Social Media Specialist Job Description
Overview
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Social Media Specialists plan, implement and monitor the company's Social Media strategy with a goal of improving brand awareness, marketing effectiveness and increasing sales.
Steps to take to start your career as a Social Media Specialist and other jobs like it
- Having a degree in marketing, communications, business, or a related field is beneficial, and can be required depending on the company. If you have a degree but it’s not closely related to this field consider enrolling in courses or obtaining certifications specifically focused on social media marketing. Platforms like Coursera, Udemy, and HubSpot offer courses on social media management.
- Managing your own social media profiles across various platforms with the purpose of using it to build a portfolio. Experiment with different types of content, engage with your audience, and analyze your performance metrics. Building a personal brand demonstrates your understanding of social media dynamics and gives you hands-on experience that you can later apply to managing accounts for businesses.
- In these types of roles your goal is to attach attention to your brand and you do that through interesting content. The content doesn’t have to be interesting to everyone but it needs to be interesting to the audience you are trying to attract. Use proven strategies on how to attract views but also be creative in the content you create to help you grab attention.
- Look for internships or freelance opportunities with small businesses, startups, or digital marketing agencies. Offer to manage social media accounts for friends, family, or local organizations to build your portfolio. Use these opportunities to develop your skills in content creation, community management, analytics, and social media advertising.
- Social media is constantly evolving, so it's crucial to stay informed about the latest trends, algorithm changes, and best practices. Follow industry blogs, attend webinars, listen to podcasts, and participate in online communities to stay up-to-date. Familiarize yourself with popular social media management tools like Hootsuite and others to streamline your workflow and enhance your effectiveness.
How I Got Into This Field
I knew somebody that was starting a small business and I reached out to them while having a full-time job offered to set up their social media. During this time I started taking online courses and I learned all about marketing, social media management, and just everything under the Sun. I got enough knowledge that ended up being switched over (hired) to full-time.
Skills for Content Creation
It's important to know about different platforms like social media platforms and different forums that your company may use for content writing, learning about how different blog programs or software work, writing, editing, learning about SEO and what drives traffic, how to post, how to tag, hashtags, all of that, and setting up a strategy on how to engage and interact with users.
Education Requirements
For getting into a field like this, especially if you're willing to start lower, you know, at the bottom, you don't necessarily need a formal education. I was self-taught. I think the benefits of having an education is that you can work into these… more of a niche area like SEO or maybe paid marketing, advertising, revenue operations, you know, where you can make a lot of money….you can make more money faster.
Pros of Content Creation
I really love all the creativity that's involved in this role. I really like that I can not only think of ideas, but I get to design them too and I think that's really fun.
Challenges of Content Creation in a Startup
There's a lot of figuring things out on your own, which can be really exciting and rewarding, but you know, most jobs I've had in the past, I've kind of walked into a well-managed system, you know, marketing system or communication system that's already, you know, set up. But in this case, I'm setting up myself.
Tips for Changing Career Fields
I highly recommend, you know, if you're interested in getting into this field or even switching careers, try to shadow somebody. Really tap into your network. You just never know who might, who's looking for a little extra help and if you can, you know, pick up an internship or just even work on some side projects, you'd be surprised what you can learn and whether it be something you want to get into or maybe it's something that you don't want to get into, but any kind of knowledge is beneficial.
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Education you need to become a Social Media Specialist
These are the most common degrees or certificates earned by Jobtrees users prior to becoming a Social Media Specialist
There may be other required degrees or certifications needed for this job. The below info shows you the most commonly desired education level from employers when hiring for this job.
- Bachelor Degree in Marketing
- Bachelor of Arts (b.a.) in Political Science
- Associate Degree in Business Administration
- Bachelor of Science (b.sc.) in Marketing
- Associate Degree in Art
Annual Pay Estimate for Social Media Specialist and Other Important Info
See how many years Social Media Specialist's are in their job, how much they make, how long it took to get there and how available this job is in terms of open positions.
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Career Paths for Social Media Specialist
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