How to Become a Social Media Manager: The Only Guide You Need

Facebook alone has 1.657 billion daily active users from around the globe. Learning how to become a social media manager will help you pave your path to success.

Around 23% of internet users (between 16 and 64 years old) log onto Facebook more than once a day. The audiences on Twitter and Instagram are also large enough to make a career out of engaging with them.

how to become a social media manager

If you're social media-savvy, you'll thrive as a social media manager. You deserve to have an enjoyable job that pays well.

Here's what you should know about becoming a social media manager:


Get a Degree in Communications or Marketing

While a degree isn't necessary, it gives you an edge over your competition. Having a degree in communications or marketing means you already possess valuable knowledge and skills for the job.

Marketing majors learn about different kinds of marketing, including current digital marketing trends. Today, social media is trending as a crucial marketing tool, so degree programs focus on it more. Communications majors are good at handling technology and information.

If you don't have a degree, this next step is especially important:


Take Online Courses and Acquire Certifications

Taking classes will refine your social media skills. Online digital marketing courses are highly valuable and convenient for this reason. They're also more affordable than classes held in brick-and-mortar classrooms.

Any decent social media manager school will make you put in the effort. Nonetheless, your social media manager training will pay off when you finally get a certification at the end.

Certifications prove that you're knowledgeable about social media. They also give clients more confidence in your abilities. That's why it's so important for aspiring social media consultants to get a certification in social media marketing.

Visual content makes or breaks a post's engagement. Taking graphic design classes will teach you how to create compelling visual content. Look for classes that specifically teach graphic design for social media purposes.


Strengthen Your Copywriting Skills

Copywriting is writing for business purposes. Sloppy copy makes a brand look unprofessional, so your copywriting skills must be on-point

Proofread every post you make in advance. Do this multiple times to make sure you catch any errors.

Install a grammar app like Grammarly to point out writing mistakes. It'll improve your writing skills as you go.

In your posts, use concise language that anyone can understand. Don't be afraid to be creative and fun with your posts! Even a meme can be beneficial for a branded twitter's presence.


Understand SEO

A good social media account manager understands SEO (search engine optimisation). They also understand how SEO relates to social media.

Whenever you post a blog to social media, that website gains visibility and traffic. In turn, this boosts the blog's ranking in SERPs (search engine results pages).

When you're creating a social media calendar, you must understand keywords. This knowledge helps you develop a keyword strategy to make posts more visible. Internet users are more likely to see a blog post with a strong keyword strategy than a post without one.

Use keyword research to learn more about relevant hashtags. Hashtags are SEO for social media. Always research and evaluate hashtags to see which ones are best for hashtag marketing.


Analytics are Your Friends

Analytics tell you about how well a post landed with your audience. Use them to inform your social media strategy.

Reach tells you how many accounts saw your post or story. The number of impressions is how many times your post appeared on people's feeds.

Engagement includes any likes, comments, shares, and clicks a post attracts. High engagement rates prove that your audience is responding to your posts.

Over time, you'll notice that people engage with certain kinds of posts more than others. Identifying trends like this will help you create more popular posts going forward. You could even go viral!


Master Customer Service

It's the social media manager's job to respond to users on social media. Your responses will impact brand relationships, so you must have customer service skills. (This is when having experience in retail or fast food comes in handy.)

Interacting with users through a branded account humanises that brand in consumers' eyes. This improves their brand image. However, it only takes one negative social media interaction to sour a brand relationship.

For example, let's say a dissatisfied customer leaves a comment on social media. As a social media manager, you'd have to respond in a polite and timely manner. You'd also report the comment to the business so they can follow up with a solution.


Gain Experience

Build your social media presence into something worth flaunting. That includes your personal social media account(s). After all, people will be looking at your social media presence to assess your skill level.

Create a professional website and social media account for yourself. Maintaining an active presence on both will impress the right people.

Eventually, you'll develop a portfolio to show potential clients and employers. You can start off with a low rate to gain experience. Once you have more experience, it's alright to charge more.

Remember: Your time and skills are worth money!

Follow brand accounts you admire to see what they come up with. They'll fuel your creativity by exposing you to new ideas.


Update Your Knowledge Frequently

Social media is exciting because there's always something new to learn! Keep your skills sharp by seeking out information and training whenever you need it.

Having up-to-date skills and knowledge makes you look more professional. You'll also attract more clients and job prospects that way. For instance, clients love knowing that you are proficient in the most current social media management software and media coordination.


Learn How to Become a Social Media Manager in Time

On average, social media managers make between £17,000 to £40,000 per year. If you want to know how to become a social media manager, just be patient and keep working at it.

In the meantime, maintain an active presence on Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook. It'll give you more hands-on social media experience.

Propel your professional path forward—read more of our career advice. The knowledge will inspire you to finally take action, then you'll be ready to search for social media jobs


Next up: How to Build a Strong Social Media Portfolio