How To Become A Social Media Marketing Expert (2022)

To become a social media expert, one must learn various social media platforms, the latest technologies, and industry tools. 

Without a doubt, a formal college degree and basic training are mandatory. Besides this, one can grow by increasing their social media following and doing their personal branding. 

These days, people in this field start with a boot camp or a digital marketing course. This is one of the most effective ways to kick-start your social media career. 

However, one can also start directly by enrolling in a social media marketing course or practically working on the social media projects of small businesses by working on their social media accounts.

What does it mean to be a social media marketer?

A person who maintains and monitors the social media presence of a person or a company is known as a social media manager. 

The importance of this role has grown exponentially as not only the organizations but individuals like celebrities or business persons use social media channels to connect with their audiences. 

So one should have all the skills, knowledge, relevant experience, and strong communication to manage a social media platform.

Most of the novices consider social media marketing a child’s play. It is merely sharing some images with brief descriptions for them. But it takes a lot of preparation and data analysis before posting even a single line on any social media platform for reputed companies. Let us see what a social media person actually does:

Responsibilities of a Social Media Expert:

• Organizations across various industries have embraced social media as a medium to attract and convert visitors into clients, so designating a social media specialist to manage their online presence is really essential. The primary functions a social media person performs are as below:
• Designing and running the ad campaigns with messaging that fits the personality of the brand.
• Making proper schedules and editorial calendars for all the content requirements based on distribution.
• Measuring the success of the campaigns and overall content using metrics and engagement ratings.
• Be an active player in creating all the design strategies.
• Drafting material for various social media channels to reach the target audience as all companies have multiple profiles on different social platforms.
• Preparing the reports to present the results to higher management for assessment.
• Replying to the visitors’ comments to create a positive brand experience that drives high engagement.
• Recognizing and reviewing the platforms that are not performing well and giving the required return on investment.
• Generating organic traffic, sponsored ads, Influencer marketing, etc., are some of the promotional tactics a social media person performs.
• Contributing to the tone of the brand wherever and whenever appropriate. 
• Creating and maintaining brand guidelines for all the social media channels and coordinating with team members for consistent messaging.
• Maintaining a consistent brand personality by being specific about interacting with customers, partner brands, and competitors. For instance, a number of fashion houses go viral on Twitter to increase customer interaction in the form of comments and retweets.
• Staying updated with recent fashion trends. Memes, for example, are still popular, despite the popularity of short films.

Steps to become a social media marketing expert

If you are a beginner and have no idea where to begin the journey to become a social media marketing expert, this post is for you. 

We have carefully curated the steps to become a social media marketing specialist to assist you. Let us have a look:

1) Academic Qualification

A bachelor’s or master’s degree is not compulsory for all social media manager positions, but many employers prefer candidates with one. 

Marketing, business, advertising, digital media communications, and public relations studies are the finest curricula for this career. The study related to human behavior and the customer psyche, like what we do, why we do, and why we buy from particular brands, are beneficial.

You can also look for educational programs involving social media management, training, and courses. Try to enroll in internships, volunteer positions, or entry-level jobs requiring the use of social media to implement methods learned in class into reality practically. 

2) Knowledge & Skills

1) Building Social Media Presence

Companies will first Google you when you apply for a job and do not have a large portfolio to show off. You can bet they will go elsewhere for their following social media projects if they notice profiles affiliated with you that have little to no activity. 

This is not the only step that can be seen as a risk-mitigation opportunity. Having a social profile on every widely used platform is great for increased visibility and practice more with the different platforms and apps you want to master in the future. 

2) Learn Social Media Marketing Fundamentals

A social media specialist should have minimum education and basic knowledge of various forms of marketing. For example- SEO, influencer marketing, paid advertising (PPC), SEM, email marketing, etc. 

It can be a traditional 4-year college, 3-year diploma, or short-term courses with social media marketing projects and training.

A deep understanding of all aspects of digital marketing will significantly increase your value to an organization. You can also enhance vital networking connections with other social media professionals while getting into the industry.

3) Monitoring Social Media Campaigns With Analytics

You should have the expertise to use analytic tools to monitor the reach and engagement of the shared posts to be an excellent social media specialist.

Although a large and growing number of businesses use social media for marketing and branding, there is still a belief that social media effectiveness is tough to quantify. According to BusinessWire, proving ROI in terms of budget is the major problem for 82% of marketers.

Moreover, some of the challenges in the study are directly related to ROI measurement:

Building links between business marketing goals and social media.

Tracking results using a dashboard. 

Analyzing performance across various social media channels. 

4) Get Creative With Your Social Media Content

If you are just starting to grow your social media following, take advantage of this time to see what types of material resonate with your followers. Keep a close eye on what works and what doesn’t, and adjust your strategy accordingly.

