Social media marketing business keeps attracting people, who want to start a career or change an occupation. Despite the growing number of qualified professionals in the field, SMM still has enough opportunities to encourage the newbies to join.
So what makes this sphere so interesting? Firstly, web technologies and social networks, in particular, are always developing and evolving. They are related to literally all other aspects of life. Secondly, you can learn everything on your own. Thirdly, it provides a lot more flexibility than any office job.
There are several options: to become a social media manager for a brand, to start an agency, or to become a blogger and work on developing the self-brand. Each has some nuances. Let’s start from the basics you should be aware of when joining this sphere.
Content is king
Every marketing expert will say that no promotional tools can compensate for the lack of high-quality content. The key features of good content are:
The key features of good content are:
- uniqueness — the information should be interesting and not stolen from other resources;
- regular — the posts should appear several times a week depending on the peculiarities of business;
- viral — vivid, interesting, evoking an emotional response and a desire to share the post;
- appropriate — timely published and meeting the requirements of specific platforms.
Know your audience
Targeting is a creation of a promo message for people with common location, interests, web behaviour, etc. Targeting increases the efficiency of promotion. This feature works in all social networks, helping to reach the audience, for which your services or content have a great value.
- Geotargeting allows showing your posts to people living in a chosen area or city.
- Social & demographic targeting displays posts depending on users’ age, gender, relationships, etc.
- Context targeting is focused on a person’s interests — memberships in communities, events visited, and so on.
- Behavioral targeting tracks certain actions of a user, including routes, favorite places, frequent search requests, etc.
Promo posts
At a certain point, you will experience the need for cooperation with other brands or influencers and broaden the network of your contacts. One of the options is to publish posts about your services on another popular page.
You can search partners on your own or use professional services. There are platforms with registers of bloggers and many contacts that help to bring brands together for advantageous cooperation. Take into account business benefits in the first place, not personal preferences.
Activities & giveaways
It is necessary to interact with subscribers. If you want to be active, you should encourage them for communication, discussion, sharing your posts etc. Engaging content is one of the key features required for building an active community.
Your style of communication and tone of voice can be very helpful. It is necessary to speak the same language as your audience. For instance, don’t be too official if your field of proficiency is the lifestyle. Always reply to messages and comments.
Last but not least, you can think about contests and giveaways. There are numerous mechanics to pick depending on your opportunities, prizes, and purpose. From simple souvenir for the repost to encouraging subscribers sharing stories and photos in exchange for a trip to an exotic destination. Just balance the value of investment and result.
How to start
Step 1. Become an active user. If you understand how everything works, you will easily figure out the rest.
Step 2. Study. There is a wide variety of courses on SMM, both online and classroom. Find the one you like and enroll. If you have been an active user for a long time, a few workshops on the right usage of the tools will be enough.
Step 3. Stay informed. Social media algorithms are changing very fast. New features are introduced. You should be aware of the new things immediately.
Step 4. Practice. Don’t neglect an opportunity to become a volunteer or a trainee at first. Get some experience before you start to deal with serious projects.
Step 5. Make it work for you. Whether you planned to work for an agency and manage serious projects or start your own business, by this time you are skilled enough to choose either path.
Five tips for success
- You are not your target audience. Sometimes those portraits are identical, but those are rare occasions. Create the content relevant for your customers. They might think differently and have other values, and you should not be judgemental about this.
- Define your goals. The majority of businesses views social media as a tool for increasing sales. However, you should choose an original approach. The methods used for radio or print ads don’t work here, as well as aggressive marketing.
- Don’t focus on one social network. Most likely, your audience is segmented. You can reach 100% of customers (or close to that) if you use different social media with slightly different content in each.
- Be attentive. You will necessarily mess something up, and that is okay. Always read the feedback and be ready to correct your mistakes. React quickly and don’t leave important comments without an answer.
- Be active. The content in social networks is getting outdated very quickly. Make it timely and relevant.
There’s no such things as the lack of skills; there’s only the lack of practice. The opportunities to join social media business are open for everyone, regardless of where you come from or what you used to do. Invest a little time to figure things out, and you’ll be surprised with the results.
