Theory and practice: What is SMM promotion? What is SMM or how does social media marketing work? What is SMM promotion in social media.

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Not so long ago, the Internet was a collection of dull pages of information. Students came here for essays and term papers, and older people looked for work. However, on February 4, 2004, a site was registered that revolutionized the industry as a whole. This site became Facebook.

Following Facebook, an analogue appeared on the territory of the Russian-speaking population - the VKontakte website. Sites called social networks have become incredibly popular. They accumulated huge financial investments and more than repaid their investors. People literally flocked to social networks in droves, and today it is difficult to meet a person who is not registered in at least one of the major social networks.

As networks developed, business opportunities began to emerge. Using social networks for these purposes has become very profitable, because no matter how many millions of people are gathered here. Social networks know everything about a person, so an advertiser can easily set up a target audience by specifying parameters for advertising, right down to your friend’s pregnancy.

So what is itSMM without delving into terms?

By definition, SMM is the promotion of services, goods, ideas through social networks. In scientific terms, SMM promotion is marketing in social networks, starting from content to advertising. Such social networks include any Internet site where you fill out a form, share photos and video content, and also post information on interests.

There are thousands of social networks, but most likely you know only a dozen: Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Youtube, VKontakte, Odnoklassniki and others. But the concept of SMM includes not only these sites, but also those that are narrowly targeted. For example, today there is a social network for parents, for girls, and even for finding a job.

It turns out, in theory, SMM is a list of social media networks that are capable of generating traffic to websites, blogs, and online stores according to given parameters. This is a young direction in promotion, especially if you take SEO promotion. At the moment, there are few SMM specialists, and there are practically no good specialists.

SMM promotion is...

SMM in practice. What is it and how is it used?

Usually, all SMM promotion comes down to promoting groups on social networks. But this is not the only thing this term is responsible for. The package of SMM services usually includes targeted advertising, advertising in communities, PR, promotion of public pages, SERM (reputation management) and much more.

If you decide to hire a specialist for such work, clarify what exactly he means by SMM. It is quite possible that they will simply try to bring bots into your community, which will not give you anything other than a ban.

An SMM specialist is a high-level marketer, a person who perfectly knows the pains and needs of the client, sometimes better than himself.

What are the main areas of SMM promotion?

As with any activity, SMM has a set of tasks that this area solves. For example, in construction there are plumbers and putty workers - these are different areas of one common thing. The same applies to promotion using social networks.

SMM promotion includes:

1. Working with content in different formats;
2. Interaction with the audience (responses to comments, removal of spam, resolving issues in messages, etc.);
3. Creating creatives or materials that will be of interest to users (this is a little different from content, because every post cannot be creative);
4. Working with advertising in different formats (usually advertising is carried out by a targetologist who knows how to work with the audience);
5. Working with opinion leaders or public pages. This is advertising on the pages of famous people or public pages;
6. Mass following, commenting. It refers to . But it's important to note that this is not the best way to promote;
7. Creation of materials for the purpose of user activity - surveys, quizzes, games, competitions;
8. Development of a promotion strategy for a week, month, etc.
9. Dealing with negativity on social networks. Prompt response to eliminate the unpleasant effect of viral complaints.
10. Creation of a general style (in interaction with the company’s designer, if there is one);
11. Making edits and recommendations for SMM promotion. It is important to monitor changes in the market in order to immediately use new tools.

What projects can be implemented usingSMM?

In short - everything. Based on social networks, you can promote or create blogs or pages of famous people. You can manage your reputation by increasing the loyalty of your customers. Any field of activity can easily be adapted to social media networks.

This sounds sad, because what has been done to communicate with people on the contrary divides us. But that’s not about that now. The point of SMM is to bring your brand, services, products or offers to the minds of millions of people. This is a billion-dollar business and it is the future.

That's all, if the material was useful, please like it. In the next issue we’ll talk about how to choose an SMM specialist to realize your goals.

SEO is used to attract visitors through search engines. But traffic comes to the site not only from Google and Yandex. Social networks are a stable source of new users. Promotion on social networks is carried out by an SMM specialist. And in order for the conditional client from VKontakte not to be disappointed, you need to carry out SMO - social optimization. In this material we will talk about a new form of working with content and site structure.

Features of SMO as a type of promotion

The concept of social media optimization is related to SMM. Both sets of measures are designed to interact with the audience of social networks. They are distinguished by the site where the main work takes place:

Thus, the SMO optimizer is engaged in setting up the resource and content infrastructure.

