Smm specialist what to take. SMM specialist is the profession of the future! Freelancing, your own business or hired work? Which format is the most effective and in demand?
From the author: Hello, my dear readers! Today I would like to talk about the popular and, most importantly, in-demand Internet profession of SMM specialist! No one will deny that the Internet has a huge impact on the life of every person, especially social networks. On the Internet we can not only communicate, get acquainted and find different useful information, but also order services and buy goods. If you belong to the category of people who like to combine business with pleasure, if you are interested in the question: how to become an SMM specialist and earn money while sitting in your favorite social networks, then this article is just for you!
Who is an SMM specialist?
I would like to immediately note that an SMM manager is a universal specialist who manages the presence and promotion of a brand on social networks and channels, such as Odnoklassniki, VKontakte, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Moi Mir, etc.
Its main tasks are to strengthen the client’s image, increase the reach of interested audiences, process negativity, and neutralize “black PR” on social networks.
The main goal of a social media specialist is to create a positive image for his customer. An SMM manager develops a plan to promote a brand in certain social networks, organizes work to find and neutralize negative reviews, increases the audience and performs many other equally important responsibilities.
What are the responsibilities of an SMM specialist?
Before you think about how to become an SMM manager, and which SMM specialist courses to take, you should familiarize yourself with the main responsibilities and requirements for candidates for this position.
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What skills do you need to master?
So, having understood the responsibilities of an SMM specialist, you can determine the basic skills that you will have to master. First of all, you need to thoroughly know the functionality and capabilities of the social network in which the work will take place. An SMM specialist should be able to:
create groups, communities, events and public pages;
know how to get likes, classes, tweets and other manifestations of user activity;
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be able to attract subscribers and drive traffic to the customer’s website or affiliate programs.
In addition to social media skills, you need to know the basics of web design. After all, an SMM specialist must be able to create an attractive community design and know how to make beautiful “selling” pictures. To obtain these skills, you can take video courses on web design or on-site training. An SMM specialist must have a sense of beauty and be a versatile person. It will be equally useful to learn the basics of SEO promotion and video and photo editors.
Where to study to become an SMM specialist?
Despite the fact that an SMM specialist is a very promising and in-demand profession, there is nowhere to get an education in this specialty. Since the profession is at the intersection of IT and marketing, a common requirement for candidates is high computer literacy - basic knowledge programming languages, principles of building and filling websites, knowledge of various applications and tools.
How to become an SMM manager if there is no such specialty in universities? There are only two ways to gain basic knowledge: take part-time courses or master the necessary skills yourself. Moreover, the second option is no less effective, because now on the Internet you can find a huge number of books, video courses and articles on any topic.
It is not necessary to look for courses directly on SMM; you can start by studying web design and HTML, then master the skills of working in photo and video editors, take and learn the basics of SEO promotion.
Why should you choose the profession of an SMM specialist?
If, after you found out how much you will have to study to become a professional in the field of SMM, the desire to move towards your goal only became stronger, then here are the main advantages of this profession:
none of your friends will know exactly what your work is about. After the phrase “I am an SMM manager,” everyone will listen to you meaningfully, and if you also clarify that you work in social networks, then they will also envy you;
you will always be aware of all Internet jokes, because this will be part of your responsibilities;
if you work in an office, then no one will ever be able to forbid you to be on social networks;
you will receive job offers regularly. After all, if you become a professional in your field, it will be quite difficult not to notice you on a social network;
after about a year of work, you will learn to look at the world with different eyes and stop being offended by people (all conflicts for you will simply be working with objections);
Working as an SMM manager, you will become an interesting and versatile person.
Of course, it is impossible to list all the advantages of working in the SMM sphere, because they open up differently for everyone. If you are ready to work hard, open up to new knowledge and strive to reach your goal without sparing yourself, then success is guaranteed! Did you like the article? Subscribe to our blog and share with friends. See you again!
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We started learning about what marketing is back in 1992. A sharp leap in the development of the Internet - and now the profession of SMM specialist, Web master, content manager appeared... And several dozen more similar - strange and mysterious names have firmly settled in the vacancies section and are heard every day.
And many people wonder what SMM is and who are SMM specialists, and what do they do? Today I’ll tell you about the important things I use from their work to run my blog, and I’ll go into detail about the basic requirements for the profession, which, of course, change quite quickly. All this is in new article GQ Blog Monitor.
What is SMM (Social Media Marketing)?
