A Career In Social Media Marketing

Bailey Rose Foland

English III

24 January 2018

Mr. Alburger
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Bailey Rose Foland

English III

24 January 2018

Mr. Alburger

A Career In Social Media Marketing

Having a career in social media marketing makes one a very valuable asset to any

company. One must have the proper experience and skill under their belt to know how to make

their business, event, or product catch the attention of social media users. Nowadays, businesses

seek employees who can manage their presence on social media resources and spread the word,

along with sometimes maintaining another role within the company. One can utilize the power of

social media to benefit his/her business in many different ways. Heavy marketing and advertising

stands as a key component for success within a business, but when social media came into the

picture, it took the idea marketing to a whole other level.

Social media marketing contains its own list of skills that a person must possess for their

business or product to thrive. “Social media isn't the same as public relations or direct marketing.

It isn't a discipline. It is a superset of skills that every marketing professional must adopt and

practices every marketing plan must include (Gillin).” Social media changed the way employers

look at potential applicants. If a student wants to enter the marketing world after college and take

on that career, they must know the ins and outs of social media resources and how to fully utilize

it to spread their business name. Businesses look for these skills when considering an employee.

They want a young and savvy marketing professional who surely will increase their popularity.
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When starting a business or trying to sell a product, having proper education and

experience with marketing in all forms can make or break the business. “Knowing the audience

is of utmost importance” (Thomsett-Scott).​ ​One should know what entertains the audiences they

aim for. Different age groups or people in general require different approaches.

Social media specialists must possess writing skills that draw readers in and interest

them. These skills will benefit a the professional when trying to get viewers to read and learn

about their business/product. “You must have knowledge of media production, communication,

and dissemination techniques and methods. This includes alternative ways to inform and

entertain via written, oral, and visual media (Hobsons).” This will spark interest and cause them

to send the information to others, which then creates a buzz and gets the business name out there

in the world. Once people create a buzz, the pitch will inevitably become popular all over social

media.

A marketing professional considers college education extremely necessary. To enter this

field, one must have at least an associates degree; A two year degree in marketing or advertising.

However, a greater percentage of those employed with a high paying job, have a bachelor’s

degree under their belt. One can obtain a bachelor’s degree after they spends four years in

schooling for their major. Internships will become key when trying to get oneself known in the

industry. As a college student, working as an intern can increase any chances of having a higher

paying job when exiting college. Many businesses constantly search for a social media specialist

to run their accounts. Some internships in this field will even offer pay at an hourly wage,

depending on the varying companies.

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Hundreds of colleges all over the nation contain marketing or advertising programs. To

name a few, The University of Pennsylvania, The University of Michigan, and the University of

California--Berkeley (Hobson). These colleges became known as some of the best schools in the

country for business marketing. In North Carolina, a handful of schools containing marketing

programs include Appalachian State University, Campbell University, East Carolina University,

Elon University, High Point University, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Hobson).

Marketing programs can mean general or direct marketing. However, social media marketing, as

it becomes such a major part of the marketing industry these days, will get introduced to any

student entering the marketing or advertising field. Businesses highly recommended that one

specializes his/her major in the social media or media communications aspect of marketing,

though.

Making this a career entails graduating college and using the knowledge and skill that an

individual obtains to lock down a job and get paid for one's work and service. Businesses most

likely will hire someone with more experience within the field. Whether that experience includes

internships or special courses, they will receive a higher level job with a larger salary. Naturally,

one should seek out businesses with a large audience and following on social media. They will

most likely have more positions available to hire social media managers/specialists. However,

businesses just getting started will always need a social media marketing professional to make

their service or product known.

One can also become a freelance social media marketing professional. In this case, the

person would not work directly for a company, but would work alone and hope to get hired by

people in search of someone to control their social media appearance. The professional would
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present themselves in an appealing way on a website or other resource where people interested in

hiring social media specialists would look. The resume, biography, and job description of each

specialist will determine who gets selected for different jobs. Young and experienced

professionals with great reviews will most likely receive the majority of jobs. “In some

circumstances, social media helps brand the candidate and the company, connecting the job

candidates with positions, thus cutting out the middleman” (McCabe).Who would most benefit

the business? Who would know exactly what kind of audience the business works with and what

kind of advertisements they would like to see? A person can find a temporary or long term jobs

as a freelance social media marketer.

Well-known and large companies around the world offer high salaries and even paid

internships within them for marketing employees. The national average salary of a

marketing/advertising manager comes to around $114,700 (Hobson). Nationally, 50% of

employees in this field make at least $96,720 (Hobson). In the state of North Carolina alone, the

average salary comes to around $105,910 (Hobson). A few examples of jobs include, Associate

Social Media Manager at Warner Bros. Entertainment Group and Marketing Media Manager at

Dr. Pepper.

As a social media marketing professional, creating advertisements for products that

appeal to the audience becomes a major part of the job. “You must plan and prepare advertising

and promotional material to increase sales of products or services, working with customers,

company officials, sales departments, and advertising agencies (Hobson).” A professional must

create advertisements that present the business in a professional manner, while drawing in

interest and keeping attention. The professional’s work or words become the face of the business.
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“Avoid common mistakes, reaching your target demographics and selling artfully without

turning your followers off” (Rollender)​.​ One’s ad must stand out boldly. Keep in mind what kind

of people will set their eyes on this work.

