Should I study social media management?

Do you want to give a voice to people, organizations, and brands via social media?

Social media managers help build awareness of people and products. It's a way to use your knowledge of social media platforms, trends, and creative digital media making.

With 5.85 billion social media users predicted by 2027, people are needed who can schedule, analyze, and create engaging content to build a presence online.

Is social media management for you? Let's explore together.

Social media managers use social media (like Instagram and YouTube) to achieve the communication and digital marketing goals of an individual or organisation.

The role involves:

• Creativity

• People skills

• Organisation

• Learning to tell compelling stories

• Developing a good eye for design

• Engaging an audience.

In your day-to-day, you might create content, respond to comments, and use software tools to review and analyze metrics such as social media engagement (likes and clicks).

While a university or college program isn't always necessary for a job in the field, social media managers typically have a bachelor’s degree.

You can learn about social media management as part of any of the following programs:

• Arts

• Business administration

• Creative or digital media

• Communications

• Journalism

• Marketing

• Public relations

• Sciences

• Social communication

• Social media

You'll learn practical skills such as how to:

• Develop a strategy to create and oversee social media campaigns

• Produce images and videos with tools such as Canva and Adobe Creative Suite

• Schedule content with a social media calendar or scheduling tools

• Review social media data, analytics, and metrics using software like Hootsuite

• Write in a copywriting style

By the end of your studies, you'll likely build a portfolio of your work to show future employers or clients and showcase a potential social media campaign. Some programs offer internships in real-world situations such as part of a social media marketing team.

Other than working directly as a social media manager, social media and marketing specialists are in high-demand in roles such as:

• Online community managers

• Online communications directors

• Social media analysts, directors, and strategists

Many social media managers work as freelancers or as part of a social media agency.

You might even manage the social media of your favorite influencer or celebrity!

Photo by Austin Distel on Unsplash

Not many professors encourage you to use social media, but here they might!

Learning how to use social media channels to build a personal presence and/or manage an online community will likely be the first step of the learning process. Consider:

• Creating an online community, or moderating an existing one

• Volunteering to manage the social media of a local business or nonprofit

• Cold calling or emailing influencers to pitch yourself to them

• Saving money by seeing if you are eligible for scholarships and grants

• Experimenting with free software like Hootsuite's social media tools

• Build a portfolio of existing work to help you with your application

Are you still interested in studying social media management?