Our take – Social Media Skill Sets in demand

Based on our data, these are the skills that are in highest demand here in the South West as a Social Media professional.

Top 10 skills needed within Social Media are:

Social Media strategy will always be dictated by the target audience. B2C leans towards Facebook and Instagram, and B2B businesses use Linkedin and Twitter more heavily. Having a broad understanding of channels will help you select the correct strategy for your brand.

With regards to organic and paid social, the former is still massively important for those following the company, however, a paid strategy is a must on social channels. This is commonplace on Facebook, and now companies are turning their attention more so to channels such as Instagram, with the adoption of affiliate links and shoppable posts.

Good copywriting skills are a must for all social media professionals. Those at Social Media Executive level tend to be more hands-on with copywriting, however, Senior Strategists still need a keen eye for detail to ensure copy remains engaging, on brand and free of errors.

A data-driven approach enables you to tap into customer behaviour and allows marketers to tailor their strategy. There are insight tools you can use within each social platform so it’s worth looking into these to continually test the effectiveness of your campaigns. Understanding your target audience is key. As already highlighted, the insights gleaned through analysis are incredibly valuable, as they’ll help to understand your customers’ journeys online. Beyond the figures, we have seen clients turn to focus groups to gain further qualitative information into how customers perceive a brand, and what is important to them.

The ability to link social media strategy to commercial outcomes is incredibly valuable for a lot of businesses but is largely dependent on the overarching goals you are trying to achieve with social media. For example, it tends to be highly relevant for eCommerce businesses.

With customers constantly changing their preferences in how they engage with content online, it’s important to remain up to date with new trends in social. Being an early adopter can help you get ahead of the competition.
Those working in social media need a specialist understanding to remain experts in their field. However, an awareness of additional acquisition channels will go a long way to keeping your company message consistent as customers move between touchpoints.

Finally, don’t forget to mix up the content you are putting out there! Images and video can make a nice change from blogs/articles, especially on mobile.

This way to view our full Social Media Employment guide.