Know what demographic the audience falls under. One should base what social media

resource or outlet they would use to reach them, off of that. For example, companies reach most

millenials on apps like Instagram or Youtube. On the other hand, ads reach the more mature

audience on older social medias like Facebook. “Social media engagement plays an important

role in the marketing mix of most businesses. Therefore, performance data will help ensure that

social media remains an important part of the integrated marketing and communications

strategies for your products and services” (Colliner). As the professional, know what will attract

who.

Another large part of the social media marketing profession includes contacting

influencers and organizations to help boost popularity. Social media “influencers” become an

important tool to heavily persuade their audiences. Testimonial propaganda becomes a strong

technique in the social media field. Businesses sponsor and pay large sums of money to

celebrities or organizations to talk about their product or name in a positive way.

From Facebook to Instagram to Youtube and Twitter, anyone can see examples of social

media marketing everywhere they look. Every time someone opens a Youtube video and an

advertisement starts playing, a marketing professional has paid money to have it shown.

Instagrammers with hundreds of thousands to millions of followers will represent brands and use

products that sponsor them and their career. For example, Liza Koshy, a famous Youtube

sensation with 13.3 million subscribers, recently became sponsored by Beats. Therefore, in her
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videos she will speak very highly of the products they produce and encourage her viewers to

purchase them, too.

Social media marketing done through the mouth of someone people love and follow has

become extremely common. If any person’s idol or favorite celebrity swears by a product, it

might influence one to purchase that same thing in order to look and become just like them. The

same thing goes for organizations or charities. If a celebrity highly supports any such things,

his/her followers may look into it as well. This doesn’t make the influencer look so bad to their

fans, either. Another real world example of using social media stars to promote a product would

include models on Instagram using a vitamin company called Sugar Bear Hair. This vitamin

helps one’s hair grow luscious and long, fast! At least they get paid to tell their audiences that.

The company targets models with beautiful hair to support their product. Consider this a smart

move on their part, because now the millions of followers become persuaded into thinking that

their hair can achieve that look, too. A social media specialist made this decision and created the

major success behind the product.

Social media marketing also plays a big role within the school system.“Social media

marketing is used to promote everything from magical skincare products to the latest weight-loss

fad. Social media marketing is also quickly becoming a tool for school officials to promote

themselves and their school districts” (Shipley). Many job opportunities arise in this aspect of

social media marketing as well. Schools advertise themselves in the public eye to make their

environment look appealing to parents looking to enroll their children in a great education space.

The same goes for colleges seeking out students interested in finding a school to attend

for the next four years. Colleges want to make themselves appear as a perfect fit for any kind of
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student. Schools that promote themselves on social media, post informative yet also entertaining

posts for anyone to find appealing. A marketing professional will retrieve beneficial images and

videos of the school environment to put out on their pages to draw in interest. “Social media is

an efficient means to communicate school achievements and upcoming events in a format the

school community understands and regularly interacts with” (Shipley). Using social media as a

resource within schools informs parents and students in a creative way. However, it remains

important that one does not publicly post unnecessary opinions or personal posts when working

in a school district.

Derek Redfearn works as the Guest Experience director at Elevation Church Lake

Norman. He has played roles identical to his current one at many other churches across the

nation, but nothing that ever reached as many people as Elevation Church does. He strives to

make every guest feel welcomed and reaches out to people as a good image of the church.

Similarly to other examples, one can consider Derek as the face of the church location. A large

part of his job involves connecting with viewers through the church’s social media page’s to

make them feel as comfortable as possible.

Derek strives to continuously draw in locals to Elevation’s Lake Norman campus. On

Elevation’s instagram page, he posts images and videos that truly capture the vibe and

atmosphere of the church as a whole. “​When people come to church, the biggest question they

ask is ‘Do I belong?’ And ‘Will I fit in?’ We try to post images that help people see that they will

fit in and that we are diverse and inclusive (Redfearn).” Basically, he will make the church come

off as appealing and satisfying. This naturally makes viewers want to experience it for

themselves.
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As a marketer for the church, Derek knows what audience​ he should appeal to. “​We

reach those who have shown interest in our church and we also target families in the community

in a 15 mile radius (Redfearn).” He claims that the social media pages try to provide a clear

picture of what guests will feel and experience when they come to the church. People like to

know what to expect when trying something new. “People want to know what your business or

organization is going to do for them, grab their attention and answer that question as quickly as

possible (Redfearn)!” Derek’s approach comes across as extremely successful. The success of

the church continues to impress and shock the community.

Social media quickly took over the marketing industry and continues advancing it every

single day. Those who have a draw to the world of social media, can find a perfect job for

themselves in social media marketing. With the amount of influencers online nowadays and the

percentage of people in the world who go on social media apps daily, companies find more

success and take-off now more than ever. Having a career in social media marketing, makes one

a very valuable asset to any company. Jobs popping up left and right from businesses in need of

a social media specialists proves how important social media stands in the world today.
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Works Cited

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Gillin, Paul. "Are Social Media Jobs Just a Dodge?." ​B to B​, vol. 93, no. 5, 07 Apr. 2008, p. 10.

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Hobsons. “College and Career Readiness Technology Solution | Naviance.” ​College & Career

Readiness Technology Solution | Naviance,​ Hobsons,

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McCabe, Mary Beth. "Social Media Marketing Strategies for Career Advancement: An Analysis

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Rollender, Nicole. "Social Media Success." ​Wearables​, June 2017, p. 8. EBSCO​host​,

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Shipley, Gretchen M. "Social Media Marketing for School Administrators." ​Leadership,​ vol. 46,

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Thomsett-Scott, Beth C. ​Marketing with Social Media : A LITA Guide.​ ALA TechSource, 2014.

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Redfearn, Derek. Personal interview. 13 February 2018.