Why Learn Social Media Marketing?

As businesses have moved online, social media marketing has become a popular career. In order to become a successful Social Media Marketer, you need to understand how the different social media platforms operate and what their focuses are. You need to have skills like clear communication, organization, flexibility, writing, creativity, and data analytics. You also need to know how to build a brand and use quality content to increase sales.

What is Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing uses platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok to connect with a target audience. According to Hootsuite’s Digital 2021 report, more than 4.48 billion people use these platforms daily, making social media marketing a smart choice to help drive website traffic, build a widely-known brand, and gain revenue.

There are two types of social media marketing: paid and unpaid. Paid marketing means buying ads on different social media sites, while unpaid marketing relies on high-quality content, clicks, likes, and shares. It’s also called “earned marketing.” While earned marketing is valuable because it doesn’t cost any money, it can take a long time to see results, so Social Media Marketers need to be patient and persistent.

A social media marketing campaign is based on these five essential activities:

• Strategy–setting goals, choosing the best channels, and deciding what type of content will attract your audience.
• Planning and publishing–understanding your audience, knowing what and when to publish, and maintaining consistency.
• Listening and engagement–interacting with your audience and tracking changes in the market.
• Analytics–collecting, tracking, and analyzing data on social media accounts so you can figure out what is working for you.
• Advertising–earned and paid advertising.

Read more about what social media marketing is and why you should learn it.

What Can You Do with Social Media Marketing?

Social media marketing is a powerful way to get the word out about your product or message, and one of the best things is you can do it for free. It doesn’t cost anything to open accounts on the different social media platforms, and many of the digital marketing tools you need are free to use or have a free version.

Data analytics tools allow you to research the market, identify a target audience, and tailor your message directly to them. Engagement tools let you interact with potential customers, get important feedback, see what your competitors are doing, and change your campaign as you need to. Social media marketing creates and maintains a community through regularly posted, high-quality content.

It can take a bit of time to see organic results, but you can use paid advertising to speed things up. Advertising increases engagement and is a good investment. Social media marketing tools allow you to pinpoint your audience and advertise just to them.

Common Professional Uses for Social Media Marketing

Social Media Marketer is an interesting and lucrative career. Social media marketing skills can lead to jobs in digital marketing, content strategy, data analytics, social media management, and consulting. An understanding of social media is also useful for entrepreneurs or small business owners.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects that jobs in the marketing industry should increase by 10% by 2026, which is above the average for all careers. With demand for online presence continuing to climb, social media marketing job prospects are likely on the higher end. According to Glassdoor, social media marketing professionals can earn a yearly salary between about $42,00 and $140,000. This is quite a wide range of salaries and can also vary depending on position, location, company size, skill set, and experience.

Powerful Reach

Nearly half the world’s population is on social media, and with a strong strategy, you can find your target audience among them. Social media marketing relies on data that allows you to see who is interacting with your content and when, so you can publish it at the best time. Social media listening tools let you stay on top of comments, likes, and shares to connect with your audience and drive sales.

While it is powerful, social media marketing can be tricky and involves much more than hopping onto Tik Tok or Instagram once a day. In order to be an effective Social Media Marketer, you need to learn what to do and when to do it for the best effect. Creating top-quality blog posts or informative videos is important, but you have to know how to collect the data that tells you when to publish.

Important Skills

If you are considering switching to a career as a Social Media Marketer, there are some skills that are worth cultivating.

Communication

Social Media Marketers spend much of their day communicating and connecting with clients, customers, followers, co-workers, and the boss. Having strong communication skills and being comfortable communicating with others is a key element of social media marketing.

Organization

The ability to multitask and keep track of what is going on in the field is important for Social Media Marketers. Many tasks can be automated, but you still need to understand what you are doing and why.

Flexibility

Social media marketers do something different every day. Flexibility and readiness to adapt quickly are part of any social media marketing job. Those who can pivot quickly will stay on top of their job best. Being able to think on your feet is advantageous in social media marketing.

Writing

Strong writing skills are also important for social media marketing. Good copy equals clicks and clicks equal the potential for more business, so strong writing skills ultimately lead to more business and financial gain. Crafting the best words and tone across platforms is not easy, but it will take any aspiring social media marketer far in the industry.

Creativity

Creativity drives social media. With the constant demand for new and interesting content, creativity is a large part of social media marketing success. Bringing something fresh to the table is always welcome. Creativity keeps ideas flowing and the industry moving, whether it’s a pitch to a client, company brainstorming, or even figuring out what to do for your personal strategy as an entrepreneur.

