Remote jobs are the way of the future, and there are currently more opportunities to work from home than ever before. Whether you’re a stay-at-home mom looking for a reliable side hustle or a digital nomad who dreams of world travel, there are plenty of reasons to give remote work a try.
One of the most visible remote jobs on the market right now is that of the social media manager. This job is ideal for anyone with a finger on the pulse of online trends.
What is a social media manager?
I talked a very little bit about this in my article about virtual assistants, but let’s dive a little deeper.
The title “social media manager” gets thrown out all over the web – both by people who truly understand social media and casual feed-scrollers alike. Because of this, it can mean a lot of different things depending on who you ask.
For the most part, though, we can agree that a social media manager is the voice of a brand. This person is in charge of growing a business through social media by directing strategy, often writing content and engaging with followers along the way.
In many businesses, especially smaller ones, one person is responsible for managing all of the brand’s social media platforms, from Facebook to Twitter and everything in between. Larger brands might have specialized social media managers to focus on one platform at a time.
What does a social media manager do?
A social media manager’s duties will fluctuate depending on what the brand needs. In general, you can expect to do the following in your day-to-day work:
- Research your competitors
- Brainstorm content ideas
- Determine a posting strategy
- Plan out a social media calendar
- Write and schedule posts
- Engage with your audience
- Provide customer support
- Track analytics and regularly report on growth
- Manage a team, depending on the size of the company
- Collaborate with other departments on promotions and initiatives
- Build relationships with other influencers and brands
- Keep a consistent brand voice across all channels
If this all sounds too good to be true, know that it’s not an easy job.
Depending on your level of involvement with the brand, it might be hard to maintain a work-life balance. Some social media managers report feeling like they need to be plugged in 24/7 in order to respond to comments and keep up with the latest trends.
Regardless, if you’re passionate about social media, this career promises a fulfilling way to help a brand grow, all from the comfort of your own home.
How do you become a social media manager?
Social media is a competitive landscape. After all, who doesn’t want to get paid to scroll through Instagram all day? Fortunately for you, though, there’s so much more to being a social media manager than just that. If you can demonstrate that knowledge, you’ll be ahead of the curve.
First of all, you’ll have a better chance of landing a social media manager position if you can show that you have actual experience with growing or maintaining a social media channel. Your personal accounts aren’t enough unless you have thousands of followers.
Instead, start small. Do you have a friend or colleague who’s struggling to grow their small business? Offer to take over their social media duties free of charge while you learn the ropes.
Keep track of the numbers: Follower count, conversions, engagement levels – you name it. If you can show that you’ve grown a channel over time, it’ll give you a leg up when applying to social media manager positions. Put together a portfolio of your most successful posts to show off when the time comes.
Another way to get ahead is to specialize in one or two social media platforms rather than trying to be a jack-of-all-trades. Every website has its own rules and requirements about content, not to mention different audiences. What works on Pinterest won’t necessarily work on LinkedIn, and vice versa.
If you become an expert in seeing success on one platform, you’ll be a much more valuable asset than someone who only has a general idea of how to work the different websites. Focus on becoming the best at what you do, even if what you do is only a small piece of the social media pie.
While becoming a social media manager isn’t for everyone, it’s a lucrative career path that will help you develop widely applicable skills for remote work as a whole. By delving deep into the world of social media, you can build a successful career, wherever you are!
