in the first place. It’s the best sales tool in the world. In addition to adding your own content, it’s important to know the source from where you can get additional content that can add great value to the post.

• Time management – Time management is the most important, you can have great content but if you can’t finish it within the stipulated time it won’t give enough confidence to your client. 

• Great customer service– Since it’s a service-related industry it’s important to treat customers with the utmost respect at all times. The end consumers need a quick response these days they don’t like to wait for one or two days. They like their concerns or questions addressed as soon as possible. That’s why people opt for social media channels as a result. Any good compliment or comment on a service or product needs a special acknowledgment as well.

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Additional ways to become a social media manager are as follows:-

1.Build your own Profiles on social media: 

It’s important to have one’s presence on various social media platforms, that’s the best place to learn by creating one’s own profile. Start creating your own profiles on most accessed social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Twitter, Pin interest. This is the most vital touchpoint to connect with potential clients in the future. There are many courses available online which are free of cost which covers the basics of social media like Hoot suite, Constant Contact, and Buffer. Training offered by these tools is the latest and updated and also enlightens on best practices on social media.

2. Create a Website : 

Creating a website is essential so that your clients know more about you and have your contact information and list of service packages that are offered by you. Once your site is ready start promoting it on social media.

3. Make an online portfolio:

It’s crucial to have your online portfolio of websites that can play a key role in getting hired wherein they can clearly know your talent, your interests which can enhance your resume indefinitely.

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4. Customer focus:

Customer focus is one of the most indispensable qualities that one needs to have to become a social media manager or in any service-related industry. It’s important to have a deep understanding of your customer, his needs or requirements, what’s in it for him when you are posting something. Understanding customer care and adding a personal touch when responding to social media will definitely help to create an emotional connection between the buyer and the brand.

5. Writing:

Writing is a very important skill that will help your message to reach across to people via social media.

The best social media managers are excellent copywriters who represent the brand’s voice on social media. It becomes so very relevant to establish an emotional connection with the audience from eye-catching ad copy to a striking one-liner.

The most effective writers know how to tailor their writing according to different audiences. For e.g., you can go on writing for Instagram captions, but the most effective length for Instagram captions is between 138-150 characters.

The ability to write well-articulated mails in clear language, effectively present your ideas in a presentation will definitely leave a long-lasting impression.

Important tools to improve writing:-

• Hemingway Editor: This website and app can be used to create impactful social media posts 

• Merriam-Webster’s Twitter feed: You can broaden your vocabulary and get to know the difference between similarly used words.

6. Social media expertise: 

This is a necessary needed skill especially if you are planning to work at a large company.

You need to know what type of content works best on which platform, have an understanding of how to optimize your content, the ability to keep the audience engaged through social media posts.

7. SEO Knowledge:

SEO has a profound impact on social media strategy. It always has to be kept in mind before posting content on social media which will enable you to drive large traffic to your post leading to more potential customers. When you combine SEO and social media you need to ensure that promoting content on social media will get increased ranking in the SERPs and driving traffic to the company’s website will eventually impact the company’s revenue. 

8. Data Analysis:

Social media managers need to look at the data and analyze the same more frequently.

Just looking at your data won’t help but it is important to identify trends and accordingly communicate the plan of action to the particular stakeholders. The analysis helps to bring something solid and valuable to the concerned stakeholders. The following are the resources suggested below to build your analytical skills in the form of webinars or marketing series:- 

• Index webinar: In this webinar, they have spoken of how to use social data to communicate your business impact 

• Data-driven marketing series: Adapt series on data-driven marketing will help you to learn how to build a culture, team, and data pipeline for success.

• #SproutChat with Joe Wadlington of Twitter: This will help you to learn qualitative and quantitative data.

9.Basics of Graphic Designing: 

Graphic designing is not necessary for social media managers but having basic skills in graphic designing will go a long way for the engagement of the audience. It’s essential to know the basics of using tools like Canva or Buffer.

It will help you in two ways 

• Create unique gifs or memes to establish a brand connection amongst customers 
• To analyze the work of the graphic designing team 

  10. Creativity:

Accomplishing your goal with some creativity will go a long way to grab the attention of the audience. For e.g., Amul is a brand which is there since 1948 and Amul butter is popular in not only regional but also local markets. It has the ability to connect people from all across the age groups emotionally. They create interesting one-liners and talk about the news that affects the masses. This has led to a significant boost in the engagement level for each post.

You should always be able to bring new ideas to the table to increase the engagement level with each post.

11. Visual Intelligence:

Visual content is very crucial and the right gif or photo can gain maximum views on each social network. It’s essential to have a general knowledge of design so that you can create visually appealing graphics that can complement your posts. Adding video is a key component, and it’s important to have knowledge about social video trends, and how they can be used on various social media networks. 

Adapting visual content ultimately results in more clicks and leads. 

For example in an A/B test, they researched on tweets with links and tweets with links and images and found that tweets with links and images created a significant increase in the number of clicks and subsequently resulted in 55% more leads.

12. Learning:

Learning is a continuous process, so to be a successful social media manager one needs to be an ardent learner. Social media is constantly changing, so one needs to keep learning to stay ahead of the curve by being well versed with the latest tools, have the know-how of the competition and tricks of the social media trade.

There are many best and popular social media software options available, such

as social media management and social media marketing, many of these products offer free trials which help gain knowledge about social analytics

and content tracking.

Give your clients the best: For example, when you create a video for your client present it in the best possible way by using targeted keywords, tags, titles, and closed captions.

