How To Become A Freelance Social Media Manager In 2023 (With No Experience!)

Do you want to know how to become a freelance social media manager?

Businesses all around the world are starting to wake up to the fact that social media platforms can play a huge role in finding new customers, increasing sales and keeping customers engaged and happy.

As a result, they need social media managers to create new content, manage their social media accounts and drive online traffic to their products and services.

Companies are willing to pay good money for someone to help them with their social media platforms. So, now is the perfect time to learn how to become a freelance social media manager.

I want to provide a personal example to show you what I mean.

My mum runs a few bakeries and recently, due to COVID-19 she had to shut them all down. Zero sales and zero income and plenty of expenses. To help her out, I set up a basic website, Facebook and Instagram account.

I posted pictures of her food on FB and IG and the prices. I also created a simple graphic with a link to her website and blasted it through WhatsApp groups.

The result?

She went from zero to immediate sales in one day. And sales are continuing to roll in.

Businesses will pay for the privilege of having an additional income source via social media.

I know this because I managed social media platforms for a few different businesses, and I charged no less than $500 per client.

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Some of the links on here are affiliate links and I may earn if you click on them, AT NO EXTRA cost to you. Hope you find the information here useful! Thanks.

What Is A Freelance Social Media Manager?

A social media manager is someone who navigates, handles, and operates social networking sites a business has an account in. These accounts serve as channels for customers to reach out to when they have a question, suggestions, feedback or even want to buy a product.

A social media manager will ensure social media platforms can meet the business goals of companies i.e. more sales, or to create awareness of the brand.

The difference between a freelance social media manager and a non-freelance one, is that you get to choose your clients, pay and working hours with the former. You are essentially your own boss.

How to Become a Freelance Social Media Manager- Services To Offer:

To know how to become a freelance social media manager, you need to know what services you can offer to a business.

A social media manager can offer knowledge and skills in:

• Content Creation & Marketing – FB, IG, Pinterest graphics and written content
• Online Community Management– Driving engagement, likes and follows
• Customer Service Response– Answering queries and feedback
• Digital Media Strategy Creation– Creating a social media strategy for the business

When I first read about these services, I felt a bit overwhelmed. But don’t worry, like any job, the skills can be learned.

But to keep it simple:

Can you manage and drive social media to increase a client’s sales?

Can you create interesting Facebook and Instagram captions along with engaging pictures to drive the interest of potential customers?

GREAT! Because that’s what I had to do for one of my clients, it was as simple as that!

 

What Services Are in Demand Right Now?

If you want to make decent money on your journey of learning how to become a freelance social media manager, I recommend you offer services that are in demand right now.

You are more likely to get hired and paid better.

These include:

1.Account Creation and Optimization

Account creation and optimization are essentially, opening up social media platform accounts and increasing followers, likes and engagement.

You have to make sure the profiles are well-curated and optimized i.e. have keywords and attract customers.

2.Creating A Social Media Marketing Plan

Companies will pay good money for you to tell them what to do.

Yes, I mean that.

As a busy business owner, you need an expert to come along and advise you which social media platform to focus on, how and the best way.

If you can come up with an effective social media marketing plan, this will ensure a business owner has one less thing to worry about and can focus on running their business.

3.Analyzing and Reporting Data Statistics

Data and numbers are such a valuable source of information that can help business owners make informed decisions about their products and sales.

For example, imagine a company sells shoes.

If a FB picture of red trainers gets 500 more likes and comments than all the other product pictures… this means customers may really like red trainers and the business should produce more photos and posts on them, which could lead to more sales.

Data analysis also complements creating a social media marketing plan. This service is in demand because each post or content released on social media has its own respective post statistics.

It is up to the social media manager to analyze the results to see if the marketing plan is effective, or if some aspects need to be improved or changed.

4.Monitoring Audience Engagement & Traction

Another skill that is in demand is being able to monitor audience engagement. Similar to data analysis, this helps a social media manager strategize on which marketing tactics to continue, stop, or start.

Through this, business pages can effectively increase their page traction through the online audience it is building.

5.Campaign and Ad Creation

In relation to content creation, creating campaigns and ads is another in-demand service for social media managers.

I never used to believe in FB ads until I tried it for my website. I paid $10 for one FB Advert which resulted in $300 worth of sales…  and suddenly I was interested.

If you know a thing or two about creating FB, IG or Pinterest ads and boosting a campaign, you will be in demand.

 

How Much Do Social Media Managers Earn?

According to Payscale, around $50k per year.

However, if you are a freelance social media manager, it depends on how much work you take on and how much you charge.

How To Get Started on How to Become a Freelance Social Media Manager?

If you have gotten this far in the post, you may want to know how to become a freelance social media manager?

1. Understand what a freelance social media manager does
2. Get some training
3. Grow one or two social media platforms
4. Create a website
5. Start applying for jobs and pitching

That’s it. keep it simple and uncomplicated.

