How to Become a Social Media Manager with No Experience

How often have you come across some social media post of a brand and immediately sighed – “Man, I could have done this better!”? You might have even closed Instagram after that one post. 

Guess what? One of our students enrolled in Kraftshala’s Content Writing & Social Media Marketing Course gave us this insight. And we don’t blame them. Of course, they feel that way. You people have been using social media since the dawn of time. In fact, studies say that the best generation to understand social media is GenZ.   

It’s why companies actively look for young people like you to up their social media marketing game. 

And this is what the article is about – your gospel to cracking your first social media marketing job!

 

What is the Social Media Manager Role Like?

 

No, it’s not scrolling through Instagram all day. As a social media manager, you will be responsible for managing a brand’s Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn handles (all or one or some). When you manage these platforms, you will be spending your day:

 

1. Strategizing content for the brand: This will involve creating content strategies to create a content calendar, either for a week, or you could create a month’s worth of content calendar. 
2. Occasionally wearing the hat of a designer: There will be times when you’ll collaborate with designers to get creatives done for social media. Or days when you make creatives yourself. It could be a pretty carousel or a fun reel with your dog. 
3. Becoming an actor, or dancer on some days, while becoming a data analyst the next: There will be some days when you create reels, either alone or with your other co-workers. And the next moment, you could be creating a report on how the posts have performed, with engagement numbers, reach, impressions, you name it. 
4. Researching and researching, where Reddit and Twitter become your go-to places: Say, we have a huge trend going on. Like Alia Bhatt again stars in a movie (Remember Brahmastra?) and everyone on social media is talking about it. And you get an assignment to create topical content on it. How do you start? Research. 
5. Re-strategize your content, again and again. And all over again: There will be times when your content will stop performing, and your growth will become stagnant. And you’ll ask yourself, “What next?”. It’s when you’ll do a competitive analysis where you look at your competitors, understand their gig, reassess, and reiterate your content strategy.
6. Reply to your followers, on DM, on comments: Of course, you’ll be engaged in communicating with your followers, to keep them engaged and have some fun banter (a must-have). This is also called Online Reputation Management where you build a positive persona of your brand.

 

Step 1 To Becoming A Social Media Manager: Build Your Portfolio

 

Trust me, the easiest way to build your portfolio is to create a professional page on Instagram where you post content you like. 

Say, you’re a sports enthusiast, start posting about it online. 

• Create your posts through Canva for free and post them. Learn skills like video editing in this process and experiment all you like. 
• Share tips on how to get good at sports (like Cricket). Share your experience in learning the sport, and failures you have had to build trust and get people to follow you. 
• Share opinions about cricket on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you want to shitpost, all the more better. 

Once you start building your own portfolio online, you’ll also be building your personal brand. This way, people will start noticing you, and who knows you could be targeting some recruiters as well!

To become more attractive to the brands you want to work for, start posting about their social media strategies. 

• Create a post on how well their social media strategy is working. 
• Share your own opinions on how they can do better. 
• And create a better strategy for the brand to post it online. Ask about their opinions. 

In all these cases, remember to tag them. 

Step 1 To Becoming A Social Media Manager: Build Your Portfolio

 

Trust me, the easiest way to build your portfolio is to create a professional page on Instagram where you post content you like. 

Say, you’re a sports enthusiast, start posting about it online. 

• Create your posts through Canva for free and post them. Learn skills like video editing in this process and experiment all you like. 
• Share tips on how to get good at sports (like Cricket). Share your experience in learning the sport, and failures you have had to build trust and get people to follow you. 
• Share opinions about cricket on Twitter and LinkedIn. If you want to shitpost, all the more better. 

Once you start building your own portfolio online, you’ll also be building your personal brand. This way, people will start noticing you, and who knows you could be targeting some recruiters as well!

To become more attractive to the brands you want to work for, start posting about their social media strategies. 

• Create a post on how well their social media strategy is working. 
• Share your own opinions on how they can do better. 
• And create a better strategy for the brand to post it online. Ask about their opinions. 

In all these cases, remember to tag them. 

