How to become a social media manager with no experience

You must determine whether or not you need a college degree, build a network online, and take a social media marketing course in order to become a social media manager with no experience. For details on these steps and others you can take to become a social media manager with no experience, use this guide:

• Determine if a college degree is necessary. College degrees are common for social media managers to have; however, they are not requirements.

An associate's or bachelor's degree in communications, journalism, marketing, or business can benefit your social media manager career. Sometimes employers prefer candidates with college degrees as well.

Attending college also presents you with networking and internship opportunities. These can help you gain professional experience in the field of social media.

You can also take advantage of your college experience by becoming the social media manager of a particular college club or association.

• Build an online network. To be a social media manager, you must expose yourself to as many different platforms as you can and, ideally, sign up to as many social media platforms as you can.

Use your profiles on these platforms to practice engaging with online communities. You need to practice building and maintaining online relationships with your personal social media accounts before you can do it professionally for a client, business, or company.

You should also learn about things like search engine optimization (SEO), graphic design, photo filters and software, email marketing, and blogging.

Once you reach a critical mass of growth, you can market yourself as a social media manager.

You should also seek to reach out to as many brands, celebrities, and relevant organizations as you can online. Gaining a deep contact base in social media is essential to the role of a social media manager.

To start, you can just follow the brands, celebrities, and organizations you like. Be sure to comment on and like their posts often to increase engagement.

Networking in this way can even lead to you obtaining a job in social media management. When companies see a large and engaged online footprint, they are attracted to you.

• Attend a social media marketing course. Whether you decide to get a college degree or not, you should still consider taking a social media marketing course.

These courses are available online and help you understand different skills and strategies utilized in social media marketing. These techniques are designed to boost engagement with online communities.

Some things you may learn about include creating promotional materials for different platforms, how to perform keyword searches, and how to create attractive content for specific audiences and demographics.

• Do some research on social media management tools. Different tools can be learned and used to help you manage social media accounts effectively.

Some tools assist you in performing tasks like managing more than one account on one social media platform, scheduling posts for a platform, designing and managing content, and tracking your social media campaign's performance.

Most social media management tools are effective because they help you streamline the process of your duties. Certain companies even require experience with some of these tools as a qualification for the position.

• Get an internship or volunteer to run social media for a small business. Either of these avenues is essential to building out your resume with relevant experience.

Internships can be gained at large or small companies, though these can be quite competitive sometimes. If you can get one, don't miss the opportunity because, in addition to resume building, an internship can sometimes turn into a full-time or part-time paid position.

You can also consider volunteering your services to a small business that doesn't have enough money to employ a social media manager.

Even though you'll be working for free, this is still a very valuable experience. Here you are free to experiment, make mistakes, and learn more about what works and what doesn't.

Plus, if you manage to do a great job for a small business, you can use it as leverage to get a paid position at a bigger company.