It’s not a bad idea. Social media is inherently fun (or at least it’s supposed to be), and the average social media manager salary in the U.S. (as of March 2018) is $54,238, according to Glassdoor.
But how do you go from amateur social media enthusiast to paid social media manager at a viable company?
How to become a social media manager
I asked a few of my colleagues here at Capterra for their advice and put out a call to social media professionals in multiple industries. The response was overwhelming, and I distilled their feedback into 12 tips below.
Want to chime in? You’ll have a chance at the end of this piece!
1. Get a degree in communications or marketing
My colleague, Rebecca, studied marketing and graphic design at American University. She did a bit of everything in the marketing playbook before taking over her role as a social media manager here at Capterra.
“Marketing is the main driver,” she told me. “Social media is just one form of marketing … Having a base knowledge of social media and how to run an account” is all you really need to demonstrate.
Alice Fuller, a former television producer turned social media strategist in Raleigh-Durham, echoes that sentiment.
If you truly desire to be a really good social media manager, learn the fundamentals of marketing and writing first. Learn as much as you can … then put what you learn into practice for yourself, then work with others for free or [a] low fee so you can get some real experience under your belt.
Amy Newton, a senior social media manager at internet marketing firm Ignite Visibility in San Diego, underscores the importance of marketing-adjacent disciplines.
In my experience, employers like to hire well-rounded social media candidates, so it’s also important to highlight your writing and design skills. At the same time, pursuing a degree that focuses on writing or communications is key. That knowledge is crucial to this industry.
2. But you definitely don’t need a specific degree
There isn’t one specific degree, though, that’ll open every door. My colleague Chris took a less traditional route to earn his social media stripes.
While working as an electrician and managing a storage facility, he gained most of his social media management experience through a catering and events company (specializing in Korean-Mexican tacos) he runs on the side.
“I did it backwards,” he says. “I built it from the ground up: branding, marketing, copy … it’s a living resume.”
When Chris went looking for a job in social media marketing, he had a successful portfolio complete with Facebook, Instagram, and Twitteraccounts to show hiring managers that he knew how to run a campaign.
“Do it while you’re in school … You don’t have to do the internship route, you can do this all from your bedroom,” he said. Hiring managers “just want to know can you run and grow an account.”
The social media managers I heard from had backgrounds in everything from political science to fashion design, psychology to pharmaceutical sales. Social media management is more like music than dentistry: it’s OK to learn it on your own.
In fact, Ryan K. Hertel—creative director for Socialocca—dropped out of college when he recognized the lack of academic opportunities to study digital marketing and social media.
Dropping out and paving my own path ended up being the greatest decision I’ve ever made. I learned so much from going out and jumping right into real life management projects. In fact, I probably grew and learned faster by throwing myself into the fire as opposed to trying to preface myself on social media from some outdated textbook anyway.
3. Look for social media opportunities everywhere
No matter what role you’re in now, there’s probably a related opportunity to start building your social media profile. When I was covering high school sports for The Baltimore Sun, I tweeted extensively from every event I covered.
It was a learning experience, but over the years, that experience became more valuable than any social media course I could have taken.
Before I started at Capterra, I ran a one-man dog walking business while working as a freelance writer. By turning that dog walking business into a successful Instagram account, I made sure that I had something valuable to put on my resume from that period.
Taking packs of dogs on long hikes didn’t directly help me get this job (though it did wonders for my physical fitness), but demonstrating the ability to run a successful Instagram campaign certainly didn’t hurt.
As Abhishek Joshi, digital marketing manager for Luxottica Eyewear, shared: “It could be a weekly Twitter chat discussing horror movies [that] shows that you know how to thrive in digital conversation.”
4. Remember, you’re always being watched
Even if you’re just running a personal account, if you demonstrate a strong voice and consistent posting, you can use it to get a foot in the door. This goes both ways, though. If you demonstrate bad judgement on public social media channels, that can—and most likely will—be used against you.
“A really high level of emotional intelligence is important,” says Anne Rose, social media manager at Catalogs.com. “You have to approach everything with an internal sense of how it will make people feel or act … You should understand organizational politics, internal vs external PR, messaging, and customer service.”
