The social media landscape is developing and increasing by the day.

Demand for social media managers is expected to rise in Nigeria as more companies embrace online as part of sales and interaction with the buying crowd.  To develop and earn a living as a social media strategist/manager here are five (5) must haves;

1. SM Tools – You must have very good knowledge of various social media tools, apps and options. Getting to know only the leading socials (facebook, Twitter LinkedIn) isn’t enough for a Social Media person. Google +, Wordpress, Bebo, Hi5, Netlong, Xing, Badoo etc are some other networks you should have varying knowledge of.
2. SEO know how – If your brand or product can’t be found online at the slightest search, of what salt is your job as a social media manager worth? SEO and social media are generally linked by content and SEO has great impact on a manager’s online strategy. If your job as a social media manager, ask yourself if your strategy is addressing the following:

• How will I promote blog content on social media?
• Do i understand the connection between exposure on social media and increased search rankings?
• Do i know how driving traffic to the company’s website impacts the bottom line?

3. Expertise on social media – A good social media manager must have good social media skills.This includes knowing what type of content works best on what platform, optimizing content accordingly, as well as understanding the different norms of each platform.They should know how to engage an audience through social media posts and interactions, and should hopefully find some joy in doing just that. Social media is one of those skills that is not as easy as it may seem to the untrained professional, so you need an expert who can truly take your brand’s online presence to the next level.

4. Mastery of Social Media tools – Lionel Messi is a master of the art of football, same also Lebron James in Basket ball, Serena Williams in Women’s Tennis, all these are masters of their game.A good SM Manager must have gone through specialized training as offer at our centre to effectively understand and harness key SM apps, programs and systems to help his work efficiently. Being online is a 24hour thing and knowing how to stay online real time using various modes and strategy will stand you out in your career.

5. social media Contenting and Calendar – A good content and a planned social media calendar for the day, week and month is a must have for an SM Manager. Developing good contenting includes copy writing skills, visual intelligence and updates attitude. Having a work calendar makes your work less stressful and gives room for feedback reaction and eliminates room for error.

Interested in developing a career as a social media strategist? Join Festac E-Learning  Centre for a one month course in social/digital/online media marketing and management. Click here.

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