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It is clear social media marketing is delivering real and measurable business value for companies large and small today. Marketers of all specialties from digital, content, strategy and even operations know they must not only learn, but also deeply embrace social media as a way to connect, inspire and serve their new online audiences as well as current, prospective and future customers.
With this incredible opportunity created for businesses using social media there is obviously solid opportunity for smart and savvy marketers to specialize and build a career in social media marketing.
However, as I discussed in detail in episode 218 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast, social marketers must also have a solid understanding of business and marketing. Smart social media marketers also know how to align social media to business goals.
Building a career as a social marketer is not as easy as jumping on Twitter or Snapchat and firing off some 140 character tweets and selfie snaps. Being able to rock your personal brand as a new college graduate doesn’t necessarily translate over to knowing how to use social media for business. Big difference.
Unfortunately many new social media marketers jump into the fields of social networks, tweets, snaps, and Facebook live video to find themselves overwhelmed. They are often thrown to the wild pack of tweeting craziness as their management teams and leadership know less than they do in understanding how to drive business value using these new social tools and methodologies.
Many new social marketers start out excited only to find their hopes of a career in social media completely deflated. Not only do they feel overwhelmed but they find it hard to show and prove their value. They lack the necessary training to understand data and measurement, conversion funnels, content marketing, foundational digital and visual marketing skills and the list goes on. It’s even more challenging for recent graduates who lack solid business or marketing experience in the real world.
These same new social marketers may be working 24/7 yet making little progress. They’re tweeting through the hamster wheel and making little to any forward progress in learning. They often lack real mentorship, business experience and because of this they wind up stunted in their career.
They think…. “nobody told me it would be this hard.” I’ve had many new college graduates working in social media marketing come to me and proclaim they had no idea they would need to know so much about marketing or business to be successful running social media for a company.
The truth is that social media is not a band-aid for a broken business. Hiring a cheap intern who knows how to tweet, snap and stream a live video is not going to fix your brand perception problems, inspire your customers to engage in a relationship with you. The intern or person new to social media is not going to help you solve the customer services problems you have by setting up some auto Twitter auto direct messages (DMs) to anyone who asks for help.
Embracing social media for business is a journey, not a destination. We are all learning and the only guarantee we have is change. Click To TweetThe truth is that all of us working in the field of social media and digital marketing today are change agents. We must understand mindsets of our stakeholders, management and team members. We must know how to push change when needed and integrate social media technologies and best practices into the business, not force it.
Take a listen to episode 222 of the Social Zoom Factor podcast to learn 10 truths nobody ever told you about being a social media marketer.
This podcast episode is helpful for the following people:
- New or experienced marketers considering jumping into a new role as a social media marketer
- Current social media marketers struggling to grow in their career
- Managers of people working in social media marketing
- Business owners and leaders who are hiring or leading teams and want to understand the truth about working as a social media marketing
Be sure to subscribe to our entire digital and social marketing series on iTunes, Stitcher or SoundCloud!
In this 25 minute podcast you will learn:
- 10 Truths nobody ever told you about being a social media marketer
- Why social media for personal branding is not the same as social media for business
- Tips to grow in your career as a social media marketer
- Why social marketers must understand the foundation of business and marketing
- The importance of having a mentor to help you learn and grow as a social marketer
- Why even social media newbies must learn to be a data and analytics junkie
- How to navigate working for a manager who doesn’t understand marketing, business or social media
- Giving up the drive for perfection and importance of embracing imperfect perfection
- Why business leaders must be careful who they hire to manage their social media programs
Supporting Resources:
- 3 Things You Must Know to Be Successful as a Social Media Marketer
- 10 Tips to Be a Social Media and Digital Marketing Rebel
- How to Prioritize Your Social Networks for Business
- Conversion Rate Optimization – 20 Factors Impacting Sales and ROI
- How to Get Your Social Marketing Budget Approved (white paper)
- 10 Proven Strategies to Get Your Social Media Budget Approved (podcast)
- 10 Habits Highly Effective Social Media Marketing Leaders
- Audience Analysis Worksheet (worksheet to help you prioritize your niche)
- Content Editorial Calendar (12 month editorial content marketing calendar template)
- “Social Profit Factor” Training Program for Social Media Marketers
Free webinars: We are also launching a series of webinars and training opportunities to dig even deeper. Sign up here-> You are the Media – Building Your Media Foundation
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