Working with content

Presenting information in a readable form is the most important condition for social promotion. For the text you need to choose the right font, color and size. It is necessary to equip it with a competent structure - the modern user is not predisposed to reading “sheets”: he skims over subheadings and lists to get an impression of the text, and reads only the fragments that interest him.

Subheadings should be tagged with the appropriate font to

was bigger

, but less

. It is important to choose a good background for the text so that the visitor does not have difficulty reading.

Content should attract attention and make you want to linger. Text information is diluted with illustrations and videos. This increases the chances that the user will read the material, save it in bookmarks and share the link with friends.

All this is the work of the SMO optimizer.

Working with site structure

Interesting, well-presented content is half the battle. Information should be easy to find and export. An SMO specialist improves the structure and design of the site. It's important to change your navigation to encourage users to stay longer. Place announcements of popular and new articles and calls for referrals in a prominent place.

Internal linking simplifies navigation. Properly linked pages not only increase search rankings, but also help the social promotion specialist - after the campaign, behavioral factors improve.

SMO provides for a competent arrangement of tools for interacting with text:

• share buttons for social networks;
• subscription to the newsletter;
• button to save to bookmarks;
• the ability to mark text;
• the ability to place a link on the user’s resource.

A comment form linked to the social network is added to the site. People love to read discussions and join in the exchange of opinions. If you work with feedback wisely - protect against spam and add likes - you will receive new traffic.

The site must have an appropriate color scheme. A colorful design and annoying color combinations can quickly become boring and the user will soon leave the site.

Why companies started doing social optimization

With proper optimization, an avalanche effect is achieved: users repost content, share it with friends and subscribers, who share it with their friends, and as a result, the site becomes more popular.

Search engine marketing efforts bring results, but they can be enhanced by social traffic. This is important because users spend a lot of time on social networks. The best results come when SEO, SMM and SMO work together.

The material was prepared by Svetlana Sirvida-Llorente.

We've released a new book, Social Media Content Marketing: How to Get Inside Your Followers' Heads and Make Them Fall in Love with Your Brand.

is a marketing tool for developing and increasing awareness and loyalty, as well as increasing audience involvement in discussions related to the company’s activities on social networks, forums and blogs.

Reaching more and more users. These platforms open up unlimited opportunities to communicate with potential clients. Therefore, enterprises, ranging from small businesses represented by one person to large corporations, open representative offices and set up SMM marketing on social networks.

Social marketing SMM is based on communication with the audience and allows you to more accurately analyze the mood of customers in the market, your competitors and quickly respond to existing situations.

We have prepared another interesting article -. Want to lead the community and receive maximum return? Read!

SMM methods

Creating a profile. Social media marketing begins with creating a page dedicated to and representing the company. You should remember that you must communicate with users and respond to their comments. Moreover, negative comments should not be deleted, but completely dealt with. To delve into the problem that the user is facing, to suggest ways to solve it that will suit him. And thus turn a negative into a positive review.

One successful example is the official GoPro Instagram account. The total number of his subscribers exceeds 13.5 million. And each publication receives at least 100,000 views.

The company page is so popular due to the content it publishes. It's so immersive that you don't notice how time flies while you scroll through videos and photos taken by GoPro. Moreover, most of the material was provided by camera users. And this is a great advertising move that allows the product to speak for itself.

Another interesting example is the collaboration between the Taco Bell and Snapchat brands, which resulted in the creation of an application.

It processes a user's photo in such a way that their head turns into a giant taco. In one day, the number of views was more than 224 million.

When starting SMM, it is important to understand that it does not give a quick effect. However, if you use it correctly, you will get long-lasting results.

And advertising on the Internet today is one of the fastest growing and most effective types of advertising. This is especially demonstrated by such indicators as the cost of the target client and the possibility of conducting an advertising campaign. This is a significant advantage over such media types of advertising as mass media, television and radio broadcasting.

The audience of social networks is constantly increasing, both quantitatively and qualitatively. They are used daily by both young people and adults with different levels of income. In conditions of close competition, this type of advertising will be successful, especially if it is aimed at young people. This is why advertising on social networks is becoming more and more popular.

What is SMM (SMM)?

Thus, a new business industry has emerged - SMM marketing (SMM). In other words, promotion and advertising of a product or service within social networks. Social networks, in a sense, have become a real gift for advertisers, because they do not require a lot of labor and money to find their audience. Here the audience often finds what it needs on its own.

