How To Become a Social Media Manager With No Experience

How To Become a Social Media Manager With No Experience

What Is a Social Media Manager?

A social media manager is responsible for creating, curating, and publishing content across various social media platforms to boost a company’s online presence and engage its audience. Their duties include designing social media strategies, analyzing performance metrics, and adjusting tactics to achieve engagement and marketing objectives.

What does a social media manager do?

Social media managers are typically responsible for developing strategies to increase followers, creating and overseeing social campaigns, producing content, reviewing analytics, and communicating with key company stakeholders.

Your specific responsibilities as a social media manager will depend on your company’s size. For instance, while social media managers at giant corporations often approve copy or videos rather than create them, those at smaller companies usually handle more content creation.

If you’re interested in working as a social media manager, your tasks may include:

Increasing Followers and Driving Engagement: Enhance the company’s profile on all active social platforms by increasing followers and engagement (likes, comments, shares). You may need to develop written and visual posts to achieve these goals.

Strategizing Content and Campaigns: To drive engagement, you’ll be responsible for ideating and sometimes executing social campaigns that align with the company’s broader marketing strategies. You may also generate ideas for timely and evergreen content or repurpose user-generated content.

Posting and Monitoring Social Media Platforms: Depending on your team size, you may be responsible for posting and monitoring all social media platforms. This includes scheduling posts, observing follower responses, and responding to comments and messages.

Analyzing Data: Besides creative work, you’ll analyze data to assess the company’s posts and content performance. This may involve social listening—monitoring what users say about the brand or its competitors.

Reporting Metrics to Key Stakeholders: You’ll likely be expected to report your achievements—or any issues—to your marketing team and company stakeholders. They will be interested in metrics such as follower growth, engagement increases, and the success of creative content and campaigns.

Related: What is Social Media Marketing?

Essential Skills for Social Media Managers

Here are some key skills to develop as you gain experience as a social media manager:

Communication: Effective communication is crucial for responding to customer inquiries, sharing ideas with stakeholders, and posting content that fosters meaningful discussions among followers.

Writing and Editing: Strong writing and editing skills are essential for drafting posts. Beyond basic grammar and spelling, copywriting skills enable you to create engaging content that readers will like, comment on, and share.

Creativity: Social media management allows you to harness your creativity to provide valuable information to consumers. Staying current with digital design trends is vital in the ever-changing digital landscape.

Decision-Making: Critical thinking and quick decision-making are important for managing social media platforms. Brands depend on your decisions to enhance their online presence and boost sales.

Customer Service: Good customer service skills help you understand customer concerns and communicate effectively and promptly.

Technology and Social Media Proficiency: Knowing how social media platforms operate, including their strengths, weaknesses, and user demographics, is crucial for connecting this knowledge to the brands you manage.

Collaboration: Working with consumers, retailers, and stakeholders is key to delivering desired results. Your ability to collaborate with various teams allows you to work with different brands and consistently produce quality outcomes.

Analysis: Analyzing data helps you compare products and services, conduct thorough research, and determine which platforms perform best.

Flexibility: The social media landscape constantly evolves with new trends, features, and algorithms. Flexibility and adaptive techniques are necessary to keep up and improve results.

Time Management: Managing and monitoring multiple social media accounts requires excellent time management skills to ensure each brand receives adequate attention.

Become a Social Media Manager requires a diverse set of essential skills crucial for success in the field.

How to Become a Social Media Manager with No Experience

Follow these steps to kickstart a career as a social media manager without prior experience:

Consider a College Degree

While not always required, a college degree can be a valuable credential for aspiring social media managers. Communication, business, journalism, or marketing degrees can provide a solid foundation for this career. The college also offers opportunities to gain specific experience in professional settings. Utilize your career centre to find internships or part-time social media, business, or marketing roles. Joining campus clubs and managing their social media can also be beneficial.

Build Your Online Presence

Are you aspiring to become a social media manager but lacking an online presence to showcase your skills? This can be a setback, as potential employers want tangible proof of your capabilities. Companies highly value previous work experience for this reason.

