Work@ social network

Gauri Chhabra

Social media is no longer the cute and cuddly space where teenagers drooled over stuff. Today, it is serious business — a platform which all sane organisations are getting to in order to attract and retain customers.

In this backdrop, businesses have realised that social media is essential to any organisation’s marketing and customer success strategy, many are still struggling to find people who can truly make social media work to their advantage concerning engagement and revenue.

If you love social media, the good news is that there are plenty of jobs out there. There are even six-figure  positions available for those who are more experienced and can grow their business and leadership skills. Some of these are:

Influencers

Influencers are people who partner with a brand to be a sort of informal spokesperson. The influencer you choose for your brand must represent both the brand and target demographic in an authentic way. You should understand the person’s reach and message, as well as the type of engagement they have with their audience.

There are many different kinds of social media influencers — from bloggers and YouTubers to celebrities and Instagrammers. In a nutshell, social media influencers work with brands to help them gain more publicity. As someone whom their followers trust and admire, they have the credibility and reach to promote brands they are passionate about — in a convincing way.

In the same way traditional publications used media kits, influencers now use them to show brands their own audience demographics as well as a host of channel analytics. Influencers are able to pitch campaign ideas to brands and show them why their audience aligns with the brands target market.

Should the brand decide to run the campaign, the influencer needs to send out professional quotes to brands to ensure they get compensated for the work they do. On these quotes, influencers are able to break down costing for brands and offer value adds just like any other business, offering a product or service.

Today the influencer ‘game’ is actually a $2.38 billion one. In most cases, influencers get to charge as per their following, engagement, reach and clout. The bigger the influencer, the bigger the budget. One can spend anywhere from Rs 10,000 to lakhs of rupees for a single post.

The skills required can vary depending on both your channel and your audience. An Instagrammer needs to be able to take and edit great photos, whereas a good YouTuber requires a flair for presenting. Bloggers, of course, need to be able to write engaging content. 

What many social media influencers have in common is an interesting personality or something that makes them stand out from the crowd. A sound knowledge of online marketing will help you to understand why social media influencers are so important to brands. Consider learning about different types of content, as well as search engine optimisation (SEO) and what’s trending within your niche. It is also worth researching your competition and looking at how they got to where they are today.

Above all, it is essential to know how social media works. If you are considering a career in influencer marketing, you are most likely already familiar with the most important platforms. Even if you use them every day in a personal context, however, it can be useful to understand their role in brand marketing.

Social media manager

Alternatively, your expert knowledge could lead you to a career as a social media manager or marketing consultant.

If so, this is the right job for you. A social media manager  leads the group and takes charge to keep an eye on what the strategy is and how to implement it. If you work for a small business, it is very easy to execute the plan but if you work for a big multinational company then several people work under you and you should know how to monitor and manage them efficiently. The growth in this profession outlook is  13 per cent.  Social Media Examiner, Copyblogger, and Sprout Social are just three of many websites that you’ll want to follow for information and ideas about how to enhance your social media strategy.

Although formal qualifications are not necessarily required, some employers may expect you to have a degree. Relevant degrees include advertising, public relations, business, digital marketing, media and journalism. Versatility is part of this career field. There are many different roles that come with different expectations and responsibilities based on the company and the size of the social media community. The same career title at five different companies could look dramatically different, contributing to the excitement of social media career opportunities.

Content creators

Content can come in many formats, with blogs, images, and videos being the most basic types. But these days there are more options to choose from and plenty of new ways to engage with audience. Temporary content like Instagram stories is an example of a simple way to connect instantly and authentically and even add some creative elements in such a way that shows your personality.

Graphic designers

Graphic designers are the people behind the beautiful and creative images on social media. They basically create images for publishing, printing and even for the electronic media. Most of the time, they need to work on software like Photoshop or Lightroom to create images to publicise a certain company or website and their content. They also create designs and motion graphics for example GIFs. They need to be well aware of how to hold the audience by their designing and graphics.

Most professional graphic designers have a foundation degree, or degree in graphic design or other art and design-based subject. You will also need a working knowledge of desktop design software, such as Illustrator, InDesign or QuarkXPress, and image-editing packages such as Photoshop.

In India, many universities offer admission to students on the basis of marks secured in the entrance examination. You may appear for the AIEED entrance exam for admissions in undergraduate and postgraduate courses. Here we have listed some examination in which you can appear for admission in graphic design courses.

• National Institute of Design, New Delhi
• Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur
• Industrial Design Centre, IIT Bombay
• Symbiosis Institute of Design, Pune
• MIT Institute of Design, Pune
• Wigan and Leigh College (WLCI), New Delhi

The road ahead

Today, social media marketing in general and influencer marketing in particular, is considered the best form of delivery for content marketing  with more tech companies hiring outright these influencers in a formal capacity.

At the end of the day, when deciding what products to purchase, personal authenticity mediated through new technology matters a lot.

And that is enough reason for you to future ready your career with social media.

Online courses

• Video Storytelling For Social Media
• GenM’s Social Media and Digital Marketing Apprenticeships
• Google Analytics Academy
• Hubspot Academy's Inbound Marketing Certification
• Social Media Marketing Specialisation, Coursera
• Viral Marketing and How to Craft Contagious Content, Coursera