 

Step 2 to Become A Social Media Manager: Reach Out to Recruiters

 

Now that you know how to build your portfolio, the next step is to showcase yourself to recruiters and apply to companies. 

If you’re thinking about only applying to the job portals, let us let you in on an open secret – your application gets drowned in hundreds of other applications. So, your chances of getting hired go down to a negligible percentage. 

But when you have the skills for the job, you would want to stand out, right? 

Here’s how you can: 

1. Select the companies you want to work for. 
2. Go to their social media page. Absorb their social media mood: what they are creating, how you can do better, and create content for them. 
3. Find people who are in a similar role to the brands, preferably on LinkedIn. Share it with them. You can even send cold emails to them. 

But, as Ankur Warikoo says, be persistent with reaching out. It may happen that you do not get a response. That doesn’t mean you got rejected. Reach out to them, and state the solutions you have for their social media strategy. 

There’s also another way you can get hired for a social media marketing role, this time with more skills and experiences as your leverage.

There’s Kraftshala’s Marketing Launchpad Program that teaches content writing and social media marketing. Over 1300 students are now hired for in digital marketing roles including social media management for brands and agencies like Nykaa, Lenskart, Schbang just to name a few. You can also be one of them!

 

Step 3 to Becoming a Social Media Manager: Acing Interviews

 

Let’s say, you’ve gotten shortlisted for some companies that you applied for. Is that it? Now you’ve got to sit for interviews and ace them. How do you show them that YOU ARE THE FIT? 

• Prepare for questions like – 

How is LinkedIn different from Instagram? 

How is YouTube different from Instagram?

How do you select a platform for social media marketing?

Hint: Think along the lines of the target audience that the platforms cater to.

 

• Do your due diligence

For the brand, you’ll be interviewing for, create content pillars for different platforms (say Instagram) and show how you’ll go forward working for those content pillars. When asked in the interviews, tell them all about it, starting right from how you’ve created a brand strategy to creating the content pillars. 

Relevant Blog: Personal Storytelling to Crack Interviews

We hope this article helped. If you wish to learn more about acing social media marketing for brands, why don’t you go ahead and enroll in our content and social media copywriting course? See you!

 

Frequently Asked Questions

 

Q.1 Can I be a social media manager with no experience? 

Absolutely, it is possible to become a social media manager without prior experience. 

To do so, showcase your understanding of various social media platforms, trends, and strategies. Consider taking online social media marketing courses or certifications to build your knowledge, and build your portfolio using the methods shared in this blog. When you build your CV, highlight any transferable skills such as strong communication, creativity, and analytical thinking. 

To increase your chances, offer to manage social media accounts for friends, family, or small businesses pro bono or at a discounted rate to build a portfolio. As you gain experience, you can start applying for entry-level positions or freelance opportunities, emphasizing your eagerness to learn and adapt to the dynamic field of social media management.

 

Q.2 What qualifications do I need to become a social media manager?

While specific qualifications can vary, becoming a successful social media manager often relies more on skills and practical experience than formal credentials. While a degree in marketing, communications, or a related field can be beneficial, it’s essential to focus on building skills such as content creation, community engagement, data analysis, and staying up-to-date with evolving social media trends. 

Creating a strong portfolio by managing your own accounts, assisting friends or local businesses, and showcasing your ability to strategize and execute effective campaigns will play a significant role in establishing your credibility as a social media manager. Hands-on experience and a demonstrated knack for leveraging various platforms are often more valuable than formal qualifications alone.

 

Q.3 What is the hardest part of social media marketing?

One of the most challenging aspects of social media marketing is adapting to the ever-changing landscape of algorithms and platform dynamics. Algorithms that help with content visibility and engagement are continually evolving, making it difficult to maintain consistent reach and effectiveness. 

What works one day might not work the next, requiring marketers to stay agile and adapt their strategies swiftly. 

Apart from that, capturing and retaining audience attention amidst the flood of content can be daunting. Balancing authenticity with promotional goals, fostering genuine connections, and consistently producing valuable content further compound the complexity of social media marketing.