What skills do you need for a job in social media?

Why should a company need to hire for their digital marketing? What skills and tools should you possess before you apply? Everyone can post a picture with a caption through social media! Simply being able to post and schedule won't make you special or stand out! Therefore, before you label yourself as a digital marketer -- especially a social media focused one -- you should be aware of the following skills and tools that will set you apart and make you valuable to your next company and during your job search:

1. Social Apps: A full understanding of most social apps and tools will help you individually and ensure your company-to-be sees results. These tools and extensions are designed to provide users with an easier and more professional experience -- and save time as well. Examples of these tools include Tweet Deck, Facebook Insights, Twitter Analytics, Google Analytics, Agorapulse, Post So, Sprout Social and Power Editor -- just to name a few. Go in and start exploring the features and learn what sets each apart so you can make recommendations and navigate their benefits.

2. Social Adverts: Managing advert campaigns through social media channels like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram is changing how companies do business. However, understanding how to set the advert campaign doesn't make you a master. Experience is the key, practice makes perfect, and broadens your knowledge of what works best to see results -- whether it's generate new leads, drive engagement or increase awareness. Wondering what are the best practices of creating a social ad?! At minimum, you should:

Understand different ads types & objectives.
Create a catchy tag line that will attract people’s attention.
Use a high-resolution image or video.
Target the right audience (The most important part!! Are these people really interested in this ad? Maybe your ads are targeting university programs, however, kids are seeing it. How does this help?? Make sure your message is being sent to the right receivers.)

Can you with build social personas? Do you have the ability to think outside the box? Over time, experience will develop your skill set and enable you to accurately build personas and audiences that will improve your results.

3. Posting on Social Media: You need to be creative, consistent, and understand posting isn't simple. Posting images on social media for yourself is different than for a client or company. Are you wondering why? Each client has its own mood board, style, logo, etc. and you have to add a suitable caption and may or may not need to be approved by the client or your higher-ups. Multiple this by the number of different channels and number of times a week and you get an idea of the workload. And guess what? If your next employer is an a digital agency, you are not doing it for one client but for several.

Digital marketing is not only about posting a picture; it is about telling a story as well! So, how you deliver the story and how you motivate and engage your audience is essential!

4. Reporting: Rather than just running a report, you need to analyse what's happening and ways you can improve. At a very beginning level you need understand the difference between impressions and reach, how different ads and posts are performing and be able to make recommendations on how you can improve.

Here is amazing quote that I think is worth mentioning: "In digital marketing, if we stop learning you die; period.“ Digital marketing and social media is expanding every day in different ways so you must keep yourself updated on a daily basis or you will find that you are out of touch.

Do you have questions about these skills or know of other ones that matter? I'd love to hear from you, so leave a comment below.

Interested in a digital marketing or social media job with Nexa? Stay tuned for openings.