Nowadays on the Internet you will hardly find a site that does not have its own group or page on such popular platforms as Facebook, Twitter, Vkontakte, Instagram, etc.

Social Media Marketing (SMM) is a set of actions whose goal is to attract attention to a brand or product through social networks.

For clarity, you can imagine a social network as a collection of people in a certain place, for example, on the beach. Some swim, some sunbathe, and some just chat with friends. The task of SMM is to find among these people those who are interested in a certain product or service. Need to unwrap your sunscreen or umbrella? We are looking for people who have been sunburned. Need to talk about a new outdoor game? We are looking for bored companies. And so on.

Now we need to imagine that these people are not relaxing at sea, but are sitting at computers or holding phones that are connected to the same server (the same social network). And for promotion we need to use the tools that this site provides us. In SMM, this is called registering on a social platform and becoming active. What instruments are we talking about?

10 SMM tools (SMM)

Creation and maintenance of pages, groups, communities;

Creation and/or selection of content for publication on pages, groups and communities;

Direct marketing directly on behalf of the company;

Creating/participating in discussions in communities, organizing thematic discussions;

Working with comments and reviews;

Increasing the audience and its involvement on the page, in groups and communities;

Participation in discussions on thematic forums/communities using hidden marketing techniques;

Optimizing the company website for social media (Social Media Optimization, SMO).

Let's look at each in more detail.

Creation and SMM maintenance of pages, groups, communities

You can create a personal page (account) on every social network. But with groups things are a little different. In most social networks, the ability to create a community is present as an additional function, with corresponding tools (statistics of joining a group and interactions with posts, the ability to manage from several accounts).

What you should decide before you start publishing (in other words, by drawing up a content plan):

Number of posts per day (preferably no more than 3, otherwise you will quickly become a source of irritation for the subscriber);

General style of posts (for example, the same frame for all photos or a corner with your logo);

Main audience (in what style is it better to write text and on what basis to choose images).

Direct marketing directly on behalf of the company

How to present selling content? One of the main tools of SMM promotion is a guaranteed benefit for the subscriber through his participation in the company community. The likelihood that your subscribers will buy something from you will increase tenfold if they see that it is only for members.

As mentioned above, selling content from a company should look very attractive due to the quality of the image and text. However, do not overdo it, otherwise you will be considered a cheater. Use photo editors within reason, especially if you are promoting cosmetic and medical services.

Creation/participation in discussions in communities, organization of thematic discussions

Quite often, potential customers have additional questions about products. Therefore, the brand page should have feedback methods such as discussions and.

You can also discuss abstract topics, this will help the audience of your group unite, but in addition to these topics, there must be those directly related to the brand.

Working with comments and reviews in SMM

One of the main indicators of the effectiveness of SMM promotion is the presence of feedback from the community with its participants. Subscribers usually demonstrate a keen interest in products through comments.

This is also one of the factors that the social network itself pays attention to when determining its leaders. If your posts are not reacted to in any way, they will appear less often in the user’s feed, according to the Facebook algorithm.

Comments generate something called engagement. And its percentage is significant, not only for demonstrating the success of the community, but also for the price of advertising on this page. Thus, the presence of opinions under your posts results in real material benefits.

Increasing the audience and its involvement on the page, in groups and communities

There are two different approaches to measuring audience engagement:

1. by publication coverage = (likes+reposts+comments) / number of people who saw the publication
2. by community members = (likes+reposts+comments) / number of community members or subscribers

As we can see, comments are not the only indicator of effectiveness.

The first approach still demonstrates real audience involvement, since the second ignores the fact that not 100% of the group’s audience saw a certain post.

However, the participant-by-participant approach also has its place, because it makes it easier to compare yourself with your competitors. As a rule, it is not always possible to see how much coverage a competitor’s post had. We only see interactions with the post and the number of followers the competitor has.

From this we get a logical conclusion - the community needs as many living participants as possible. Alive, because the so-called . These are accounts of fake people with real or fictitious names and personal information. As a rule, they are created to simulate a large number of participants or subscribers, and after joining they cease to be active. And in most cases, we see communities with a huge audience and posts that get 5-10 likes.

How to attract real people to the group? There are white and gray and black ways to increase your audience. The first ones are an ideal option, since they do not contradict the internal rules of social networks and do not threaten account blocking, however, they require a creative approach and often financial costs.

I will tell you about white methods, starting from the next point.

Gray methods do not directly contradict the rules of social networks, but they may arouse suspicion among the administration, which may not be available for long. These include such approaches as mass mailing of friend requests (Facebook, Vkontakt), mass subscription (Instagram), .

