Hey reader, I got quoted on Nigeria’s Top Business Newspaper – Success Digest! Yay!
It feels good to know that journalists are watching what you do online (facebook) and seek you out for a story to write about in their newspaper.
Here’s the copy of the magazine with my article encircled below:
Read the full story below.
Earn N120,000 Monthly Managing Social Media Networks For Companies And Organisations
Since the advent of varying social media networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+, LinkedIn, badoo, etc, on the internet, life has never remained the same for everyone.
It’s amazing the way social media has become a part of our lives even at the global level. It has gone beyond connecting just with friends, family, groups etc. In fact, the social media fever has also caught up with organizations at all levels.
Social media participation has become a must for companies globally including Nigeria. They are all looking to get publicity, capture new leads, create awareness and communicate directly with fans.
The Challenge and your opportunity
According to Caroline Wabara, a female online marketing consultant, the challenge right now bothers on how these organizations can manage their online social media profile. They do not have the luxury of time in the world to monitor what people and especially fan page followers are saying about their brands online. They do not have the time to engage their fans with fresh posts daily. This challenge therefore creates a gap that needs to be filled which is where a social media marketing manager comes in!
Big job opportunity for social media managers
As a social media manager, your job is to become the “face or spokesman” of the company. You do this by telling attractive stories that gets liked, gets your fans talking about in a positive way throughout the social media community. Companies pay juicy fees to experts who can take care of their online community. This is one opportunity that is not fully explored. Caroline Wabara is life proof playing in this niche because she has about four clients she manages their online social media pages.
Some of her clients operate in the oil and gas, logistics, clothing and electrical/electronics industry.
So how do you qualify and build a successful career out of social media management? Well these steps will be a guide.
8 Easy Steps to Land a Social Media Manager Job Offer
1. Have the Communication Skills & Passion:
To start out in this career as a social media manager, you must have a level of competence in some basic skills. First, you must possess very good communication skills with people. You must be very good in copywriting. And then have persuasive skills. You need to be a good listener, have a sense of humour and lastly, the passion to succeed in this business.
2. Do online research:
Caroline asserts that she didn’t wake up one morning to start this business. She explained, “I stumbled on this idea while surfing the internet and landed on two websites – mashable.com and sitepoint.com – where I read two articles on “social media marketing” and “7after-support services that web designers can offer their clients to generate multiple streams of income.”
Coincidentally, I was offering just web design services to clients at the time and nothing more, so I began to brainstorm and drummed up more services that I could offer my
clients which on my website and that was how my career as a social media manager was born. So my advice is that you engage in doing research and reading related books and blogs on the subject to get more clarity.” She concluded.
3. Get your pricing right:
Once you have acquired the knowledge and made your career choice, decide on your pricing by calculating the cost of social media marketing and management and know your profit at the end of the month.
According to Caroline, sha has about four corporate clients she handles their portfolio. She charges some of them as as low as N30,000 naira each. If you multiply that by four clients, she will be having N120,000 per month. She earns that figure while having fun growing and managing their social media community.
Truth is, you can earn much more than this depending on your ability to negotiate and the type of client. You can also make extra cash when you recommend the pay-per click advertising package to your clients. Caroline does this and earns her commission from it as well.
4. Create and Promote Your Brand:
Once you are certain you have what it takes to deliver as a social media manager, then you don’t go to sleep. You don’t go to sleep. You need to begin to spread word about what you can offer your prospect. Caroline said her ideal tools includes; a keyword-rich blog that is search-engine friendly. She has a social media presence on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Google+ and Pinterest.
Make sure you fill out your bio with the services you render and your blog’s url. Upload a good photo in the avatar and sync your social media profiles with each other.
Then start connecting with others in your community by blogging, posting and tweeting valuable information, discussing hot topics, trends and helping others achieve their goals, this will make people begin to see you as an expert.
At the same time, let your friends know what you do for a living and how to contact you. Have fun doing it.
5. Automation tools to the rescue:
Now, you are not a machine and you got to eat and sleep, therefore you cannot spend the whole day staring at your computer or mobile screen and listening for conversation around your brand or trend. Therefore you need to create a social media marketing schedule using www.hootsuite.com. With this free tool, you can craft 140-character messages with photos that you can post on all your social media pages like Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and Linkedin for up to 30 days. This is a “set and forget” automated system. What’s more, you can monitor your pages from your hootsuite dashboard for comments, likes, and inquiries. Also integrate mailchimp’s email marketing web form on your blog and facebook page for capturing your reader’s contact info (i.e. name, email and phone number). It would be great for future follow-ups via email and mobile marketing.
6. How to source for clients:
If you have started doing the following in step 4, then you won’t have a problem sourcing for clients. You could also try targeting a specific audience through the use of Facebook adverts. With as little as $10 you could get new leads. Then try contacting and telling your old clients, family and friends about the services you render. I got my present clients through networking on Facebook and referrals from family & friends. Another method is to search local business pages on Facebook, take a critical look at their pages for any problem then contact the company via phone or email with your proposal to help them manage their community and increase sales. This method has worked for me too.
7. Managing Your Clients’ Community:
Once you have landed the contract, ask your clients what goals they would like to achieve with social media marketing and then go ahead to create their pages. You can make use of automated tools like hootsuite, bufferapp to engage your community. Then start engaging the fans by using creating posts such as motivational quotes, promotional messages, Question & Answer topics, free giveaways, attractive company photos, tips on how to utilize the company’s products and services.
These types of posts will get your clients’ fans talking, liking, retweeting, and sharing in no time, thereby making your client’s brand likeable on social media. For twitter, make use of the hashtag (#) followed by keyword.
8. At the End Of The Contract:
Send your clients a monthly report of the step-by-step progress you made with their accounts using Microsoft Excel & PowerPoint template, Facebook insight, Google Analytics, hootsuite dashboard. They will definitely love you for this.
Don’t forget to ask them if your marketing had any impact on their bottom line. Ask questions like; if any fan contacted them for more inquiries, any new prospects, new sales, etc? These questions will help you fine-tune your marketing skills and more. Also, don’t forget to ask them if they would like to renew their contract with you.
This is how you go about making a successful career out of social media marketing.
