How to Become an Expert Professional in Social Media Marketing

How to Become an Expert Professional in Social Media Marketing Social media is a magnetic field with ever-increasing new career opportunities. Some of the most popular social media platforms are Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Youtube, LinkedIn, etc.

In this discourse, we’ll look into its meaning along with the desired skill set required to shape a successful career in this field. A rather more comprehensive learn path on this is available; you can find its link towards the end.

What is social media marketing?

Social media marketing makes use of various social media platforms to promote a company’s product and services by establishing a strong connection with the audience, attracting sales and driving traffic. It encompasses activities like publishing appealing content online, engaging and interacting with followers, and running various social media ad campaigns.

Core pillars There are five core pillars of social media marketing: ❖ Strategy: This involves setting goals, selecting the social media platforms to be used, and the type of content that will go out. ❖ Planning and Publishing: Having a plan of what you want to publish ahead of time is a very important step. ❖ Listening and Engagement: By keeping a check on what customers are saying about your brand, posts and other business possessions will keep you updated with the current status. ❖ Analytics and Reporting: By tracking the response to your posts and activities, you will be able to know how far you have engaged with your users. ❖ Advertising: Advertising is considered to be one of the exhibiting dimensions of social media marketing. You can specifically select your target market.

Career outlook The buzz around social media marketing is unbelievable. It is one such platform that offers great opportunities with good incentives. If your interest and expertise lies in it, then you can freely negotiate your remuneration. It is also suitable for freelancers and offers easy exit liberty. If you are planning to move to any other industry, a good work experience and learnings in this field will further aid you in your career. In order to master this field, you don’t have to come from a strict classroom background. There are several specialized courses catering to this field.

Skills required To become a successful social media marketing expert, you need to have a blend of soft and technical skills:

Soft skills

●

●

●

●

●

Communication: This is the first and foremost skill you must possess. You need to have strong communication skills to engage with your customers, coordinate with your team members, and express your ideas in words in your campaign.

Adaptability: Catching up with the newest trends and experimenting with new opportunities is the most efficient way to see success in social media marketing activities. Thus, possessing adaptive skills is going to take you a long way ahead and boost your curiosity.

Creativity: Every social media marketer wants to roll out content that's eliciting, buzz-worthy and interesting, but it takes the creative skills of an individual to generate ideas that stand out.

Networking: You expect your product or brand to connect with customers; thus, you need to possess solid networking skills to get the best result from all your efforts. They also come in handy while building an efficient stakeholders network.

Teamwork: It goes without saying, you will be working with a broad set of people in this area of work. And it calls for top-notch interpersonal skills to coordinate and collaborate with different people on multiple levels.

●

Efficiency and Management Skills: You will get a bundle of tasks coming your way in this field; hence you need to follow an organized schedule and maintain all-around efficiency in your work.

Technical skills

●

Copywriting: This will be required while writing social media posts, framing short and effective captions, and designing project layouts.

You can learn copywriting from various online sources and can also opt for the following courses for structured learning:

●

●

●

●

○

Copywriting Headline Masterclass Provider: Eduonix , Price: ₹300 ($4), Duration: 1 Hour, Level: Beginner

○

Copywriting Course by Henry Harvin Provider: Henry Harvin, Price: ₹8,500 ($117), Duration: 16 Hours, Level: Intermediate

Analytics: It is used to interpret data and analyze different alternatives before selecting the appropriate one. Google Analytics is the most used tool amongst others.

For structured learning, you can refer to the following courses: ○

Introduction to Social Media Analytics | Coursera Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹7,742 ($103), Duration: 9 Hours, Level: Intermediate

○

Social Media Analytics: Using Data to Understand Public Conversations Provider: FutureLearn, Price: Subscription-based, Duration: 3 weeks

Search Engine Optimization: It is one of those tools that boost the traffic on a website by enhancing its visibility to its users and driving engagement.

For structured learning, you can refer to the following courses: ○

Search Engine Optimization - Advanced SEO Training - Simplilearn Provider: Simplilearn, Price: ₹15,999 ($213), Duration: Self-paced

○

Search Engine Optimization Specialization Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹8,74247 ($11,999), Duration: 5 months, Level: Beginner

MS Excel and Powerpoint Proficiency: A strong technical command of these can make your day-to-day tasks and operations simpler.

For structured learning, you can refer to the following courses: ○

Design Social Media Posts with PowerPoint Provider: Simpliv LLC, Price: ₹11,393 ($156), Duration: 2 hours, Level: Intermediate

○

Introduction to Computers and Office Productivity Software Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹2,182 ($29), Duration: Approx 15 hours

Advertising and Partnerships: It inclines toward having sound knowledge of various forms of advertisements such as facebook, youtube, instagram, etc.

For structured learning, you can refer to the following courses:

● ● ● ●

○

Social Media and Digital Marketing Fundamentals Provider: Coursera, Price: ₹ 7,396 ($98), Duration: 10 Hours, Level: Beginner

○

Online Advertising & Social Media Provider: edX, Price: ₹ 38,684 ($531), Duration: 4 Weeks, Level: Beginner

Graphics and Video Creation: Content creation is not just limited to plain text; it has a lot more to offer, like attractive graphics and videos.

Marketing Tools: Having the knowledge of what tools are to be used when is vital for promotional methods and strategies to work properly.

Public Speaking: With advanced features like Facebook Live, and Instagram Live, you need to have good public speaking skills in order to stimulate interaction rate.

Marketing and Financial Skills: Having basic knowledge and understanding of these skills will help you keep a record of demand and supply and allocate and track funds.

Final thoughts Well, you may not excel or possess every single skill mentioned above. But nothing can stop you from learning it now. There are several comprehensive learning options available catering to all levels of professionals. Be it entry, intermediate or advanced; there is a vast variety of learning courses to help you cultivate into a proficient social media marketer.

To find out more about learning options, required skill sets, the difference between social media marketing and digital marketing, and career prospects in this field, explore our extensive learn path for Social Media Marketing.

We also offer a wide variety of exhaustive learn paths on several other disciplines. You can explore them from our advice page.

About us Careervira.com is a global edtech market platform. With over 12K+ courses from 65+ global partners across tech and non-tech domains. Careervira.com provides 70+ key decision-making inputs to search and compare from amongst top global courses to zero down on your decision-making by learning partner, skills, course, price, and learn type.