Are you interested in a career in social media? If so, becoming a social media analyst (SMA) may be the right choice for you. A social media analyst is responsible for helping organisations monitor and optimise their social media accounts. This includes analysing analytics, assist with creating campaigns, and managing social media interactions.
The Role of a Social Media Analyst
The social media analyst needs to be analytical with ability to leverage meaningful insights to support creative strategy.
Here are some of the tasks an SMA does:
Monitor online conversations
Analyse online conversations
Monitor social media analytics
Perform social media audits
Research about social media
Research about social media tools
Develop social media strategy
Create social media campaigns
Analyse ROI of social media campaigns
What steps do you need to take to become a social media analyst?
1) Learn the basics of social media.
You will need to understand how most social media platforms work, what platforms are best suited for what purpose, and what metrics you need to track to monitor performance.
As part of understanding the basics, you need to know how to keep up with social media trends and where to find them.
Ways to find social media trends include:
Searching the Explore pages
Identifying trending hashtags
Using Google Trends
Monitoring common content themes
2) Get Experience Managing Social Media Accounts
You will need to have experience managing social media accounts in addition to creating campaigns. You need to fully understand how to run a growing social media account.
If you're looking for to learn and improve your experience in social media management I recommend an excellent place to start is by finding an online course or program on providers such as Udemy or Coursea.
There are also plenty of resources online to help you get started, including books and articles. Check out my store for new marketing e-books being released all the time.
After you've got a solid foundation in social media management, it's time to test your skills.
Start by building a few sample pages and profiles on popular social networks like Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Then aim to create content that engages your followers and builds relationships.
3) Develop strong data analysis skills
Social media analysis is collecting and interpreting data from social media platforms to understand how audiences are interacting with a brand or product.
Social media analysts need to have strong data analysis skills to extract meaningful information from the vast amounts of data available on social media.
They need to identify key trends and patterns and analyse the impact that different strategies have on audience engagement.
In short, you will need to analyse social media data and understand how it can be used for marketing purposes.
The Steps For Analysing Social Media Data:
Understand the basics of data analysis
Identify key data elements and how to collect them
Analyse data, comparing them with benchmark metrics
Use statistical methods to understand trends and patterns
Make informed decisions based on data analysis findings
4) A Social Media Analyst Needs Strong Communication Skills
Effective communication with others is an essential part of being a social media analyst.
A good social media analyst understands the nuances of online communication and can easily navigate complex social media platforms.
Listening and understanding others is also critical, as a good social media analyst will be able to identify any potential issues or risks associated with a given campaign or initiative.
You will need to be able to communicate with clients and other members of the organisation about your social media analysis to inform creative strategy.
5) Have A Passion For The Field
This social media analyst often has a journalism, marketing, or information technology background.
Social media Analysts live on social media and are often scrolling all day and night. You must be sociable and understand that social media is about networking and connecting with others.
Last Point
A social media analyst is an excellent role for someone who wants to combine numbers, data and insights with modern online marketing.
If you are a social media analyst, you can earn approximately £27,000 to £50,000 per year.
A social media analyst can also cross over with the responsibilities of a social media manager. However, they technically do two different roles altogether, and a growing company should have both within a marketing team.
Social media analysts are usually expected to have a bachelor's degree in marketing or business-related subject.
If you can meet these requirements, you are ready to become a social media analyst!
Thanks for reading.
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Jack Willoughby