So, you’ve decided to become a social media manager. Social media marketing is a vast industry worth $3.2b in 2023 alone. It’s a role in which you can command between $75k for entry-level jobs and $120k as an average salary, so the rewards are certainly there.
Digital marketing is all about honing the social media presence of your clients, which requires a distinct and well-thought-out marketing strategy.
An Introduction to Social Media Strategy
A social media strategy is a formalised plan that incorporates your client's marketing goals. It outlines the tactics used to realise those goals, with performance being tracked to hone the approach for maximum return on investment (ROI).
The social media accounts you work on will depend entirely on the client, with LinkedIn, TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, and more being leveraged to drive traffic and raise brand awareness.
Why is a Social Media Strategy Important?
Without a defined strategy, you won’t be able to leverage your client’s social media platforms consistently and strategically. As such, it’s a gradual process designed to attract your target audience and encourage brand loyalty.
The many new social networks have revolutionised how companies conduct public relations, and this new frontier is here to stay. In the role, you’ll use advanced social media skills to create leads and gently massage them through the sales funnel.
The Role of Social Media Marketing Manager
As a social media marketing manager, you’ll typically liaise with several marketing professionals, such as copywriting and graphic design experts.
Among the many duties you’re tasked with as part of your job description, you’ll be:
- Creating social media strategies
- Assessing your client’s long-term needs
- Generating compelling content marketing
- Working with social media influencers
- Keeping abreast of market trends
- Tracking metrics & compiling client reports
As you learn from our Social Media Marketing course, you’re in charge of the whole process, from scheduling marketing messages on Hootsuite to interacting with customers.
The Key Elements of an Effective Social Media Strategy
When trying to enhance your client’s online presence, your content creation approach relies on a clear vision of what you want to achieve. This involves a methodical process with defined steps that include:
- Identifying your ideal target audience persona
- Segmenting your audience based on interests, age, purchase history, etc.
- Setting SMART targets & tracking your progress
- Selecting the Right Social Media Channels, i.e. where your audience tends to hang out
- Budgeting to ensure your approach is affordable for the client
- Optimising the client’s website in terms of SEO
- Creating an ongoing series of compelling social media posts
Small businesses rely on the marketing campaigns pros like these put together for their livelihoods. Their brand is very much in your hands, so it’s important you know what you’re doing.
Enhancing Your Career as a Social Media Marketing Manager
So, what do you have to do to realise your social media marketing career? Well, to begin with, you need the right qualifications - the first of which might be a Bachelor of Applied Business (Marketing). This 2-year university bachelor’s degree course teaches how to develop effective digital strategies and identify growth opportunities.
You can also become a social media marketing strategist using TAFE courses like a Cert IV in Marketing & Communication or a Diploma of Social Media Marketing. Each takes 12 & 18 months, respectively, to complete; these options come with hands-on work experience in employment placements.
Not Everyone Can Learn Full Time
However, many people with career aspirations in this area already have full-time jobs, meaning TAFE and uni courses aren’t suitable. That’s where our Social Media Strategy course comes in handy, as its modular nature allows you to upskill and grasp social media fundamentals & and add advanced techniques to your skillset around your everyday obligations.
Familiarising Yourself With Social Media Management Tools
Whether working on a social media campaign as a social media coordinator or self-employed operator, you’ll need to make yourself familiar with the many apps and tools available on the market to assist you.
They include:
- Buffer & Hootsuite - allowing you to set up an auto-schedule social media content at the best possible times.
- Sprout Social - which facilitates customer insight and conversation management & also allows you to schedule posts
- Hubspot - an all-encompassing platform that makes light work of social media management and managing customer interactions
- Canva - you’ll need great-looking, royalty-free images to impress the online community with your posts.
Staying Abreast of Social Media Trends
Something else that you’ll need to have a close eye on if you want to be a successful social media manager is industry changes. As any social media specialist will tell you, the industry is prone to change all the time. Social platforms and the techniques used to market across them are constantly in flux, meaning any social media strategy you create needs to account for this fact.
You can do this by following influencers in your industry to see what they’re talking about. Also, your social media marketing strategy requires you to engage with followers to get to the heart of the questions your followers need answers to.
Boost Your Marketing Skills With OCA Short Courses Online
Becoming a successful social media marketing manager - whether self-employed or as an in-house marketing manager takes hard work, deep knowledge of current trends, and high-level management skills. The good news is that anyone looking to work in this increasingly in-demand sector has OCA short courses online to help them to realise their career ambitions.
The online learning we offer at OCA transcends traditional text-based learning. To better understand what it’s like learning with OCA, why not look at our Student Study Demo that lays out benefits such as 1-to-1 mentoring?
Social media marketing is just one of over 20 industries covered by our online learning - something you can learn more about by visiting us today at www.onlinecoursesaustralia.edu.au.
However, if you’d prefer to speak to us directly, call us at 1300 611 404 or drop us an email at support@onlinecourses.com.au, and we’ll strive to respond as quickly as we can.