This is also a good moment to find your own voice. Although you may eventually need to adjust to the voice of the brand or organization for whom you are creating content, it’s still crucial to show an employer that you can produce social media content in a consistent voice across different platforms.

The importance of consistency cannot be overstated. All social media channels require brands to maintain a consistent voice.

5) Stay Flexible and Aware of Social Media Trends

Any digital marketing profession, but especially in the domain of social media, requires extensive research. You must be continually aware of what your competitors are doing, what people are saying about you, and which design or content trends resonate. You must also be prepared to pivot at any time based on current events.

It’s difficult to keep up with everything on social media since it never stops or slows down. Thankfully, there are numerous tools, apps, and platforms available to assist Social Media Specialists in keeping their fingers on the pulse of the Internet.

6) Build a Social Media Portfolio

You should now be ready to start working on a project. Whether you’re looking for a freelance career or have opted to work on a passion project, you’ll need to start building your portfolio to land a job as a Social Media Specialist.

Consider starting a blog or a website. You could start putting up an expert Pinterest board or write your own newsletter. Alternatively, create a captivating Instagram feed or an engaging YouTube channel.

With Social Media Specialists in short supply and many businesses still in the early stages of building a strong social media presence, there’s plenty of room to be proactive and land freelance employment.

Tip: One can design a personal blog/website using free or trial hosting services such as WordPress, Squarespace, etc. It allows you to include more information about yourself as an individual, but sometimes it also requires a nominal monthly hosting price investment.

LinkedIn is also a great free option if you can upload work samples beneath your professional experiences. Uploading files to free websites like Behance or Coroflot can also be used to share projects. If you choose to use LinkedIn, make sure your URL is personalized by following these steps:

• From the dropdown menu, choose your photo icon.
• Select View Profile from the drop-down menu.
• From the drop-down box, choose Edit Public Profile and URL.

3) Certifications

Certifications in the Facebook Blueprint are beneficial and can be obtained online. You can also enroll in Udacity, HubSpot, or Lynda’s online Social Media Marketing Courses, as well as academic institutes in your area that offer such courses.

Massive Open Online Courses can also be quite beneficial in gaining expertise and knowledge in analytics and social media campaign strategy. These can be found on websites like Udemy, Coursera, and Google.

4) Experience

To become an expert in any field, you must have a few years of relevant experience.

To study the art, apply your thoughts, be innovative, execute well, demonstrate some results, try to acquire a job as an intern in any social media company.

Make an effort to gain appropriate work experience in marketing and public relations concepts in both new and old media.

Many self-taught Social Media Marketers learned and carved their own pathways to becoming experts in the field.

5) Share Your Thoughts

So that people are aware of you and your job, write about your experiences and thoughts online, preferably on a blog.

6) Attend Relevant Conferences

Attempt to get into Social Media Marketing conferences and secure a few speaking slots so that you can share your ideas and expertise. Doing so will assist you in establishing yourself as a Social Media Marketing Expert.

Salary & Earning in Social media marketing

Earnings are determined by a variety of factors, including:

Coursework has been completed, and the place has been determined.

Companies they collaborate with, the types of marketing and social media work they end up performing, and general economic conditions

According to Glassdoor, globally, a Social Media Specialist’s average salary is just over $48,000 and may go as high as $66,000.

Social media marketers with three to four years of experience earn 50,000 to 60,000 rupees a month in India. 

However, social media marketing interns in India are paid between 20 and 25 thousand rupees in social media agencies. 

On the other hand, Social Media Marketing Experts with 6-8 years of experience charge whatever they want based on the work and the type of brand they work with.

The Journey From A Non-Experience To Become A Social Media Expert

As explained above, there are some simple steps to becoming a Social Media Specialist, even if you have no prior experience. 

Nothing can stop you from getting out there on your own by exploring the latest social media platforms & technology, learning how to create good content, building your following, and more. That is only the beginning of your journey as a Social Media Specialist. 

You should probably enroll in a social media marketing course or a digital marketing boot camp. It’s fairly uncommon for agencies or businesses to recruit people directly after they finish a boot camp, especially given the huge need for digital marketers right now.

Many marketers begin their careers as generalists before deciding to specialize in social media. Some even specialize in a single platform, which may be a particularly effective tactic when freelancing — a firm may already have a Twitter or Facebook page. 

Still, they may require someone very skilled at TikTok to get their account up and running.

If you don’t have any prior marketing expertise and are beginning from scratch, you’ll most likely need to start with a lower-level marketing position. 

Given the status of the industry, entry-level social media marketing opportunities are plentiful, so if you have a talent for knowing how to engage with an audience digitally, you are in luck.