If you want to understand what a successful social media specialist needs to do in order to stand out in the industry, then this guide is for you. In this article, we’ll uncover the social media specialist job description and explore the skills, qualifications, and experience necessary to excel in this role.
Social media is no longer an optional marketing tool. As businesses become more reliant on customer engagement through digital channels, having an experienced social media specialist on the marketing team is key to ensuring their message reaches its target audience. In fact, Statista estimates 92% of U.S. companies with a minimum headcount of 100 now rely on social media marketing for their communication campaigns, making the demand for social media specialists higher than ever.
But what exactly does a social media specialist do, and how can you pursue this career path in 2024? To answer these questions, we’ll explore the following topics:
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Social media marketing specialists use the power of social media platforms to promote businesses, brands, products, and services. They manage the company’s social accounts, develop social media strategies , and create social content and ad campaigns that:
Their expertise in understanding different social media channels allows them to analyze data and share meaningful insights that can help the company improve its digital marketing campaigns. As such, the social media specialist position is similar to that of a digital marketing specialist but with a more specific focus on the social media domain.
If you’re serious about working as a social media specialist, taking the time to understand the job role is essential.
However, performing thorough research on job board sites, such as Glassdoor , Indeed , and LinkedIn , can be a lengthy process if you only seek an overview of the profession.
To save you time, we have summarized the most critical responsibilities listed in these job descriptions and the skills and experiences they usually require. So, here’s what you need to know:
The primary tasks and responsibilities of a social media specialist include:
In addition to fulfilling these tasks, social media specialists need a range of hard and soft skills , as well as relevant work experience, to be successful in this role. Here are the essential skills and experience requirements typically mentioned in social media specialist job descriptions:
There are multiple paths to becoming a social media specialist. Your exact steps will depend on your experience, existing qualifications, and the sector you’d like to work in. For instance, if you’re an experienced marketer looking to move into social media, you may not need any additional qualifications. By contrast, if you’re starting out and don’t have a relevant marketing degree, it could be helpful to enroll in a digital marketing course or gain some work experience in the field before applying for social media specialist positions.
The following steps should give you the best chance of landing a social media specialist job soon.
Start your journey to becoming a social media specialist by taking advantage of readily available online resources. There are various ways to educate yourself on this topic, such as reading blogs, listening to podcasts, and trying out popular social media tools.
This collection of resources is a great place to start:
Once you’ve researched and familiarized yourself with the field, it’s time to build your portfolio. Collect evidence in the form of screenshots and stats to demonstrate your social media marketing knowledge and the successful campaigns you’ve run. Try to include as much detail as possible, such as your methods, results achieved, critical insights gleaned from analytics data, and client feedback. This is also an excellent opportunity to showcase your writing style and design skills to potential employers.
Need help putting together your portfolio? Consider taking our Digital Marketing course . It features a module on social media marketing which allows you to create a project based on your newfound skills and demonstrate your creativity and expertise in action.
Enrolling in a professional online course is a fantastic way to enhance your knowledge and skill set, especially if you don’t have much prior marketing experience or relevant qualifications.
A digital marketing course can help you understand the fundamentals of this field and give you a comprehensive overview of all its components, such as search engine optimization (SEO), paid advertising, content strategy, and social media marketing.
Check out some of the best online courses to learn digital marketing in 2024 to help you decide which program is right for you.
The most important step: applying for jobs. Start by researching entry-level positions in the industry, looking out for roles that match your skills and experience. Check job boards such as Indeed and LinkedIn regularly, or follow digital marketing-related accounts on Twitter to stay abreast of opportunities.
And finally, when applying, tailor your resume and cover letter to each position by highlighting those aspects of your background that demonstrate your suitability for the role.
But don’t worry—while having a marketing degree or relevant professional qualification can give you the edge, transferable skills such as creativity, problem-solving, and communication are just as essential. So, simply stress these points in your applications and relate them to your portfolio pieces.
Social media specialists are important members of the digital marketing team. They are responsible for developing and executing impactful social media strategies that help brands grow their presence online and boost engagement with their target audience.
As our overview of the social media specialist job description has shown, this occupation involves a multitude of tasks, from content creation and management to analytics and reporting, requiring a mix of technical and creative skills.
To enhance your employability in this field, you can get up to speed with the latest trends and tools, build a strong portfolio of past projects, and—if you like—enroll in a professional digital marketing course.
Want to get a hands-on introduction to digital marketing but don’t have much time? Why not try out this free, 5-day short course ?
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