What Does it Take to Become a Social Media Expert? 7 Skills You Need

Think you have it in you to become a social media expert? Here are 7 essential skills for being successful in your field.

In 2019, marketing solutions came in as the fastest-growing segment for LinkedIn at 44 percent.

Social media experts fall into this category. Their job is to use marketing trends — specifically those on social media — to help businesses and brands grow. As social media continues to grow, so does this field.

Think you have what it takes to become a social media expert? Read on for 7 skills you need to become one.

1. Organization

Sometimes you’ll work full-time for one client. Sometimes you’ll freelance, or work part-time for multiple. Maybe you have your own business.

No matter the circumstance, it’s important to manage yourself with it. This means creating a system for yourself.

It’s important to keep yourself on track, especially as a social media expert. Creating a posting schedule for yourself can make things a lot easier.

If you have a regimented system for each platform, it becomes easier to focus more on what you’re posting rather than when you’re posting it.

This reigns true for every other portion of your job. The organization is key to holding every small detail together.

2. Read and Translate Analytics

Whether it’s for your own business or someone else’s, understanding the analytics of the platform you’re on can help you understand what does and doesn’t work best for your target audience.

Translating these analytics to people that don’t understand is another skill in itself, but you should be able to do it effectively do so. It helps you and your clients in the long run.

3. Creative Eye

No, you don’t need to a full-fledged graphic designer. You do need to have an eye for content creation though.

Whether you’re creating images, advertisements, and videos yourself, or you have designers doing it for you, you’ve got to know exactly what it is you’re looking for so it can be effectively executed.

Being able to edit and crop your images for free is an important tool, but you also have to have a grasp on what makes an image good enough to post.

4. Adaptability

Keeping up with — and being able to use — the latest trends and technology helps you maintain an audience as a social media expert. The way you do things one month may not translate well into the next.

You’ve got to be able to adapt quickly so you can keep your social media accounts ahead of the game. Maybe even one step ahead.

5. Self-Editing

Sometimes, you have to create a post by yourself. You won’t always have editors and PR teams behind you, and you definitely won’t always have the opinions of others around.

Being able to create your posts, and then self-editing what you’ve written makes you more credible. You lose audience members with every spelling or grammar error.

6. Connectivity

Engage your audience and your clients. This means connecting with others through comments, likes, stories, and even giveaways and direct messages.

7. Keep an Eye on Personal Accounts

Think of your social media accounts as a portfolio. Having a solid grip on your social media accounts lets others know you can handle theirs.

Remember, You Have What It Takes to Be a Social Media Expert

These 7 tips may make becoming a social media expert seem like it’s hard to do, but it can be done, and you should at least try it.

Social media experts help others manage their brand and know exactly what it takes to build one. You have exactly what it takes to build a brand, and help others do the same.

If you’d like more business idea or advice, check out the rest of our blog.

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