Remember: the internet is forever. It’s never a bad idea to give your public accounts a personal auditand remove embarrassing posts. If you do mess up, take a breath. Even the professionals make mistakes.
“THINK BEFORE YOU POST,” emphasizes Ashleigh Ostermann, social media manager for Schoolhaus, a marketing agency based in Orlando. “This is huge. We’ve seen mishaps from well-known brands with multiple people on their social management team that posts something not relevant to the brand or hop on a trending hashtag before knowing what it’s talking about.”
5. Don’t stop learning and adapting
Ten years ago, MySpace was a thing. In the past few years, Snapchat has emerged. Social media channels come and go, so it’s important to stay informed and stay flexible. That doesn’t just go for channels, but for marketing disciplines as well.
For example, Lauren Mallett—head of social media for British marketing agency FireCask—started off in textile design, moved into fashion design, then dabbled in styling, booking, graphic design, and marketing before landing in her current role.
“You learn a lot down there at the bottom of the food chain, and if you’re not quite sure what you want to do it gives you invaluable experience,” said Mallett, who even took a pay cut along the way.
When you’re working across different marketing disciplines, you’ll naturally gravitate to one in particular that appeals to you. It will probably … take up most of your time and be the thing that causes you the most stress—but the most excitement too.You have to be data-driven, but you have to be creative. You need to plan ahead, but you need to be reactive. It seems that the best social media managers are good at being a lot of different things at once.
6. Be comfortable working and learning on your own
Social media managers collaborate directly with marketers, bloggers, salespeople, and more. Their job is—by definition—social. But there’s a difference between live communication and digital communication, and the life of a social media manager can be, ironically, solitary at times.
Moises Cardenas, digital marketing lead for cyber defense firm Dexter Edward, says that social media managers need to be comfortable working as a “team of one.”
His advice to survive in this role: use social media marketing software, and read up on everything marketing related, from SEO to graphic design, website design and backlink campaigns, Google Adwords, WordPress, and Facebook Ads.
Jenn Scott, digital marketing manager at the Community College of Allegheny County in Pennsylvania, recommends “reading industry blogs, networking with other SMMs online, and checking out the occasional social media conference.” She also recommends the SproutSocial series of free social media webinars.
7. Find brands you admire, and follow them
Make a list of companies and brands that you admire and would love to work for, and keep an eye on their career pages. If you’ve already taken steps toward building an impressive social media profile, you’ll be positioned to land a dream internship or job when the right opportunity comes along.
“If you love the company you work for, storytelling is easy and fun, and social media management will come naturally,” says Amelia Swaggert, marketing manager at Foodeez, a Los Angeles digital agency focusing on food and beverages.
Your dream social media job might not necessarily be at a huge, established corporation. It could be any brand with a fun, innovative approach to social media.
Mikki Stith, social media manager for digital agency Coalmarch Productions, points to companies like Hostess and Wendy’s as examples of social media experimentation gone viral in a good way.
Ashleigh Ostermann recommends Taco Bell. “The way their team drafts content for their audience is amazing,” she says. “I have a social media crush on them.”
But, what if you don’t care so much about the company and are just looking to get experience? Cardenas recommends a counterintuitive approach:
“Take (an internship) with a company [that] pretty much [has] a nonexistent marketing platform,” he says. “A lot of marketing is learning on the job, and when you have bare-bones marketing, you can really experiment, make mistakes, and learn as you go.”
8. Build an online portfolio and show it off
Kyra Mancine, social media specialist for manufacturing firm Oldcastle, says that she created a sample blog specifically for Oldcastle before being hired. She also showed the company her online portfolio of websites and social media channels so they knew what she brought to the table.
She even showed off her personal blog during the interview process. “I think it’s important to portray your interest, enthusiasm, and experience with sites—even if they aren’t necessarily a paid gig,” she said.
Drew Henry, social media manager for the The DoSeum, San Antonio’s Museum For Kids, landed his role not because of his experience managing PR and social media for several restaurants but because of Design Dudes, a lifestyle blog he launched with friends.
My side hustle blog is ultimately what got me recognized and how I landed a full-time social media manager position,” said Henry, who recommends also showing analytics for your personal blog and accounts.
