How I Became a Social Media Manager with No Experience – For Beginners

How to Become a Social Media Manager with No Experience – For Beginners

Okay, if you’re reading this then you could be a mom, dad, gammy, young graduate…And you’re considering becoming a social media manager, yet lack the experience. Well, it’s your birthday, right? Because in this episode, I am sharing step-by-step on how to become a social media manager from scratch.

We’ll cover how to get clients, potential earnings, how to set up your pricing, and all that good juice. And I may even throw in our very own secret marketing strategy that got us going.

So, make sure you read right to the end for that.  

First, we’ve written all about what a Social media Manager does in this episode, and inside of my latest International Bestselling book 5 Simple Social Media Management Steps for Beginner

But for those who missed the boat, as a social media manager, you are responsible for content development, and in some cases scheduling that content for clients. You may also create graphics, run ads, and manage their community i.e., respond to comments and customer inquiries.

Whether you have experience or not it’s totally fine, because I’m, a big believer in learning on the job, so, I’ll throw in some tools and resources to help you with that as well.

 

But first things first…

 

 

How to become a social media manager with no experience

Remember you have no experience, so let’s get you some. What you need to do is to get a proven case study.

How? 

By offering your services for free or bargain-basement rate for 2 – 4 months to a fellow Start-up or small business in a niche you love. That way, you will find it easy to develop content and respond to queries on their behalf. 

 

It is up to you how much time you want to give your services for free. Because honestly working for free is not fun, but it will be an investment in your future.

One of your conditions for the free service MUST BE a Written or even video testimonial/review from the recipient at least 1 month into the collaboration. Also…

 

• Give yourself the grace to learn as much as you can.
• Give your best and then some.
• Record everything and acknowledge that you will make mistakes along the way.
• And start to create your portfolio from the records, insights, and of course that review.

 

One thing I never promise is Sales.

 

That’s not my job as a Social media manager. Neither should you.

What you offer is to create content that attracts your client’s ideal audience, thus giving them an opportunity to do business with the audience or achieve desired results.

It’s on them to get those results, via Booking calls, the Call to Action, asking for the sale, DMs and of course, what they do with the audience you help them attract.

That said, your job on this first client is to ensure they get those desired results asap inside your Agreed “Free/bargain” time frame.

 

Be patient with them, and encourage them to connect with the audience in person via messenger, WhatsApp, phone call, invite to Zoom, etc.

 

Then you can say to future clients that:

I was able to help my client Julie to achieve XYZ results, and I can do the same for you. And this is how much I charge.

 

NOTE: After the 1^st free client, you’re never taking on another free client. Remember you are building a business; you are now officially a social media manager with a proven case study. You know what you’re doing and deserve to be remunerated for your work. 

So now, let’s talk about what you need to do next, getting that 1^st paying client.

 

 

How to become a freelance social media manager

When my mentor said this as the first thing, I laughed so hard, because I was moving away from a model where you ask your friends and family for help. YET, in this case, it is the best and simplest first step to take.

 

#1. So, I too recommend the first way is to ask your friends and family if they know someone.

If you know anyone in your family or any friends that have a business that you wouldn’t mind working with and you think you could grow their social media presence ask them for their business.

That said, working with family/friends can get a little tricky or even sticky! Esp., if you disagree about something in principle, and maybe you forgot the foundational basics…Sign a contract with any client, it’s a business, not a party.

So, if you wish to avoid family/friends, I highly recommend you utilize Facebook groups.

Those of you that know me, know that I’m a big fan of Facebook groups… that I have a role like admin or editor in. But don’t let this stop you.

 

I’m in a ton of entrepreneur, Facebook groups, where someone is always putting themselves out there saying:

 

Hey guys. I want to gain some experience and would love to offer a free trial to one of the entrepreneurs in this group in exchange for some experience and a review. Is there anyone willing to work with me for free just so I can gain some experience! If you’re interested, can you tell me your business in the comments below to see if we’d be a good fit?

 

But we are talking about a Paying client here.

 

If you’re, not in any Facebook groups, I highly recommend you get started asap. Start with the Social Creatives Hub right here.

What’s so great about using this approach?

 

Okay, you post a similar message and get a number of responses. You choose a client from the list and you go ahead and have great success with them in 2-4  months…

You can go back to the group and say:

Hey guys. I just want to say thank you so much for this group, I love this group. I was able to help Julie out with her LinkedIn account and I helped grow it from 50 followers to a thousand in just 4 months. Or I grew her account by 70%. In just a little under 3 months working on her account, I was able to help her get 8 leads per month – and I have some room in my schedule – for an additional 5 clients if you are interested.

 

By doing this, you’re being open, vulnerable, and sharing your success story. Being able to be put in front of over 800 entrepreneurs who are trying to start their business and get themselves out there.

So, I would think that they would want to work with you, especially seeing the results that you have. And that you are in the same community because they want to help each other out by doing that, you can once you actually do the free work.