We have already covered step 1 so let’s move on to step 2.

2. Get some training

If you are like me when I started, I didn’t have much of a budget and didn’t have thousands to spend on expensive training. That ok, try this cheaper alternative:

• Social Media Management: The Complete Manager’s Bootcamp

Also, YouTube has lots of FREE resources available

If you have done the cheaper courses above and want something more in-depth, and want to invest in yourself, you can then move on to these social media management courses:

• The 10k VA course
• The Savvy System

3.Grow one or two social media platforms

If you want to know how to become a freelance social media manager, you should pick a social media platform and master it. Grow your engagement and followers and use it as evidence for your future potential clients.

Become an expert and the go-to person for this platform. I.e. FB or Pinterest specialist.

Here are some platforms you can master for social media marketing :

• Facebook- Create engaging FB posts, pictures, and graphics. Learn about FB advertising and the best content and times to post.
• Instagram – Create beautiful IG photos, learn best post scheduling times and types of content that certain audiences like.
• Pinterest – Learn how to create beautiful pins and graphics, which group boards to join, how to increase website traffic from Pinterest.

4. Create a website

If you want to come across as professional and for businesses to take you seriously, you need a website.

If you are like me and creating a website terrifies you and makes you want to throw things in anger, do not worry. I created a FREE guide for you:

• A Step by Step Guide on How to Create a Website When you are Hopeless at Technology

5. Start applying for jobs and pitching

If you’re interested to know how to become a freelance social media manager, there are so many ways you can get new clients.

• Google– I did a quick google and found lots of places hiring. Try it yourself 🙂
• Social Media Agencies – Here are 28 social media management agencies that offer social media services. Contact them and apply to them.
• LinkedIn- Sign up to job alerts and specify you want social media management jobs. I have been offered a few projects through LinkedIn.
• Upwork – I found when I google, ‘social media jobs Upwork’

• Twitter – I have never found a job this way but my friends have.
• Freelance websites
• Friends and family – You don’t ask you don’t get. You could just say ‘ I can set up and grow your social media platforms to bring more traffic to your business’
• FB Groups – Here are some Virtual Assistant Facebook groups which often advertise social media jobs:  Virtual Assistant Network, Virtual Assistant Job Board, Virtual Assistant Job Board, Virtual Assistant Services, Careers, Jobs, Virtual Assistant Connections and Virtual Assistant Hiring.
• SEO optimize your website- Go on Fiverr and ask someone to SEO optimize your website. This will ensure your company comes up when someone googles ‘social media management services’
• Local businesses- Sometimes it’s a matter of pitching directly to small local businesses who don’t have a digital presence.

For example, there is this amazing plant nursery near my house, that doesn’t have a website or Facebook group. During COVID-19, they had to shut their operations down but if they had a social media manager … they could keep selling online.

I approached them and they said yes!

Tools That Will Help You Succeed And Make Your Life Easier

Knowing the right tools to help you execute the job is one way for you to develop skills and know effectively how to become a freelance social media manager.

Automation also saves you precious time.

By downloading tools such as Trello, Asana, Lumen5, Post Planner, HootSuite, Buffer, PostPlanner, Canva, Infogram, and Crowdsignal, you can effectively plan posts, attract more audience engagement, and explore more mediums apart from the usual content you already see on popular social media platforms.

 

Tips To Succeed as a Freelance Social Media Manager

1.Just start!

Don’t get stuck in analysis paralysis. You probably already have a social media account, now start growing it. Google how to increase followers and engagement and set yourself some targets.

2.ALWAYS communicate value and outcomes to a client

The most important lesson you can learn how to become a freelance social media manager is to : ‘always communicate value and outcomes to a client.’

This means you need to ensure the client understands the reason why you are managing their social media accounts and what value you can add.

Most importantly, how will it improve their profits.

For example, you can say :

‘I can increase your FB followers and engagement, which can lead to additional sales of xx’

‘I can increase your Pinterest traffic, so more potential customers visit your website and buy your products. ‘

Always tell the customer what they will benefit and gain from your services if you want to be hired.

3.Attend Networking Events

One of the best assets of a social media manager is social capital. With a great social capital comes a great potential for network growth.

With this, it would be really beneficial to attend any social media managing events so that you can meet new people, get more connections, and hopefully use these connections to your advantage so you can help others, as well as yourself, grow your career.

4.Optimize your Linkedin profile

LinkedIn is your professional online CV. So, Google some social media manager experts, see how they present their profiles and copy them. You are welcome 🙂

Want more tips to succeed as a freelance social media manger?

Check out my article 11 Best Freelancing Tips For Beginners where you will learn the best tips to become a successful freelancer today!

There you have it, how to become a freelance social media manager. This is an in-demand job that is only going to grow in demand.

Do you have any questions I have left out? Please mention them in the comments, I always respond 🙂

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