Learn your stuff
While some people might think that having spent your high school years taking selfies and posting them on Instagram with a bunch of hashtags qualifies you as a social media expert, the reality is, unfortunately, quite different. Being a social media manager involves constantly staying on top of fast-moving trends both in the specific industry you work in and in the different social media platforms you use. You also need a good understanding of communication principles, ethical behavior, public relations, customer interaction, graphic design, and search engine optimization, as well as great written English skills. To learn everything you need to become a competent social media manager, you can complete a B.A. in Social Media Management. You should also maintain a social media presence on as many platforms as possible, prioritizing the ones that are most popular with businesses, so you can keep an eye on trends and other users’ behavior on the platforms.
Get lots of followers
As social media manager Kat Edison finds out after taking a break from posting in the successful Netflix series The Bold Type, few users will take your company posts seriously if you don’t also have a sizeable following on your personal accounts. While you may wish this wasn’t the case—you will have been hired to post on the company’s social media, after all, not on your own—the reality is that if you want a career in social media management, you need to be prepared to make your own life and personality visible too. Of course, this doesn’t mean that you are entitled to no privacy whatsoever; if you want to be able to share very personal information with your close friends and family on social media, your best bet would be to have two different accounts on each platform, one for your more public persona and one—under a pseudonym or omitting your last name—for your private life.
Think before you post
There have been countless examples of employees being fired for what they posted on social media, whether it be company secrets, offensive remarks, ill-advised pranks, or rants against the boss. If all employees are under scrutiny for what they post on social media, as a social media manager, you will be expected to set a good example. You would do well to start cleaning up your social media profiles now to show potential employers that they can trust you not to post inappropriate content. Follow these steps, and you’re sure to launch your career in social media in no time!
