The role of social media marketing is one for which there are significant demands all across the world. Anyone who is creative, highly organized, and passionate about social media can become Social media marketer.
You may wonder how you can become a successful social media marketer with the skills the companies are looking for. A skilled and professional social media marketer is sought after by a range of companies, and with experience, a professional can be a well-paid career path. Although a career in this field may occasionally be demanding, requiring you to meet organizational KPIs, it can also be a gratifying career. If you are creative and have a good command of the language, perhaps social media marketing is the career route for you.
What is social media marketing?
A social media marketer may work within an organization’s marketing department, helping to plan and implement online marketing strategies for products and services. Alternatively, you may find work within a digital marketing agency or even pursue a freelancer.
Everyday regular tasks and duties of a social media marketer may include:
- Collaborating with the broader marketing team and external agencies when needed
- Building and maintaining a solid brand presence digitally
- Identifying trends and insights informed about developments in the world of social media.
- Building and maintaining the brand’s social media presence
- Creating and managing content to be shared on social media
- Planning and implementing campaigns across a variety of social platforms.
When we talk about how much a social media marketer earns, it depends on your experience level. An entry-level social media marketer may make something around $18000 to $2500 per annum. As an experienced professional, you may earn a higher salary, about $50000 per annum, depending on the industry you are employed in.
Is social media marketing a promising career?
Yes, social media marketing is good and trending nowadays across the country. If you enjoy sharing and building content for a growing community, social media platforms are great. There are always new trends, new algorithms to master, and new experiments to try to incorporate into the story of your brand.
But remember that this role wants you to spend a considerable amount of your time on social media platforms including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. For people naturally inclined to use social media, this is the perfect and best profile to start as a career option. However, spending so much time in the virtual world can sometimes be overwhelming, and many people find themselves engaging themselves on a screen to ensure a healthy work-life balance.
There is the potential for a lot of fun interactions on social media. If your post gets viral or you grow a large enough audience to become an influencer in your community, you have the opportunity to impact a lot of people.
You will also be able to experiment with more creative sides by creating content. As a professional social media marketer, you will also have a lot of growth within the marketing sector.
Is social media marketing trending in 2022?
Social media marketing is trending worldwide, as many companies have understood the benefits of using local internet marketing tactics and cost-effective social media sites. Digital platforms such as Facebook, Reddit, and more help companies directly communicate with their customers and build long-lasting relationships with them.
Company owners from various industries are working on new strategies to incorporate the digital world into their daily business tasks. Different universities and institutes are starting educational programs on social media marketing. From years 2011 to 2016, social media and other digital marketing roles grew about 30% faster than overall marketing.
Difference between Social medial marketing (SMM) and Social media optimization (SMO)
Social media marketing (SMM) and Social media optimization (SMO) has been two fascinating topics for discussion in the digital sphere. Both these terms are the two essential pillars of what er called Digital marketing. But people still have confusion about each of them, such as their purpose and impact.
Among the various means, SMM and SMO are the two impactful marketing sources built upon many strategies and tools, which differ significantly. At the same time, these two terms seem so identical to each other, their real meaning and purpose.
So the clear difference between SMO and SMM is that SMO refers to the optimization of social media sites’ profiles. On the other hand, Social media marketing (SMM) is the practice of engaging with customers on social media platforms to develop businesses, boost sales, and improve website traffic.
What education is required to be a social media marketer?
People to become social media marketers must meet the minimum eligibility criteria, including:
Education- There is no specified qualification is requires to start a career in social media marketing. But some companies prefer their candidates to have a bachelor’s or master’s degree. People who have a degree in business management, media, PR, digital marketing, or marketing can apply for the job as a social media manager.
Skills- Apart from education, you should also have some additional skills to qualify for a job in this role. Some of these skills may include:
- Project management skills
- Problem-solving skills
- Interpersonal skills
- IT skills
- Customer service
- Creativity
- Analytics
- Communication skills
- Time management
- Technical ability
Experience- Companies often consider working experience as necessary as a degree. If you are a fresher to this profile, then you can apply as an assistant or junior level profile before applying for a material level. Various companies offer part-time and internship opportunities to candidates.
How much money can you make as a social media marketer?