To start building your social media skills, create your own profiles on various platforms and experiment to see what works and what doesn’t. While this won’t count as formal work experience (we’ll discuss how to gain that shortly), it will provide you with personal experience and a practical understanding of how these platforms function.

Take Social Media Marketing Courses

Even if you pursue a degree, consider taking online social media marketing courses to enhance your skills further. These courses teach various marketing techniques to boost engagement, such as keyword research, content creation for specific target audiences, and running paid promotions across different platforms. Advanced topics may include:

• Custom social media apps
• Optimizing videos with descriptions, annotations, titles, and tags
• Custom social media headers
• Hashtag marketing
• Email capture forms

Research Social Media Management Tools

Effective account management requires proficiency with various tools. Research the latest tools for managing multiple accounts, scheduling posts, planning and managing content, and tracking campaign performance. Familiarizing yourself with these tools can streamline your work and improve your expertise, often required for social media management roles.

Network Online and In-Person

Brands, celebrities, and organizations are easily accessible online. Start by following brands you admire and engaging with their content. Use your following to gain more experience, reach more people, and showcase your skills. Clearly state that you’re looking for a social media management job and seek recommendations and advice from your network.

Volunteer to Manage Social Media for Small Businesses

To build your resume, consider volunteering for small businesses or nonprofits that need social media management but lack the resources to hire someone. This experience will help you learn about the field and identify areas for skill improvement before securing a paid position.

Apply for Internships or Entry-Level Social Media Manager Positions

Gaining experience through internships or entry-level social media management roles is crucial. These positions allow you to apply your skills and learn from practical experience in the digital marketing space. As you gain more experience, take on more complex responsibilities and work with various brands.

By following these steps, you can build the necessary skills and experience to start a successful career as a social media manager.

 

Learn Social Media Marketing Tools

Managing multiple social media accounts for various clients can be complex. Fortunately, several tools can help you stay organized and streamline the process.

Here are some popular social media marketing tools to master:

1. Buffer:
   • Overview: Buffer allows you to schedule posts for all your social media platforms in advance from a single dashboard.
   • Benefits: Easily plan and manage all your content in one place, and use Buffer’s analytics to track the performance of your social media accounts.
2. Hootsuite:
   • Overview: Hootsuite is a comprehensive social media management tool that simplifies managing multiple campaigns.
   • Benefits: You can oversee all your social accounts from one dashboard, schedule posts, collaborate with your team, and track messages and conversations.
3. Sendible:
   • Overview: Sendible is ideal for managing various accounts for multiple clients. It lets you schedule posts across different social media platforms and create an editorial calendar for your blog.
   • Benefits: Track brand mentions to respond to engagement and manage all your accounts efficiently and quickly.
4. Canva:
   • Overview: Canva is a graphic design tool for creating high-quality visual assets for social media channels.
   • Benefits: Canva is easy to use for marketers of all skill levels. It offers thousands of design elements and pre-made templates to help you create stunning graphics. It’s free to use, making it accessible for everyone.

These tools can significantly enhance your social media marketing efforts, making the process more efficient and effective.

Related: 8 Magical Content Writing Tools That Are Worth Using!

Social Media Manager Salary

The average annual salary for a social media manager is $55,634. This can vary depending on the hiring company, your experience level, and whether you are self-employed. You also have the option to work as a freelancer or start your own social media management agency.

Conclusion

Starting a career as a social media manager without experience is absolutely achievable. You can build the skills and knowledge needed to succeed with passion, persistence, and a willingness to learn. So, take that first step today, dive into the resources available, and start creating your path in the exciting world of social media management.

FAQs

Do I need a degree to become a social media manager?

No, a degree is not necessary. Skills, experience, and a strong portfolio are more important.

How can I find clients as a freelance social media manager?

Use Upwork, Fiverr, and LinkedIn platforms to find freelance opportunities and network with potential clients.

What are the most important skills for a social media manager?

Key skills include creativity, communication, analytics, and understanding social media platforms and tools.

How do I handle negative comments on social media?

Respond professionally, stay calm, and try to resolve the issue positively. Use negative feedback as a learning opportunity.

How often should I post on social media?

Posting frequency varies by platform and audience. Generally, consistency is more important than frequency. Find a balance that maintains engagement without overwhelming your audience.