If I want to pursue social media management as a career how can I achieve this?

So I would focus on those classes that get you the skills to do this. Such as video production, web design, etc. For your BA major think strategically long term. Where do you see yourself 20 years from now? Way past the entry level job? At an agency? Running your own agency? Doing something creative? There are a lot niches in advertising world from account management, to finance, producing, planning, creative, etc. Use your college education to become the person who sees the bigger picture and can manage all aspects from account management, strategy, analysis of data and trends, the design and execution of creative, including where it is placed. This is the longterm goal.

To answer your question about social media. One of the best guys out there doing it now with his own large agency is Gary Vaynerchuk. He says all the time social media is always changing and he always looking at which platform is gathering an audience and the attention of people. Because it is always changing I would say go intern and hopefully work for people like him. Work on finding the niche that you enjoy and become the best at it.

Another idea is to find small businesses and nonprofits that need social media management to cut tour teeth and learn on. This you could do while studying.

Also watch that college debt. Saleries starting out and mid level may not be so great.

I think most large companies will want a realated degree as a standard, but really not sure it matters over span of a career in this field what it is. If you can come to the table starting out with practical experience growing sales in social media space, that’s what they want. Business people I deal with want me to bring them customers.

Hello Naysa

What a great thing to take interest in! Social media is a major part in society today and more and more businesses are starting to promote themselves through social media.

My best friend left her full time job and moved to LA over 2 years ago and has not looked back since. She started off creating her content and publishing it on instagram. Fast forward to today she has attended many red carpet events, starred in a mini series called Starter Pack and worked with some amazing well known talent. The opportunities are endless and you will do amazing things in this field. My best friend writes her own scripts, edits and films everything by herself as well.

I say in school major in anything business such as marketing or management because at the end of the day your social media page and your name will eventually become a brand and nothing is more important than learning how to market yourself and remaining relevant and innovative. The best part of it all it costs nothing to start on social media and you can start building your brand today. Focus on what you would like to represent and be known for! Whether it be short comedy skits, cooking recipes, fitness or a fashion model your page is your business and will open sooooo many doors for you!

Good Luck to you!

Hi Naysa, I would love to add my opinion here. I spent almost a decade in digital marketing at a creative agency and saw a lot of change in what a "social media manager" did in that time.

It is a very fun industry, but also one that tends not to have set hours since customers can and will engage with brands at all hours of the day online. If you like a creative, high energy, and sometimes demanding role then this you're probably on the right track.

First, though, I would like to distinguish in-house social media managers and agency social media managers.

• In-House = You work for a single company, for example Coca Cola, and manage social media for that company only.
• Agency = You work for a smaller firm that is sells their services to companies that don't have an internal social media team or they need to hire temporary help (during large events for example).

That said, I would break down the role into three categories:

• Community Manager - Create posts, respond to questions, moderate comments, become the "voice" of the brand online. This is a role that requires a lot of focus, the ability to write creative copy (text), and someone who is reliable.
• Analyst - This role would look very different based on the company, but Analysts would tend to analyze trends and data and report their findings to decision makers along with recommendations. This role would always keep the business objectives of the company top of mind and be able to answer questions like 'should our brand have a Pinterest account?' or 'how can we get more traffic out of Twitter?' and have the data to back up their recommendations.
• Ad Buyer - Social media ad buying is highly sophisticated but also mostly automated. That said, Ad Buyers will be responsible for executing the creation and execution of paid advertising strategies. This is a high growth area of social media marketing, but also one that is increasingly being automated.

The size of the company or agency you would work with would determine whether you would "own" one of these roles or several. Small companies would tend to need you to do multiple jobs and is a good chance for you to learn all of the different things that go into social media management and get lots of kinds of experience. Larger companies would allow you to focus on just one thing and become an expert in that area.

In my opinion, best social media managers have a good mix of business / marketing skills and can articulate how social media efforts are impacting the goals of the businesses as well as a creative personality and a willingness to try new things.

It sounds like you have a background in rich media (video/design) which is something that is highly sought after for in-house teams. If you can offer simple video editing and animation skills to a team that can't afford to hire a full-time dedicated video person then that is a great way to show your value.

Hi Naysa,

Congratulations on receiving your associates, that is a great accomplishment! When considering becoming a social media manager, it can be useful to have a degree, however having a portfolio can be important as well. Social media is a relatively new career path, however it has a lot of opportunities. With that being said, there are colleges and degrees that are marketing based, with a focus on social media specifically. The courses within these programs review information related to classic marketing, and then how to translate that into social media. I would recommend to explore degrees in the marketing field, and read over the course descriptions to get a good understanding of what goes on within them. I would also recommend for you to utilize social media, and focus on growing your "following". This will be beneficial when it comes time to present a new idea, company, etc to others, and you can observe the impact of your work.