What started as a way to keep in touch with friends has turned into a phenomenon- social media has now become a vital part of most businesses’ marketing plans. Social media is great because it can help spread the word for businesses of any size, and what’s more- it creates jobs! Small and large businesses alike are recognizing the need for someone to manage their social media presence and to keep it running the way that it should. Think you could fit the part? Read on to see what exactly a social media marketer does and how to land the perfect job.
What Exactly Is It That They Do?
Social media marketers aren’t limited to one specific job. They carry out a range of tasks, all crucial to a brand’s social media presence. Using social media and implementing it with traditional marketing, social marketers do their best to promote their company’s content through many techniques. They share their own content as well as others’ content, they post on other companies’ blogs and they use paid advertising. Not only do social marketers want to promote their company, they want their company to build a relationship with the public. They do this by monitoring their online presence and paying attention to those that are reaching out to them and providing feedback as well as seeking out others that they can reach out to themselves. Finally, they use and interpret analytics (such as Google Analytics) to determine both the characteristics of their audience as well as the results of their social media. While of course the role of a social media marketer isn’t limited to these tasks, this is a very small overview of their role and gives you a general idea of the type of day to day tasks that they perform. Still interested? We will now tell you what you need to get started.
How Do I Head In That Direction?
In order to land a social media marketing job, you don’t necessarily need to have a degree or a Public Relations certification, but it definitely helps to land the bigger and more significant roles. In terms of education, the first requirement is obviously a high school diploma or your GED. From here, you have more options. As far as college goes, the majority of social media marketers obtain their bachelor’s degree in advertising, communications, English, marketing, public relations or any other journalism-related major. If you have additional room in your schedule, any business administrative, creative writing, management, public affairs and statistics classes can also be a big help.
Additionally, it takes experience to become a social media marketer. Direct work experience can be gained through marketing and public relations work. You will also need to remain up to date on marketing and public relations trends, both in traditional media as well as more contemporary forms such as social media. You can do this through research and attending relevant meetings and conferences.
If you want to take it a step further, you should consider getting a Master of Business Administration in communications, marketing, public relations or a new option- social media.
Wondering where you can get a Master’s in social media? Excelsior College offers the chance to obtain a MBA concentrated in social media management, New England College offers an MBA in digital and social media and Rutger’s Business School provides the opportunity for an online mini-MBA in social media marketing.
There are other ways to land a job in social media marketing, but these are the most direct and beneficial routes at this point in time.
Have any additional advice for any up and coming social media marketers? Feel free to leave your insights in the comments!
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