So You Want To Learn Social Media Marketing…

Credits: Unsplash

The best way to learn anything related to Social Media involves getting your hands dirty.

In fact, that’s true for anything. The more you experiment, try, and challenge the norm, the faster you grow.

Recently, a friend of mine reached out to me on LinkedIn asking for tips on how to make a career in Social Media. Referenced below is a strategy I outlined for her along with some resources that can help along the way.

Note: this may not be the perfect path for you. So in case it isn’t, I’d love to hear your response on what works for you and how YOU learned about social media marketing.

Let’s dive in!

Take up projects.

The sure shot way to earn some quality experience points that you can later exchange for a stronger portfolio and job.

Question time!
Q: What if you don’t have the skills to take up a project, yet?

A: Learn on the fly. You’ll figure it out. Don’t promise things that you definitely know you can’t deliver but if there are things you can, stick to it. Even if you don’t know right now how to get there, you’ll figure it out.

Now, here’s how to get a project: Sign up for a freelancing website (Freelancer or Upwork — whichever suits your needs.

• Build up your profile, and start sending proposals to people who are looking for help in social media marketing. You have to realize that most of the work isn’t too complicated. So take up the easy ones first, learn along the way, and move up from there.

Note: Your first gig will be too difficult, too cheap, full of obstacles, or all of them. Don’t fret.

• Keep trying and experimenting. For everything you don’t know, there’s the internet to help you out. Post your question on Quora, Reddit, Growth Hackers and get experts to answer your questions. Learn how others did it, replicate it, tweak it, and watch the results.
• Once you have a few clients, work hard on them and learn as much as you can. Remember: this can be a bad trap as well. Don’t let your ego get filled up with positive recommendations. If that happens, you will start treating yourself as an expert and stop learning. Don’t let that happen.
• One of the saddest things that can happen in the initial days is that you become too confident in your abilities. It’s important to have a growth mindset always. At no point in time you will have all the answers, so always keep exploring. Read about Dunning-Kruger effect if you want to know how you can trick yourself sometimes.

Lastly, treat these 1–2 clients at the start as a ladder to learn more. Money shouldn’t be your priority (at least at this stage). So wait it out and learn as much as you can.

Hold on. Before you go the next section, I want to make a point.

You can also learn a lot by watching some of the brands that do really really well on social media. Remember to analyse their strategy and then ask the right questions.

• What type of campaigns do they run?
• What’s their content strategy?
• How do they engage influencers?
• What are some of the platforms they dominate on and why?
• What are their key drivers of engagement?
• What types of paid ads are they running (you can now check what ads any Facebook page is running by visiting their page)

Moving on…

Exercise your reading muscles.

Now, I believe that people who get up in the morning and run fare better than people who read about the “How Running Can Change Your Life” while sitting on their couch and sipping cola.

But having said that, you definitely can’t disregard the importance of courses, books, and other reading material. They add immense value and should always be used to gain knowledge.

Here’s a list of blogs and websites where you can find quality social media content. This is by no means comprehensive but the topics they cover are quite good and you’ll learn a hell lot.

1. Buffer Blog: It’s a treasure trove of social media information. Buffer is an incredible social media tool. The companies work philosophy, their commitment to learning, and their ability to continuously inspire people in the digital is amazing on many levels. Bookmark them and learn every article they write.
2. HubSpot Blog: Hubspot is one of the leaders in everything digital marketing. Their articles and studies are worth spending time on. So hop on, and read the HubSpot blog.
3. Social Media Examiner: Social Media Examiner helps millions of businesses discover how to best use social media marketing to connect with customers, drive traffic, and increase sales. So join them and learn.
4. Social Media Today: Stay updated on the latest news about social media, product launches, tips, guides, and more.

Moreover, here are some must-read books that will give you a good understanding of human psychology and behavioural economics — important components when you are making campaigns and content for social media.

• Purple Cow by Seth Godin: Seth Godin is a marketing genius. You can learn a lot about marketing in general just by reading his blogs. Subscribe to them. It will fill up your email with brilliant insights and observations.
• Predictably Irrational by Dan Ariely: Some books will transform the way you think. Predictably Irrational and Thinking Fast and Slow top the list in my opinion. Absolutely worth every minute you spend on this book. You will learn a lot about how people make decisions — which will influence how you market to them.
• Thinking Fast and Slow by Daniel Khanemann: One of the best books on what makes us tick. Definite reading.
• Contagious by Jonah Berger: Be ready with a bookmark because you will find yourself brimming with ideas.

Other notable mentions: The Art Of Thinking Clearly, The Unpublished David Ogilvy

Organize yourself.

Here are the tools and extensions you can use to stay organized.

• Feedly: Organize everything you want to read. It’s a charm.
• Evernote: Take notes using this
• Refind — Use this chrome extension and every time you open a new tab you will be in for a surprise read. It’s reading material on crack ❤.

Buffer has written a spectacular post on the courses you can take to learn about social media and marketing in general. Here’s a full list: 37 Free Online Marketing and Social Media Classes to Elevate Your Skills.

Over to you.

What are some of the ways you keep yourself updated about social media? How do you ensure you don’t fall in the over confidence trap and keep learning? I would love to hear from you!

Originally published at Prateek Keshari’s Quora.

Thanks for reading The Marketing & Growth Hacking Publication

Follow us on Twitter. Join our Facebook Group. Subscribe to our YouTube Channel. Need a sponsored post written? Contact us.

If you enjoyed this story, please recommend 👏 and share to help others find it!