SMM stands for Social Media Marketing, or a set of activities that are implemented on social networking sites. Their goal is to promote a product, company or brand, thus earning their income on social networks. It is difficult to determine the main job responsibilities smm specialist, because often this is the role universal soldier, therefore, who he is, how he differs from a designer or manager, and what a professional does is determined by the requirements for a particular project, depending on the complexity and scale.
SMM specialists - this area includes many tools with which you can increase the number of potential consumers, loyalty and trust in the seller, thereby indirectly influencing sales growth. SMM tools include:
- creating blogs, communities, groups and systematically filling them with high-quality unique content;
- communication with the audience;
- hidden marketing;
- direct marketing;
- advertising;
- viral marketing;
- others.
The work of SMM refers to dynamic processes, during which specialists not only follow new trends, but create them themselves. They quickly react to changes in the opinion of the target audience and know how to effectively guide it.
Responsibilities of an SMM specialist
An SEO specialist must always be on alert and promptly respond to changes. His responsibilities include not only leading groups, as many might think. An SMM manager is a very difficult job, in which you need to know and be able to do a lot, and do even more. Main tasks to complete:
- Strategy. The first thing an SMM specialist does is develop a step-by-step action strategy for the project. It doesn't matter what exactly he will promote. To be effective, it is necessary to determine the target audience, its behavior, find suitable platforms, etc.
- Advertising. An advertising campaign is planned both within social networks (promotions, flash mobs, competitions) and targeting. , which I have already spoken about in detail.
- Creating quality content. Photos, videos, texts, blogs, press releases are written independently or with the involvement of contractors (SEO specialist, designer, photographer).
- Creation and maintenance of corporate accounts, groups, communities on social networks. And directly there is work for those who are looking for ways to make money on VKontakte and other social platforms:
- Posting content;
- Feedback from the target audience;
- Increasing positive user activity and reducing negative activity;
- Integration of corporate websites with social networks;
- Viral advertising;
- Other.
- Monitoring, analytics and statistics of the project.
- Reporting.
In their work, SMM is not limited to several social networks. Large-scale work is being carried out across the entire segment of the Russian-speaking Internet: VK, Facebook, “MoiMir”, “Google”, OK, Instagram, Twitter, LiveJournal, Telegram, and other sites for making money on the Internet. And if you want to know how to work with each of them, read the finished material. A wide range of work tasks requires a number of qualities and skills that every successful SMM manager should have. It’s interesting, but as a rule, freelancing is chosen for partnership.
Requirements for an SMM specialist
Naturally, in order to perform such a large amount of work, a person who wants to do this must have certain character traits and skills. This is not making money on Instagram, which many, even beginners, can do, although it has its pitfalls, which are detailed in the material on the blog. There are quite a lot of requirements presented by employers. The main ones:
- Communication skills: a specialist must be able to find common language with any user, even a negative one.
- Preferably completed training with a certificate or diploma of an SMM specialist.
- Creativity: Like the profession of a blogger, which I closely introduced you to in one of my materials, the work involves creating unique content that would be interesting to the target audience and distributed through reposts and links. In addition, SMM is a creative direction and requires, in addition to standard technologies, unusual and bright solutions.
- Professional development: the field is developing dynamically, new methods and tools are appearing, and an SMM manager must always be “on the wave.”
- Analytical mindset and ability to work with large volumes of information: leading groups requires a quick response to comments, questions, suggestions, objections.
- Focus on a positive result: any actions, even unsuccessful ones (and they happen - you can’t do without mistakes) should not become a reason to give up. A good SMM specialist, after analysis, will always be able to turn even an unsuccessful decision in the right direction in order to continue making money on the Internet without investment.
- Self-organization: work requires a lot of action, both online and offline, so planning is essential. It’s difficult, but there’s no other way in successful SMM.
- Good command of the Russian (ideally also English) language and the ability to clearly and succinctly express thoughts: writing texts for the target audience by a person involved in the project and knowing it inside and out.
- It's good to have a sense of humor everyday life, and if you are an SMM specialist, you can’t live without it. Statistically, it works best viral advertising, which consists of short funny phrases or pictures. Moreover, the audience of social networks is young people who are interested not only in how to make money as a student, but also crave “bread and circuses.”
One of the best indicators of an SMM specialist’s activity is the ability to create “viral” content that can arouse deep interest and strong emotions: users are ready to share it with friends, and the content spreads across the Internet like a virus.