For an entry-level job profile in social media marketing, primarily freshers apply. Often, a company hires interns who have graduated from college and completed their short-term digital marketing course. People have domain knowledge but lack experience, which they can gain during their internship or training. It is an entry-level job that can help you establish your career in social media marketing.
The expected salary for the social media executive role begins from 3.3 lakh per annum, i.e., around 20000 to 30000 rupees per month. As you gain experience in this profile, your pay will increase.
The salary of a social media marketer depends on various factors, such as experience, employer, and location. Like other social media careers, the demand for social media marketers is constantly rising.
A social media specialist can earn around 4.7 lakh per annum. After getting good experience in this profile, you can also get promoted to social media manager. At the same time, a social media manager can earn around 5.6 lakh per annum. Their starting salary of them is around 5 lakh per year, but a seasoned professional can reach about 7.5 lakh per year.
Jobs in social media marketing
Here is an organizational social media position title. The 6 significant levels of social media positions are:
- Chief marketing officer, head of social media
- VP of social media, social media executive, Vice president
- Director of social media, director of community
- Social media manager
- Individual contributors
- Entry-level profiles such as social media analyst, social media trainee, intern
Social media generally reports to the marketing team run by chief marketing officers. You would not usually find a social media job title at the C-level though sometimes there is a head of the medial social title reporting to the CCO and CMO.
Some examples of a job title for this profile are:
- Head of social interactions
- Global social media leader
- Head of social media
- Chief communication officer
- Chief marketing officer
Role of social media marketers in digital marketing?
One of the essential roles played by a social media marketer is to communicate a brand’s message to its targeted audience. The role of a social media marketer may include:
- Developing strategies for social media- Developing strategies is the key to winning in the digital arena. Focusing on the proper channels may help you target the most relevant audience and optimize the marketing role.
- Identifying the target market and relevant social networks- It is one of the essential tasks that can determine the success of your social media campaign and the most significant success probability.
- To create content for social media channels- Another critical responsibility of social media marketers is to create appealing content for all the social media platforms for their targeted audience.
- Obtaining followers- Social media marketers are responsible for effectively communicating their brand’s message to its target audience. They plan their content strategy intending to increase the followers so that they can get more loyal customers.
- Web traffic- The main aim of every social media marketer is to boost their website traffic so that it can lead to high sales and profit for their brand. Every social media post is done to convert a loyal audience into loyal customers.
Steps to becoming a social media marketer?
To become a social media marketer, you should follow these simple steps that include:
- Gain experience in social media marketing- There is a potent myth that all young people can be great social media managers as they have grown up in the age of the digital world. And yes, they are great at learning new platforms and posting for their people following. There are a lot of strategies put into the social media platform of a brand. So, if you have an interest in this role, you can gain experience by reaching out to your known ones who have small businesses.
- Earn degree or experience- Although not all positions of social media managers require a degree, many employers also prefer their candidates to have a bachelor’s degree. The best program for this profile includes general communication, PR, advertising, marketing, and business degree.
- Build your own social media following- A way to showcase your ability to manage a social media following is to generate engagement on your own. Try to grow your social media platforms by sharing content and increasing the arrangement of followers. You can also develop content strategies for your personal profile to build your skills.
- Learn to use social media analytics- Every social media marketer relies on analytics to determine how well your content and campaigns perform. Analytics on social media helps you to measure the success of what you are sharing and identify the trends of your followers.
- Built online portfolio- When you interview for a social media profile, you may be asked to show your previous social media work portfolio, whether you pick up freelancing clients or manage your personal account.
Follow the top brands in your industry and those in other industries to become familiar with what works well to engage your customers.
Best free and paid social media marketing tool
Social media tools are generally used to complement social media management tools. They let you plan and schedule your social media content and measure your performance. Some paid and free social media marketing tools may include:
- Google analytics
- Talkwalker
- Klear
- Audiense
- Sparktoro
- Followerwonk
- Quietly
- Union metrics
- Cyfe
- Likealyzer
- Tailwind
- Socialbakers
- Rival IQ
- Keyhole
Apart from these third-party tools, there are some social networks’ analytics toolkits such as:
- Youtube analytics
- LinkedIn Analytics
- Pinterest Analytics
- Twitter Analytics
- Instagram Analytics
- Facebook Analytics
These tools are either free with limited features or paid with a free trial. So choose whichever device you want to use and start your new journey as a social media marketer.
