Marketing To The Social Folk

Social media marketing has joined the ranks of today’s mainstream careers and has become a lucrative field for young professionals. Nimi Jayachandran discovers the viability of working in this digital environment

WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA MARKETING?

Technology has led to many new inventions and the opening of new portals for business as well as leisure. Society has grown to be more dependent on the internet as the primary source of information. In particular, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are popular among people of different age groups. This makes such sites a popular platform for marketing through the use of target audience tailored advertisements. Social media marketing is the process of gaining attention by means of various social networking sites.

HOW IS IT DOING NOW?

Social media marketing has gained a lot of popularity and has grown to be a favoured method of advertising because of its ability to reach the target audience at a faster rate. Using this marketing method, brands can present their products in an attractive manner which can immediately be shared via users’ profiles on different social media sites. The advantage of such a marketing technique is multifold. It generates a word-of-mouth-type response which spreads extremely quickly. In addition, when the advertised product is spread through networks, people tend to build a sense of trust since the information comes from a known person. With the use of social media sites as a platform of marketing also comes the added advantage of being able to select and market to the exact audiences required.

QUALIFICATIONS REQUIRED

Being a relatively new and upcoming field, there is no standard educational path to follow for those interested in working in social media marketing. Many employers prefer those with a bachelor’s degree (or higher) in communications, journalism or marketing. Internationally, colleges have started to introduce degrees tailored to those interested in working with social media marketing
specifically. In India, private educational institutes have launched certificate courses and workshops for the same.
Another option available to those looking to go through a traditional educational route is to obtain a Masters in Business Administration. Most programs offering an MBA today extensively cover digital marketing and social media coursework.

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS

For those interested in going into social media marketing, it is important to have exceptional writing skills coupled with a good knowledge of computer and communication skills. It is also important to understand how social media marketing works.

WORK PROFILES

Typically, the job of a social media marketer is to increase awareness of a certain product amongst consumers through the use of digital media (i.e. social networking sites, search engines, etc). Social media marketers are required to have vast knowledge of the internet and specifically social networks in order to get information to the target audience. The following are popular designations and work profiles in social media marketing:

Social media strategists

* Analyse marketing campaigns and decide which digital networks will launch their product for maximum audience reach.
* Regularly monitor site traffic to determine success rate of a campaign.
* Develop and maintain the company’s own social media site.
* Meet clients and strategise digital marketing techniques.
* According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the annual median salary of the strategists for the year 2012 was $119,500.

Social media managers

* Help in developing marketing plans.
* Monitor writers and other team members involved in a marketing campaign.
* Monitor the company’s presence on various social networking sites.
* May have responsibilities similar to that of the social media strategists.
* May be given work involving public relations and communications.
* Their median annual income in 2012 was $54,150.

Social media sales representatives

* Actively look for clients who are looking to venture into social media as a means of marketing.
* It is important for these people to build contacts and create a network of potential clients.
* Also meet with existing clients to create new proposals and ideas to market each one’s product/service.
* Their median annual income as of 2012 was $46,300.

THE FUTURE

It has become a huge challenge for advertisers and manufacturers to market their products to the public in intelligent and innovative ways. Social media marketing offers the means for manufacturers to directly communicate with their target audience while tailoring their message to suit their consumers. Social media networks are also a direct platform for consumers to speak to brands when needed. Thus social media marketing is a win-win situation which will continue to grow exponentially.

COURSE CANVAS

• BSc Social Media Marketing (online), Southern New Hampshire University
• Social Media Marketing, University of Sydney
• MA New Media Journalism, Full Sail University
• Social Media Certification, Digital Vidya
• PGP Marketing Communications, Northpoint Centre of Learning
• Professional Diploma in Digital Marketing, NIIT