There have been a lot of questions in my inbox recently about becoming a social media manager so I wanted to introduce a new 4 part mini-series going over how to become a social media manager, tools for social media managers, how to secure your first paying client, and things of that nature. Today will kick off the first post of the series and we will be chatting all about how to become a social media manager and work from home as your own boss. Be on the lookout for an exciting announcement in the next few months related to becoming a social media manager and securing your first few clients. HINT: It may or may not be in the form of a course so if that’s something you may be interested in – sign up here! Now it’s time to dive in and chat all about how to become a social media manager.
How to Become a Social Media Manager
What is a social media manager?
A social media manager is the person in charge of creating content and a solid social media strategy, managing the selected platform(s), and engaging with the followers of a business’ social media channels. They may be in charge of just one channel or several depending on the aforementioned company’s budget.
Decide on your focus or niche
As a social media manager, you should have some type of focus. For example, even though I will manage the top 4 social media channels (Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and FB) I consider my specialty channels to be both Pinterest and Instagram so those are my main focuses as a social media manager and the projects that I will take on most frequently.
You should pick one or two channels to focus on and market yourself as a social media manager so that you do not get overwhelmed with trying to keep up with too many different channels and master being an expert at all of them.
Now you don’t necessarily have to have a target niche of accounts that you work on, but there are going to some topics that you’re obviously a little more educated in. I currently work on social media accounts for fashion, lifestyle, business and travel bloggers along with the accounts of other creative entrepreneurs like graphic designers, podcasters, and more. It’s a pretty broad niche but these are the accounts I feel most comfortable managing and know that I can get those clients the best results.
If you do want to take on a client who falls under a niche that you don’t know much about, make sure to do your research because you want to be able to provide your clients with the best results as possible.
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Educate Yourself
When you’re considering becoming a social media manager, it’s important to become educated on not only social media itself but also about what’s going on in the industry as well. Social media is constantly changing so to keep up with the ever-changing industry, you’re going to need to be consistently doing research to make sure you’re keeping on top of the algorithms. I have invested in courses and masterclasses in addition to just reading up on my industry on the Internet.
Another way to educate yourself is to learn more advanced marketing techniques like search engine optimization, Facebook ads, and things of that nature so that you have more specialized skills and will ultimately be a lot more marketable to the client.
Education is important in every career so it’s important to continue learning about your industry even after you’ve managed to get your first few clients.
Start building your own community
When you’re first starting out as a social media manager and don’t have any clients who can vouch for you yet, it is important to build an engaged following of your own. You don’t need thousands of followers, but this social proof will come in handy in securing your first few clients.
In addition to being a social media manager, I am a lifestyle blogger and have grown my collective social media following to over 40,000 on my own so prior to signing any social media management clients I was able to use my following to showcase my skills on building a social media following.
I also was able to use my corporate social media marketing experience to seal the deal. Even if you don’t have too much experience, you need to know what you’re doing and be able to back that up with results from your prior jobs or own social media results.
Get strategic with your time management
Time management is no joke as a social media manager so there’s no better time to master it than now especially if you’re currently still plugging away at a 9-5 job.
Some things you can do to manage your time better include creating a social media calendar template for your own channels so you’re not constantly posting on the fly, automating your social media posts, and even outsourcing things that you don’t want to do/aren’t capable of doing to experts. This way you will be able to take on more clients in addition to your full-time job so that you start working towards working for yourself full time.
I’ve compiled 3 checklists for you to download! A monthly SMM checklist, a weekly SMM checklist, and a daily SMM checklist so that you can get organized for your own channels and know what you need to do when you’re working with your first clients.
Your Turn:
Are you currently a social media manager or interested in learning how to become a social media manager? Make sure to download my freebie and get your social media game up to par.