Customizing social sites: You should be well-versed with adding custom Facebook tabs, Twitter headers, and customize thumbnails & rock the world of hashtags.

13. Agility:

It’s important to be agile and adapt to newer trends, opportunity, or crisis which is an indispensable social skill. You need to constantly learn from the data, listen to the feedback, and keep a pulse on social trends will help make a more Agile social media manager.

14. Communication: 

Communicating effectively and confidently is the most important skill required in any aspect of life whether it’s communicating with clients or with your boss or team. 

Communicating with end consumers not only via writing, but by using emojis, video, GIFs, pictures, and stickers to get the message across in a clear, and concise way.

Communicating with your boss and team: It’s important to communicate effectively with your boss, peers, and collaborators across teams. It is particularly important to speak to any internal stakeholder about social media strategy and the impact of the same to move the business forward is one of the most important skills any social media professional can develop

15.Manage your time: 

Managing time on various social media posts like Facebook, Twitter, Google Plus, and YouTube can take a lot of time and you can’t afford to waste time.

 It’s important to have systems in place and organize tasks like creating blog posts, creating tweets, Facebook posts, creating images for Pin interest in such a way that you finish tasks in a timely manner. The best possible system that will work for you since there is a countless number of system in place that is available.

Creating a social calendar will help you to stay organized and finish tasks on time.

16. Find Clients: 

Online –

You need to know where your potential clients spend time online, accordingly distribute content, and start conversations which will enable to attract clients to your website.

Offline–

You should attend networking functions like webinars, and other industry events. Be prepared for well-designed business cards with the profile image you use online.

   17. Take up volunteer work to add to work experience 

Considering doing volunteer work for non-profit organizations like NGOs or schools by managing their social media accounts. This will enable you to get valuable experience.

Working for a noble cause will go a long way to getting a job as a social media manager.

      18. Activate Mobile View For Website 

When your mobile view is active, the visitor of the website who is using a phone or tablet will see a mobile-friendly version.

When the mobile view is deactivated, your visitors will always see a desktop version irrespective of the device they are using.

In addition to it, when the mobile view is enabled it improves your SEO ranking and is user-friendly for the visitors.

You can manage the mobile view from the Mobile view editor and the Mobile preview screen. You can then locate a toggle to enable or disable it in the bottom left corner.

19. Set your rates:

Charging for work will depend on many factors such as degree, experience, and will vary from market to market. You can take a rough estimate on how much your competitors charge, and accordingly take a call on whether you should charge more or less than they do.

Make it easy so that the client can pay you quickly and easily. Use the best money systems which can be used without any hassles.

Create successful proposals – Learn how to create social media management proposals that will get you to contract every time.

Job Opportunities as a Social Media Manager:

As a social media manager, you can be employed in various MNCs, brand management firms, media houses, start-ups, advertising agencies, IT firms, digital marketing agencies. The best way to land an ideal job is to start following the companies which you admire on social media sites and by building an impressive social media profile which will go a long way in landing the dream job.

Our Social Media Managers in Demand?

There is a huge demand for social media managers in India because of the passionate use of social media platforms. It is not only the most sought-after position in India, but they are ample opportunities available in the US as well. Most of the companies are strong advocates of using social media for which they do hire social media managers.

Pay Scale of Social Media Managers:

A fresher in this field can start with 2 lakhs per annum and the sky is no limit with this profession they can go up to earning 30 lakhs per year. Payscale indicates that for the job of a social media manager the rating is 3.8 on 5 which is a highly satisfying rating.

Books/Guides to become social media managers:

Learning is a very crucial step to becoming a social media manager. Some books mentioned below can be a great value add to your knowledge in the field of social media

• The Art of Social Media by Guy Kawasaki & Peg Fitzpatrick 

• Social Media marketing book: How to use social media for business by Jason McDonald 

• Likable social media by Dave Kerpen 

• One million followers (How I built a massive social following in 30 days) 

• Epic Content Marketing by Joe Pulizzi

• The New Rules of Marketing & PR by David Meerman Scott 

• Everybody writes by Ann Handley 

• The Zen of Social Media Marketing by Shama Hyder

• Instagram Power: Build your brand and Reach More Customers with Power of Pictures by Jason Miles.

How to Become a Social Media Managers (Key Takeaways)

Ask yourself – 

• Do you naturally have social media skills?
• Do you love helping other people?

 Build your own social platform –

• Build your own social media profile
•  Market Yourself 

 Finding Clients –

• Online Research
• Offline Networking 

Managing Time –

• Avoid Time Suck Syndrome
• Gather your Power Systems 

Managing your money 

• Charge what you’re worth 
• Create winning proposals

Learning Advanced Marketing Tasks 

•  SEO & Beyond 
• Customizing social sites 

About Social Media Marketing Manager

It has become a multi-faceted role, which requires a lot of skills, but the rule of thumb is to have a strong passion for social media.

It’s one of the best jobs which involves engaging with people on social media and creating content which you love.

Just to summarize the Pros of becoming a social media manager there are many like you are getting paid for what you love doing that is accessing social media sites like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter. It’s a highly rewarding career with the right skills you can earn a huge sum of money, there are ample opportunities to work as a full-time social media manager but you can even work as a freelancer as well.

The cons of becoming a social media manager are that even if you have the right skills, you will still have a lot of work to do. Though there are ample opportunities many people have started opting for it making it a highly competitive field. Being a highly competitive field requires you to sharpen your skills and keep learning which at times can be a task for some but it will definitely be beneficial at every stage of the career.