How to become a successful social media consultant
Nowadays, social media is an important component of any business’s marketing strategy.
There are over 3.2 billion people on social media globally. With such a large potential audience, it’s becoming essential for every company to use social media to reach new prospects, boost brand awareness, and market their products or services.
If a company doesn’t have the resources to staff a social media team in-house, they aren’t out of luck — as an alternative, they can hire a social media consultant to help them increase their social media presence and grow traffic to their social accounts.
How to Become a Successful Social Media Consultant
1. Build a portfolio of case studies, and produce and publish content that proves your worth.
Keith Kakadia, Founder and CEO of Sociallyin.com, told me — “My advice to anyone who is trying to build a portfolio of clients as a social media marketing consultant would be to do a few things, starting with building out your portfolio of case studies. Many clients want to see the work you have done in the past for others successfully.”
2. Create an engaging Instagram account.
Simone, a social media consultant and Founder of Savvy Simone, told me — “If you are hoping to become a successful Social Media Consultant, the first thing to do is create an Instagram and post frequently. Don’t worry too much about a logo or a polished website, that can come later.”
3. Timing is critical.
Amy Bishop, owner of Cultivative, LLC. and a Digital Marketing Consultant, told me it’s critical you remain practical when deciding when, and how, you’re going to create your own business — “Timing is typically one of the most difficult factors in deciding when to go out on your own. Only you will know when the time is right, but I suggest saving up about three to six months’ worth of living expenses, just in case things don’t go as planned.”
4. Network, network, network
Building your network of industry professionals can be just as important as building your client base.
Jon-Stephen considers networking part of the job. “Schedule some time each day to dive into conversations on Twitter and LinkedIn, write your own posts, and build yourself up as an expert in your field. Make it a habit like an exercise.”
5. Establish expertise
Keep up with social media news and exhibit your expertise. Here are a few ways to do so:
- Blog—for yourself and as a guest writer for visibility
- Be a guest speaker on podcasts
- Chat on Twitter Spaces and Clubhouse rooms about your craft
- Keep up on social trends
- Start an email newsletter
6. Practice what you preach
A good part of your time as a consultant involves self-promotion and establishing expertise. No one will hire someone who can’t demonstrate that they know what they’re talking about.
Set up a website featuring case studies and past work, and keep up with your social channels. Potential clients will research your pages—you don’t want them to see that you haven’t Tweeted in two months.
What Does a Social Media Consultant Do?
Before we get into the details of what a social media consultant does, let’s start with the definition. Social media consulting can be defined as the “processes used in order to reach and engage with customers using social media platforms and channels”.
This function is carried out by consultants, who are hired specifically for this mission. Many times it is their full-time job, but in other cases, they may be someone who provides freelance services. Social media consultants can help you achieve the following:
Social media consultants can help you achieve the following:
- Higher acquisition and retention rates
- Better ROI from social media efforts
- Effective social media strategy
- Deeper knowledge of social media throughout relevant departments
What are the pros and cons of being a social media consultant?
With self-set hours and locations, you have more flexibility as a consultant. And according to recent data, consultants, and freelancers can have higher earning potential and a wider salary range than other social media professionals.
But remember—you’ll be a business owner. That means unless you have the money to outsource, you have to do the accounting, billing, tax payments, marketing, sales pitches, content development, and networking.
Strategy
Consultants will take a long, hard look at your current social media strategy and its performance. Their trained eye will be able to identify your strengths and weaknesses, what needs to be improved, and what is working well. They will also need to look at your business goals to create the proper strategy to support them or adjust your goals accordingly. This will allow them to develop a personalized social media strategy you can implement to help you reach your business objectives and improve your online presence.
ROI
One of the most important aspects of social media marketing is the ROI it gives your business. In many cases, companies that are not using effective social media strategies are left with poor ROI and are unsure why. This is a great example of where a social media consultant can come in. Not only can a consultant give an overview of the efforts the company has made and what has resulted from it, but they can also go in to fix anything that is preventing a higher ROI.
Analysis
Analytics are essential to tracking your performance on social media. When you monitor your analytics, you can see if you are meeting your goals and objectives and if you are not, where you might need to make improvements. However, analytics and raw data can be overwhelming and difficult to decipher. While there are a myriad of amazing tools to help you gather and study this data, it still may be difficult to know if you are doing everything right. This is where a consultant can help you: not only can they point you to the right social media management tools that are the best match for your business, but they can also teach you how to decipher and pick out the key information you can use to measure your performance and ROI.
Ready to be a social media consultant?
It may not be easy, but becoming a social media consultant can be incredibly rewarding. If you think this is the job for you, do your research and follow our social media consultant checklist below to start strong. For any updates for social media consultants visit my site.
