Posted by Did you know that 77% of companies find social media marketing effective in growing their brands? This number is bound to grow in 2023 as demand for social media marketing skills increases globally. So as you build your digital marketing strategy and outline your social media KPIs for the new year, here are the essential SMM skills to polish.
Social media marketing skills
The term “social media skills” refers to the competencies needed to create and implement marketing strategies on social media platforms. These skills demonstrate that you can use social media to drive a business forward.
Some examples of social media skills include time management, efficiency, and creativity. However, every digital marketer needs to focus on specific skills that put them ahead of the pack.
Here are the best social media skills you need for 2023.
Top 8 social media marketing skills
1. Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
SEO is a critical digital marketing component because it drives traffic to your website and social channels. Organic traffic from search engines is valuable for businesses because it :
Matches user queries to relevant content,
Flows seamlessly with the browsing experience, and
Continues long after digital marketing campaigns end.
A well-optimized business can attract and retain customers on a small marketing budget. One great way to improve your SEO skills is to search online for free and paid courses. You can also study the competition and see which SEO strategies work for them.
2. Digital Content Planning
A successful social media marketer understands how to deliver content using a consistent schedule. You need the following types of digital content to improve your social media marketing skills:
Blogs
Informative, well-written blog posts are the foundation of a digital marketing strategy. But to be successful, you need to have a regular blog posting calendar and a range of relevant topics. You can find ideas from keyword search tools, competitor analysis, and monitoring online discussions that suit your product and brand. Blog posts carry most of your SEO, so you should understand what social media skills to craft compelling posts.
Photo and video content
Digital marketers are increasingly required to learn graphic design as part of their social media marketing skills. Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, and Canva are excellent software to learn.
Videos cater to audiences that prefer watching a demonstration to reading a blog entry about a product. Some social media skills examples in video creation include how-to videos, unboxing, troubleshooting, before-and-after content, etc. Similar to photo content, you can use different professional or smartphone video editors to create engaging content.
Comparisons
“A vs. B” content is highly effective in social media marketing. You can compare your product with the competition, but remain objective and indicate the benefits for the customer rather than your bottom line. Comparison content aims to help users make an informed choice. Whether they buy your product or not, your audience knows that your content is a reliable source of information, which boosts your reputation.
Interactive Elements
You can demonstrate your social media skills by adding an online calculator, service quote generator, poll, puzzle, or game. These interactive features increase engagement in your digital content. Match them to your business or product, such as a calorie calculator for a fitness website or a word game for a language learning site.
User-Generated Content
Testimonials and reviews show that your customers care enough about your product to share their opinions. You can share positive reviews on your company website and social channels and use critical reviews to improve your products. Gather this feedback through your emails and customer follow-ups.
Infographics
Businesses that deal with complex or data-heavy content can use infographics to communicate visually. An eye-catching infographic is easier for audiences to read and share than a blog post or video. Use infographics to convey statistics, timelines, or processes around your product.
3. Automation
Marketers need to understand social media skills in terms of automation. This skill applies to numerous digital marketing tactics such as SEO, email marketing, and content distribution. SMM automation tools help you find relevant content from different sources.
Once ready to share, this tool automatically schedules and posts your content across your social pages and tracks their performance with marketing KPIs. You can learn how to build social media skills by taking a marketing automation course or trying different automation apps for your strategy.
4. Online Community Building
Another digital marketing skill to learn is social media community management. This skill involves working with influencers, building customer relationships, and engaging in online forums and discussions. You must also align all your messaging to match your business tone, style, and mission. Marketers need to rally their loyal customers and brand ambassadors to drive sales and create a trustworthy image of their business and products.
5. Content Management Systems (CMS)
Digital marketers must know how to use content management systems (CMS) to update company websites whenever necessary. The best CMS platforms to learn include WordPress, Shopify, Joomla, and Drupal. You can learn to use these platforms without coding experience. However, you need to be familiar with plugins that help you track your KPIs or embed payments into your website.
6. Project Management Skills
Project management skills can help you source, schedule, distribute, and track every aspect of your social media marketing strategy. It’s essential to understand the difference between OKR vs KPI as you build your digital marketing project.
A key performance indicator (KPI) is a metric that monitors the outcome of your project. But objectives and key results (OKR) are goal-setting tools to manage your project. Once you understand what are OKRs and how they contribute to your strategy’s success, you’ll be well ahead of other digital marketers today.
7. Data Analysis
Almost every digital marketing platform generates data, from website visits to engagements and impressions. You need good data analysis skills to gather insights and create reports about your digital marketing strategy performance. Digital marketing data tools can monitor the following:
Mobile and web optimization
Web form completion or abandonment
Keyword search
Real-time social media performance
Website domain authority
You can polish your data skills by taking an introductory data analysis course online or utilizing the free knowledge bases on each data platform.
8. Communications Skills
Since digital marketing affects every part of a company, marketers need excellent communication skills for internal and external functions. You need to interact with the sales, IT, and customer support teams and distribute content that resonates with your customers. You must also create reports to demonstrate the impact of your digital marketing efforts to top management and stakeholders.
Finally, you need good communication skills to work with freelancers or external agencies to execute a digital marketing strategy. All these scenarios require good communication and collaboration skills.
Conclusion
These social media marketing skills can seem overwhelming, but give yourself enough time to learn and apply them in your career. Find a balance between social media courses and learning on the job or through mentors. Remember that your personality and creativity are your most significant selling points in digital marketing. So choose to become a lifelong learner and take every opportunity to improve your social media marketing skills today.