“Bottom line: if you don’t have work to show and aren’t at the forefront of social media yourself, you aren’t going to get hired … You may think a personal blog should stay off of a resume, but in this case, it only enhances it.”
9. Volunteer to do social media for your school or a nonprofit
Consider volunteering to manage the social media accounts for your school or a nonprofit that you support. You’ll get valuable, high-profile experience, and the organization will benefit from you amplifying their message.
“Nonprofits need a lot of help in this area, and because resources are so thin it falls on the lap of someone who either doesn’t know how or want to manage it,” said Christina Disbrow, president of All Write, All Write, All Write LLC, a firm that helps nonprofits.
The work you do for a good cause might be a stepping stone to your ideal social media manager job.
Similarly, Scott—from the Community College of Allegheny County—recommends that college students ask around campus. “There may very well be opportunities to assist with campus social media efforts as a work-study or as part of a club or organization,” she says.
“Check with your student life, student employment, or college marketing office—there may be some opportunities right under your nose!”
As a real-life example, Lizz Venanzibegan working with her sorority’s social media outreach at Westminster College, then moved on to helping the student government association, and finally landed a job right out of college as a social media manager at Sparq Designs marketing agency.
10. Build your personal brand through social media
The best social media managers blur the line between their work and personal lives. This isn’t to say that you should go on political rants on your work account or harangue your friends and relatives with marketing pitches, but that social media should be a part of everything you do.
Social media “should be your passion or your hobby if you want to do it professionally,” says Beth Cooper, director of marketing and social media for KNB Communications. “It’s the only way you will know the platforms on a deep level.”
Cooper strengthens her personal brand by using @crissibeth on all channels, where she also posts her personal photography.
When she’s hiring, Cooper weighs personal experience and passion for social media much heavier than formal education.
“This field changes so quickly. If you graduated with a degree years ago, the info is already out of date,” says Cooper, who added that her social media managers usually start out as content creators or account managers.
Corbyn Wittig, a freelance social media marketer, explains how she built her brand:
“I logged every success (and struggle) and created a story around my brand,” she says. “Mentors started endorsing me publicly and enthusiastically, which lent further credibility to my CV.”
11. Demonstrate good time management skills
Social media, by its nature, is meant to distract and grab attention. There’s an inherent danger for any social media manager—like a candy shop owner with a sweet tooth—to become hypnotized by the channels they’re monitoring.
“Multitasking is critical,” says Rose. “If you can’t work with 10 tabs open in three different windows, with multiple monitors, this job isn’t for you.”
That may be a bit of an exaggeration for some, but Scott has advice on managing time that anyone can use.
There are so many things to keep an eye on at any given time that you can easily get stuck in the weeds if you’re not deliberate about how much time you devote in a day to Task X or Project Y.Quickly responding to a Twitter DM or taking five minutes on a Saturday to check the mentions is one thing, but keeping work at work except when absolutely necessary is a good boundary to maintain.
12. Dig into social media analytics and SEO
There’s a science to social media outside of the creative and community engagement aspects. To be successful, you need to stay in tune with the analytics side of things and be able to leverage it to reach a larger audience.
“Some people show an aptitude for the analytics side of things and others show a preference for the creative side,” says Cooper. “No matter which side you tend towards though, you should have a working knowledge of both sides. The two are very intertwined.”
Shelby Rogers, content marketing strategist for web development firm Solodev, suggests the following as the highest priorities for a social media manager:
- Good storytelling and content
- Being able to understand the analytics and make changes accordingly
- Engaging with the community
She followed up by saying:
You have to offer your readers good content or they’ll never return … Analytics will also give savvy SMMs an idea of what content best invites engagement.Ultimately, engagement is the goal of any social media marketer … Having people engage (like, share, retweet, tweet at your brand) with a company furthers its exposure and helps foster a healthy relationship with the public.
What it’s all about
Take a deep breath. This was a lot to process, but if you follow these 12 tips from the pros, you’ll be better positioned to land a job as a social media manager.
If you’re looking for one key takeaway in all of this, turn to Ashleigh Ostermann:
Contact:When it comes down to it, social media management is about personal relationships. You’re humanizing the brand in order to relate to your customers. You have to put yourself in the mindset of them.
Kingdavidoheb@gmail.com
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