As a social media marketer, one of the toughest jobs is to explain what you really do to bosses, colleagues and even your spouse. For some, social media is considered a petty task and this will lead to undermining the true ability of social media. Social media is constantly changing and evolving through the days, and this means that social media marketers need to be at the top of their game — every single day.
In today’s world, social media is so involved in every segment and industry. It can be used for a variety of reasons from building awareness to doubling the profit of a company. At the end of the day, social media marketing is very powerful and it can be extremely useful if used correctly.
Today’s article is about how do you explain social media marketing to complete beginners and to others who have no idea what it is all about.
Live dive in, shall we?
1. Explaining social media to your employers
By now, you should aware that I am a freelancer (working actively on Freelancer.com) and social media marketing is one of the services I am offering.
My usual encounter with social media marketing is as follow:
- I need social media marketing for my business and I have no idea how it works!
- My competitor has over 10,000 fans and I want the same for my Facebook page.
- I need to grow my Twitter fan base too (x) number
- Can you help me with Facebook ads? I heard it is a paid service?
The above is very common. As for the record, you do not need a social media marketer to get you fans. You can just use Fiverr services and save hundreds or thousands of dollars. That’s the easy way.
Social media marketing is huge. There are a lot of things that you can do with social media. For example:
- Increase brand visibility (most popular!)
- Grow your fan base
- Social media as a platform for support
The options are literally endless.
To answer the questions above, I usually start from the basic by asking, “What is their ultimate goal?”. Once that is answered, you can to work your way back to plan out a working strategy.
2. Explaining to your colleagues
If you work in a brick and mortar business, you would have colleagues who hate you — simply because they think you can ‘play’ Facebook all day long. Now, how fun is that?
In this part, making them understand what social media marketing is all about is a little tricky. It takes a little time and lots of patience to make them understand the concept (and how important your job role is).
One of the best methods to make them love you (and understand what you do) is by telling them about your job. Here’s how:
My job is to handle our business’s Facebook page. Did you know that our customers love to see those candid shots of the employees in Facebook? That’s why I am planning to work with you guys next week (or give any time) for some photo shots during work.
Now, pause for a moment. Look at your colleagues’ faces and most of them would be “wow” crafted on their face. With the right motivation, you can get them to work with you effortlessly and effectively!
Of course, you have to make sure that you uphold the ‘promise’ you had told them before … if you get what I mean.
3. Explaining social media marketing to your friends and family members
This could be really fun and here’s why. Do you know what’s the reaction of your friends and family members when they know that you use Facebook for work?
THEY-ARE-JEALOUS!!!
When I tell my friends that I am a social media marketer, their reaction (most of the time) will be like “Great, you have the best job in the world!” or “How cool is that, man?!”.
And this is where the explaining process starts. I tell them that my job isn’t really about ‘playing’ Facebook and Twitter all day long. Yes, my job requires me to log on these social media platforms but I do not have the opportunity to check on my friend’s status. Instead, I need to find ways to get more people to interact, consume or share the content that I’ve published.
At the end of this, half of them would like, “D*mn, that’s a freaking challenging job!” and my common reply would be “Literally, yes.”
Your friends and family members may not understand or even realize this but if they are constantly using social media, there are great chances where they are constantly engaging with social media managers without actually realizing it.
Your Role As A Social Media Marketer
Social media marketing is fun. Trust me.
Being a marketer myself for over 4 years, this is probably the most challenging task one can ever ask. There are many things that you can do with social media which until today, still ‘wows’ me.
But hear me out. Social media marketing is challenging as well. There will be times (experiencing this one too many times) where you feel that there is so much work to do and you have so little time. If you are working as a freelancer, the job just gets harder because there are timelines that you need to follow.
In order to cope up with all the stress, here are some tips that you can practice today (and yes, they really work):
- Stay a healthy lifestyle.
- Exercise once a day and it doesn’t take you long. All you need is 10 to 15 minutes of fast-paced workout is sufficient to last you for a day.
- Schedule your time, always. Have a timetable or roaster and make sure you follow the ‘T’. It helps in both short and long-term.
- Be open to your employees and tell them what changes that need to be done. Most of the time, challenges can be solved just by talking.
- Use social media tools to ease your job. They will save you a lot of time and effort especially in social media marketing.
See also: 10 Strategies to Boost Your Social Media Marketing