Experience
Unfortunately, this profession is not taught in universities - the direction is quite new. Where to gain experience if it is required? The closest people to this profession are specialists in the field of journalism, marketing, information technology, advertising, design. When analyzing the proposed vacancies, many employers will want the specialist to disclose which SMM projects he worked in and show his portfolio.
You can gain experience by starting to lead small groups or public pages, or organize your own website, and use it as an example to start self-learning. You can take SMM specialist courses - there are plenty of them online now. Thus, work experience is accumulated and income increases significantly, for example, earnings in contact.
Knowledge of graphics programs
It is advisable to know at least the basics of working with graphic editors: high-quality content will not create itself, and the designer will have to pay. And not a little. Therefore, if you have a basic level of knowledge of Corel and Photoshop, that's great. If not, you should master it: there are also enough courses on the Internet, including video lessons, that will help in this simple task. Some courses on free training not only reveal the secrets of complex SMM tasks, but also open up the opportunity for beginners to practice creating projects, advertising banners, images, turning them into real specialists.
Knowledge of marketing strategies
A marketing strategy is the planning, organization of activities and work of an enterprise in the direction where it is possible to take into account as much as possible all possible aspects that impede the implementation of planned impacts and minimize the risks of their occurrence. Internet marketing differs little from traditional marketing: the main task is to obtain high results through minimal costs, and reduce costs through the implementation of effective actions. The difference is that for each individual company, product, service - new project - an individual strategy is developed, with a set of the most suitable tools. This is not just a specialist, he is a full-fledged SMM manager with an original approach.
Experience in targeted advertising
If in the case of contextual advertising(impressions of ads on the topic open pages) everything is clear, then targeting is tied to a specific user or target group. Ads are customized based on a group of characteristics: location, gender, age, education, status, personal data. Therefore, you need to know how to configure services and programs such as Cerebro Target, Google Analytics, Yandex.Metrica, Yandex.Direct, Google Adwords, Runner, Facebook targets, VK targets, Target Mail. Customers say that it is very difficult to hire not just a specialist, but a generalist who is ready to learn, and SMM values endurance, flexibility, quick thinking and assessment of the future situation.
Other
An SMM specialist deals with many borderline areas of knowledge, so it will be an additional advantage if he understands:
- SEO promotion;
- e-mail - marketing;
- CRM and web analytics;
- IT systems;
- Knows how to organize various online advertising campaigns.
How to become an SMM specialist
I will highlight 2 main ways. The first is SMM training (SMM, SEO, CRM, analytics, statistics and the list goes on). Obtaining special knowledge and skills (working with programs and utilities - video editors, graphic modules). To begin with, in order to build up a portfolio and get better at it, you can run public pages, blogs, groups for free or for a nominal fee. The level is more difficult - start your own project and experiment on it. The second option is to take specialized SMM courses from already experienced specialists.
When the task is to find an experienced SMM specialist as quickly as possible, the customer is concerned about skills and knowledge, and much less often about having a diploma.
Average prices for SMM work and accompanying services in 1 social network (in rubles)
Service name | Price |
---|---|
SMM promotion | from 10,000 rubles |
SMM and SEO promotion | 15,000 - 18,000 rubles |
Creating and maintaining groups | 20,000+ rubles |
Attracting new clients | 10,000 - 15,000 rubles (depending on intensity) |
Lead generation | Individual calculation depending on hot buttons and conversion. The minimum price is 100 rubles, the maximum is 15,000. |
Online advertising | from 12,000 rubles |
Driving traffic | 8,000 - 10,000 rubles |
Internet, telephone, email marketing | 20,000 - 22,000 rubles |
I specifically focus on the national average, and not exclusively on the capital and other densely populated regions. To compile the table, I was guided by the current open prices of some popular agencies.
An SMM specialist is a new profession, and therefore is in demand more than ever. The main quality of an SMM manager that will be useful to him is the desire for professional development and self-organization.
Where to look for work?
When all the theoretical skills have been mastered, you can choose one of the options:
- independent search;
- freelance exchange;
- digital agency;
- employment for a vacancy;
- happy accident.