Data Analysis

Social media marketing is data-driven, so understanding data analytics is crucial for a Social Media Marketer. Data analytics is the set of techniques used to analyze raw (unprocessed) data to extract relevant information, trends, and insights. This process includes collecting, organizing, storing, and then performing statistical analysis on the data.

Data analysis leads to insights that drive decision-making and predictions that can inform a company’s next steps. This process relies on disciplines like mathematics, statistics, and computer programming.

Build a Brand

Another important job of Social Media Marketers is creating brand identity and building brand awareness. The first step to building a brand through social media is to choose the most appropriate channels for the brand. Each platform has a different focus and demographic. Another important step is to make posting easy by using scheduling tools. This allows you to maintain consistency in sharing content.

Keeping social media posts upbeat and engaging is another crucial point. Be aware of the brand voice when you are posting. Joining groups helps you make important connections on platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn. Taking a social media marketing course can help you understand how to build a brand.

Increase Sales

Increasing sales is the ultimate goal of social media marketing. If you are an entrepreneur or small business owner, knowing how to use social media to attract customers and make sales is what it is all about. But you can’t come across as too sales-driven. Social Media Marketers need to know how to walk that fine line between having a conversation and landing a sale.

Take a Class

Certificate programs are designed to give you the skill set you need to succeed as a Social Media Marketer. Many schools offer in-person and online courses in social media marketing that you can take in your spare time. Certificate programs are intensive courses focusing exclusively on social media marketing subjects and take two to four months to complete.

Noble Desktop offers Social Media Marketing, a certificate class that covers social media marketing strategies. This course is great for individuals looking to start a career in social media marketing, entrepreneurs looking to start a business and leverage social media marketing, or business owners looking to grow a business using social media marketing techniques.

How to Start Learning Social Media Marketing

How you choose to learn social media marketing is up to you. You can watch free video tutorials like Noble Desktop’s Intro to Social Media Marketing to get an overview, but after that, the best plan is to sign up for a class. You can take live in-person classes or choose online instruction. Some people prefer to attend brick-and-mortar sessions when learning new information, but that isn’t always available. Live online classes have a similar set-up to in-person classes with a real-time, remote instructor who can answer questions and take control of your monitor—with permission—to answer questions and demonstrate techniques. You can sign up for part or full-time classes on weekdays, weeknights, or weekends.

Some companies offer asynchronous online classes that you can take according to your own schedule. You can watch the videos from work or home and move at your own pace. Udacity offers a class called Become a Digital Marketer, and Udemy offers VIP Digital Marketing Master.

One advantage to asynchronous video classes is that you can go back and watch the material as many times as you need to if you are having trouble with a concept.

If a full class feels like too much right now, you can attend free online seminars like Noble Desktop’s Intro to Facebook Marketing or free digital marketing seminars on Coursera, Constant Content, or CopyBlogger. These free seminars will give you an idea of what social media marketing is about and whether you want to explore it further.

Learn Social Media Marketing with Hands-on Training at Noble Desktop

Noble Desktop’s social media marketing courses teach skills that can help you start a career in the industry. Classes are small, with expert instructors, and you can retake a course for free up to a year after you take it. Those ready to dive into the field can attend in-person classes at Noble Desktop’s New York City location or attend live online social media courses from anywhere in the world.

In Noble Desktop’s Social Media Marketing Certificate, you can master successful social media marketing tools and techniques. You will learn about strategy development, content creation, brand building, analytics, and conversion optimization.

Noble Desktop also offers more detailed courses for those looking to hone their skills on specific channels, such as Facebook Marketing, email marketing, Social Media Content Marketing: Blogs & Twitter, and Video Marketing: TikTok & YouTube, or go for a Social Media Marketing Certificate. Other Noble Desktop resources that can help prepare for a career in digital marketing include its digital marketing blog, which has detailed articles about social media marketing, SEO, and other essential tools for digital marketers. Further resources include Noble’s seminar on YouTube entitled The Pillars of Digital Marketing Success.

Key Insights

• Social media marketing uses platforms such as Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, YouTube, and TikTok to connect with a target audience.
• Social media marketing has a powerful reach, with almost half of the world’s population on at least one social media platform.
• Social media marketing is hard work and demands the ability to create quality content and post it at the right time.
• Knowing how to use various data analytics and content scheduling tools is valuable.
• Social media marketing is a growing field that pays well.
• Some skills that Social Media Marketers need for a successful career are:
• Communication
• Organization
• Flexibility
• Writing
• Creativity
• Data Analysis
• Building a brand is another important task for Social Media Marketers.
• Increasing sales is the final goal of social media marketing.
• You can receive comprehensive social media marketing training through an in-person or live online course with Noble Desktop.