It makes it easier when you’re ready to start getting paid clients.

 

 

#2. How to become a social media manager

Now that you have a paying client, you need to message them to find out about their business and find out what their social media presence is currently and where they want to go.

You also need to understand their target audience and you need to know what/who their competitors are. See, when you do your research for this client, you check out their competitors and find out what’s working and what’s not working for them. You can see what platforms they’re on and how often they’re posting.

The engagement on their content and what kind of posts get more engagement and which ones don’t. You can then easily model what’s working for your own client.

You just use it for inspiration on what you can do and it’s just nice to see what’s already working. So, I highly recommend this strategy.

And remember, when you are creating a plan for your client, you need to have measurable goals.

 

For example: you need to find out what their website traffic is today, so you can find out how much you were able to grow it. How much is their revenue? How much are they getting today and then how much does it increase when you’re done. You need to know where they stand today, so you can find out how much you helped increase their reach, list, and business.

These numbers you will add to your portfolio and you will be able t charge more, create Price Plans, now that you have some more stats to back up your ability to serve your clients.

 

 

#3. Your Social Media Management Pricing & Growth Strategy.

Even though you are still a new social media manager, it doesn’t mean you charge peanuts like £50/month. That won’t pay your business overheads, bills, let alone your wages. And don’t even think about charging an hourly rate…I share why in the “5 Simple Social Media Management Steps for Beginners” Workbook. 

 

Also, corporate high-value clients who appreciate the work will think you aren’t that effective in charging £50!

So, you want to visit your competitors. What do they offer in terms of services and is that what you feel you can charge too?

Create 3 different price plans:

• Basic
• Medium
• Premium

 

Give them more catchy names. You can check out our plans here.

 

Then make sure you promote your middle to highest plans. Because that’s what’s going to get your clients more, and is going to put more money in your pocket. Add more value tasks to the middle and premium plans.

Your next step is to ensure you too are part of a social media manager’s community.

 

I love The Profit Makers Facebook group, you will learn so many other ways to attract clients, be part of other people, in your same journey and Lots do actually share work/clients.

I want you to come back to this episode and thank me after you join the group and find out how much value you get from it. It has over 13000 people in it, both new and seasoned social media managers, and they are so helpful.

I have learned so much in this group and it’s free. So as a beginner, this is where you want to be. I know that it’s going to be helpful for you, you want to get some feedback on any part of your journey, you can go there. Ask them. How do I run an ad campaign? Etc.

 

Now you have a couple of clients or so, and starting to get a rhythm, then you start working on a website. I highly recommend that as a business owner in the service space, you too hire a professional to create your website. This agency offers Pro website design from as low as £250.

You want this for your business, to market your services to future clients. Somewhere to share your price plans, share your journey, and also your case studies/portfolio. You will come across so much more professional. And trust me you will need help with this and you will get more clients.

 

 

Our Secret Social Media Marketing strategy:

If I were you and getting more clients for social media work, I would start focusing on a niche.

Example: fashion start-ups, and really focus on the small mom and pop shops. Why?

Because most of them don’t really have a big social media presence and they just really don’t know how to do it. I’d check the yellow pages or local Business directories for the small fashion houses.

 

I’d look at their social media presence and if I find there’s potential for improvement, I would add them to a list, find their contact info. Then, I would reach out to them and offer my services discounted for 30 days and thereafter full price if we are a good fit.

This is for you if you’re just getting started, and you want to get as many clients as possible.

 

Here’s how I would reach out to say Cush Designz, I would say to them:

Hey Spiwe, I love your fashion designs.

I’m such a big fan of your kente pantsuits, and I have this idea that I think could work for your fashion house. If you’re looking to increase your revenue or your social media presence. I would love to try this Idea out for a really great offer we are running at the moment.

 

– Hopefully, they would say yes, and I would prepare to onboard them.

 

We’d discuss what can they offer their customers as bonuses that wouldn’t hurt their bottom line, that their customers really want. Or even for free.

We’d create a starter marketing campaign on this. I would ask for photographs of their pantsuits, or their best seller dress and post it to your social media, account and say that I’m at Cush Designz shop, rocking their outfit and tag their page too and invite people to visit, like it and go see some more designs. This would help them get more fans and followers.

Just getting some engagement going, and you can add a bonus to this and say tell them that Julie sent you and you get A free hairband.

 

Example 2: If it’s a food business, you could throw in a free Smoothie, Special Drink, or snack. The odds of someone going to that cafe and getting just the freebie are very slim. They will buy a meal, or more snacks or drinks and that will help your client make some money! #Cherry 

 

This marketing strategy works, esp. if you are humble and don’t overprice your packages taking into consideration your target market is probably also start-ups. You can play around with it – make it your own, probably make it a lot better, yes?

Then, let me know if you try it, or if you have any questions in a comment below, and make sure you subscribe because I want to do a lot more episodes to help you set up for success.

 

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Julie Syl Kalungi

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