How to Get Started in Social Media Marketing: 5 Key Tips
Social media marketing is a booming field that almost every business needs to consider these days. Fortunately for you, they also need skilled social media marketers to help them produce top-tier content and reach potential followers while also converting new users or customers.
If you want to get started in social media marketing, you’ll want to follow these five major tips.
Get the Training You Need to Succeed
You’ll first need to make sure that you have all the skills any great social media marketer or manager needs to be attractive to potential clients. If you don’t already have key skills – which include training in disciplines like SEO for website content, social listening, or digital marketing concepts – you can get them through a variety of methods.
In fact, you don’t necessarily need a degree to be a great social media marketer. However, getting a degree in this field is a great idea if you want a professional credential to back up your job applications. You can alternatively go for paid courses. Bottom line: make sure you have the in-demand skills that will mark you as a great social media marker.
Be Sure to Have a Professional Contract Ready to Sign!
Before you start your business and begin onboarding clients, create a professional social media marketing contract (see Bonsai’s template to get started) and stick with it. A professional contract template can be used for all your future clients and allow you to outline the deliverables (the work you are expected to provide your client) and payment in clear terms.
This will prevent you from getting ripped off or scammed by clients looking to take advantage of new social media marketers. Plus, it’ll help you set clear boundaries and charge your clients for what your work is really worth!
Hustle for New Clients, Especially at First
There’s no denying that starting a new online business, especially in a field as technical and challenging as social media marketing, can be tough if you don’t have a lot of new clients to pay the bills. Be prepared to hustle dramatically to get new clients, using every tactic in the book to convince them to hire you for your skills.
There are a few different things you can try:
- Use online freelance job boards to find social media marketing or managing jobs
- Curate your LinkedIn and similar profiles so they showcase your skills as professionally as possible
- Don’t be afraid to contact coworkers or friends – these are some of the best sources for first clients
Furthermore, after you complete a job for every new client, consider asking them to recommend you to their friends or coworkers. Building a network takes time, but show enough consistency and you’ll eventually get a good client list for your career.
Pick a Specialization
You’ll also benefit from choosing a social media marketing specialization. No one can do everything, especially in a field as diverse and wide-ranging as social media marketing. Therefore, you should choose a marketing specialization that best suits your talents and interests. Potential specializations include:
- Industry specializations – for instance, maybe you only provide social media marketing for the restaurant industry or for tech.
- Marketing job specializations – with these, you’ll only provide social media marketing for certain social media platforms or for specific website types.
Follow Key People
Lastly, follow key people in your new industry every chance you get. Not only does this potentially help you attract their attention (gaining a mentor or new clients in the process), but you’ll also be able to copy what they do well and leverage it for your own business’s success.
Ultimately, getting your start as a social media marketer will take a lot of time and energy. But if you have the drive, ambition, and use the right strategies, you’ll succeed sooner or later!