Independent search for SMM specialists - clients is quite complicated, so the best possible options- road to freelance exchanges (Plibber.ru, FL.ru, FreeLance.Ru, Frilansim.ru, assistor.ru and others). There you can gain experience in running low-paying projects and, at the same time, expand your portfolio. You can try to get a job in a digital agency or in one of the vacancies for permanent employment - the former are happy to hire young specialists with a fresh look, the latter do not want to overpay the agencies, so they hire a specialist on a salary. Often it is this specialist, like a copywriter, who looks for work on his own, reaching out to customers.
Your clients
You can find clients in many places:
- among acquaintances;
- creating a post on social networks;
- using the SMM planner service;
- on the job site;
- in communities and SMM forums;
- by posting your resume.
Due to the fact that everything more companies strive to quickly enter and quickly strengthen their leadership positions in the Internet market, the SMM niche will be in demand. There are not many specialists, so there will always be work.
Cost of SMM work
According to various estimates, you can earn from 20,000 to 100,000 rubles per month. Vacancies of employing companies value the services of an SMM manager, whom they are willing to hire, from 30,000 to 60,000 rubles, digital agencies - a little higher. The more effective smm promotion, the higher the salary. Experienced freelancers say that with 100% workload, the 150,000 figure is easy to overcome. It all depends on the time you are willing to spend on work.
We examined one of the new and popular areas of activity on the Internet and assessed the prospects for mastering a new profession as an SMM specialist. For those who are not ready to work in a boring office five days a week for 8 hours, this option is perfect. Indeed, in most cases, the SMM manager plans his own time, and even spends the whole day spending time on social networks. I believe that SMM is the future, and the direction will develop steadily, because we all spend most of our free time on the Internet. The need to use promotion, form and implement competent marketing for a product or service brings smm to high level with a good salary.
The profession of SMM manager is confidently gaining popularity among progressive Russian (and not only) youth. And this is not surprising: active computerization of commercial activities requires the participation of specialists in promoting online sites, manufactured or sold goods, and services provided. This is precisely what SMM managers are required for – specialists in working with content and social networks.
Smm manager: responsibilities
Why do you think some posts receive tens or even thousands of likes, while others go unnoticed? It’s simple: the post was made effective by a professional SMM manager who knows how to create “catchy” texts, use “explosive” topics and create “bright” titles.
He is well versed in the environment of social networks, understands their functionality, marketing, psychology, copywriting, SEO. He knows how to work with a special, unique, narrow-profile audience, and easily determines the preferences of the target group. Often SMM specialists are familiar with the work graphic editors, understand layout and programming. Another important plus is excellent knowledge of Russian or another working language.
Promoting websites on social networks is an extremely dynamic process that requires an active lifestyle, constant development, the ability to process enormous amounts of information, and adherence to strict deadlines. In addition, the specialist must be able to use analytics sites, track user behavior and interesting at the moment topics.
Job responsibilities of an SMM manager
- Development of a website/product/service promotion strategy. The manager, independently or with the help of in-house marketers, determines the target audience, its needs, interests, monitors behavior, placement and location on the network. The SMM specialist also develops a loyalty system for target visitors of the Internet resource and improves the usability of the site.
- Development of an online advertising company. The employee prepares a plan for advertising online, determines its budget, directions, and monitors changes in conversion.
- Monitoring the company's online reputation. The specialist monitors public opinion about the quality of the company’s services/products, directs user opinions “in the right direction,” works with problem clients, complaints, objections, and removes negative reviews or “hot” comments from the site that could harm the company’s reputation.
- Creating and posting quality content. As a rule, employers often require experience in writing articles, posts, creating and editing pictures, and video editing skills from an SMM manager.
- Posting information about the company on social networks. This is one of the main responsibilities of an SMM specialist.
- Analysis of competitor activity. The employee monitors the activity of competing companies on the Internet, analyzes their work methods and adopts the most effective ones.
An SMM manager can work both remotely and in the office on a 5/2 schedule. (Read the link for why one of the most promising forms of labor.)
A lazy, measured person who types phrases on the keyboard with one finger will clearly not like this profession.
That is why recruiting managers pay attention to the following qualities of candidates for this position:
- analytical skills;
- strategic planning skills;
- experience of successful forecasting;
- communication skills;
- broad-minded, quick learner;
- stress resistance;
- sense of humor.
How much does an SMM specialist earn? In different ways, depending on the regions. For example, in Moscow he can earn 30-80 thousand, a professional with 5 years of experience can find a job for 100-120 thousand rubles. In addition, SMM managers often create personal communities, successfully promote them on social networks and make good money from advertising.
You can learn important skills in this profession from this video: