*** This post was contributed and may contain affiliate links. If you’re a social media addict, have you ever considered a job in social media and public relations? In recent years, the business side of social media has boomed. The most viable companies now have a comprehensive and relevant social media presence. This means that social media lovers are employed purely to run the online platforms and increase social standing. Public relations is more intrinsically connected to social media now than it has ever been. They’re always looking for new faces and fresh ideas to keep media relevant. Here are 6 crucial steps to a successful social media career.
Successful Social Media Career #1: Establish An Online Presence
If you want employers to see you, back up your application with a significant, comprehensive online presence. That means you must have up-to-date social accounts. Having a Facebook profile that shows some things about you (not just photographs of your cat) and even an interesting blog will give you cred. The more extensive and connected your online presence is, the better the image it puts across to potential employers.
Successful Social Media Career #2: Don’t Ignore Any Platforms
PR and social media managers need to understand not just the main social media platforms but also the obscure ones. After all, nobody knows what the next big thing might be. While you might prefer to stick to the big ones for personal use, knowing the basic workings and features of some of the smaller sites could be a real selling point for you.
Successful Social Media Career #3: Be Relevant
Your open social media channels are the perfect way for potential employers to see your skills, so keep them relevant. Post things that are mainly about the profession. Also, demonstrate an interest and understanding of the world of social media outside the use of the platforms alone.
Successful Social Media Career #4: Be Professional
Try to keep all of your open social networking profiles clean and professional – no employer wants to see pictures of you throwing up in a trashcan on a weekend trip to Atlantic City. If you want to post those sorts of photographs, consider running two profiles, one open and professional and the other locked-down and private.
Successful Social Media Career #5: Keep the Feelers Out
Jobs come and go all the time, so it’s important to always have your feelers out in the job market. Keep an eye on websites with a list of public relation jobs – it’s all about your awareness and getting there first. Following large social media marketing groups and companies, you’d love to work for could also help you to get a head start when a job opportunity comes up. There are also companies that help business owners build up their social media following. For example, the TokMatik platform allows you to buy TokMatik TikTok likes so is one popular service that could be a great connection to the industry.
Successful Social Media Career #6: Network
As with any creative role, networking is by far the best way to create relevant connections to people in the industry, even before you take your first role. If you use your social media presence effectively, you’ll know about the next networking events in your area. LinkedIn is perfect for this type of connection.