It works as follows.

Then you create a subscription task or friend request aimed at members or subscribers of a specific page (for example, a competitor).

After making new friends, you send them invitations to your community.

What makes this method not entirely safe is that after the first complaints from people who consider your page to be spam or unwanted advertising, it may be blocked.

To avoid this, use the account of a real person - a member of your team (with his permission, of course), who is ready to communicate with potential buyers, can provide information of interest about your products and explain the reason for adding. A kind of sales manager, but not too intrusive.

With black methods of promotion, everything is quite clear; the name speaks for itself. These include stealing accounts and groups, then replacing the name and/or category, deleting old content and adding your own. Yes, this way you can get real subscribers very quickly, but for how long?

Imagine that the art teaching community changed its focus to teaching music. How many people do you think will suspect something is wrong? :) Half will simply leave, having first complained to the social network administrators. And if the content is not changed, then the owners will complain and your account will be deleted without the possibility of recovery.

Participation in discussions on thematic forums/communities using hidden SMM marketing techniques

Today, people are already tired of advertising directly from the seller. They began to trust the recommendations of the same users more. Even if the product is truly high-quality and useful, if no one but you approves of it, then sales prospects will not be rosy.

Therefore, hidden marketing becomes a very relevant tool. The consumer should not realize that he has become the target of an advertising campaign. Most of all this sounds like rumors. The effect of hidden marketing is achieved by imitation or entering into a discussion of a product/service among users.

To create such discussions, the necessary information is repeatedly inserted into different sources and its artificial or natural discussion begins. After a while, new interlocutors join in, and this discussion attracts attention and spreads among ordinary users.

It is not at all necessary to start a discussion with an imitation; it is enough to find a community with your target audience and enter into a dialogue with them in the comments.

Explicit and native advertising on the pages of bloggers or thematic communities

As for advertising with bloggers, this is a fairly old marketing model. Suffice it to remember any advertisement for perfume or expensive watches on TV or in print - almost every one stars a famous movie star who uses her popularity and loyalty of fans to promote the company's brand. This format has a completely official name - influencer marketing.

Using the above example, it becomes clear to buy advertising from bloggers, because thanks to the Internet, they have become modern idols not only of teenagers, but also of a solvent audience.

Thematic groups can be explained by the beach example from the beginning of the article. Just imagine it not as a social network, but as a community. It is unlikely that anyone on a hot beach will be interested in a tent with hot tea or a winter goods store. It would be appropriate to sell cold drinks and diving equipment there.

Exchanges will help you quickly find and post with a blogger or community. You can read about them. Searching for a site and coordinating placement can be carried out also.

When we have decided on a blogger or placement platform, we should choose an advertising method - explicit or native. The native method is advertising in the context of the site and user interests. For example, a community dedicated to fitness, in a post, unobtrusively asks about the diet of subscribers and at the same time talks about the benefits of shakes for training.

Based on the name, it may seem that this is ordinary spam and a black method of SMM promotion, but this is not so. Each of us, especially if you are an active user of social networks, has encountered a similar phenomenon more than once. These are all kinds of prize draws in communities.

Guaranteed benefits usually attract a huge number of people who quickly catch on like a “virus,” which explains the name.

Optimizing a company website for social media (Social Media Optimization, SMO)

SMO is a whole set of actions performed not only to attract traffic to the site, but also to improve its convenience for users of social networks. The main principles of SMO are:

1. the information presented on the site should be of interest to visitors from social networks;

3. in social media it is necessary to create a group that unites people with similar interests (identifying a target audience for referral to the site);

4. community content must be presented not only from the site, it must be diluted with general posts that visitors of social networks like (preferably viral ones);

6. On the site you can add a form for comments from social networks, so that to write them you just need to log in.

Who is an SMM specialist?

After we have understood the term SMM and its tools, let's define: who is an SMM specialist?

When determining the scope of responsibilities of an SMM manager, it is necessary to take into account the scale of the business: if the company is large, then the SMM manager organizes and delegates the work to other specialists (content manager, web programmer, graphic designer, photographer, copywriter, and so on). If the company is small, then the CMM manager has to combine all of the above specialists. Accordingly, this implies the need to be:

copywriter;

proofreader;

web designer;

PR specialist;

It turns out that an SMM manager is a universal specialist whose activity is to professionally manage processes within the brand’s social platform, as well as other specialists.

Basic skills of an SMM specialist

Based on SMM tools, a social media promotion manager needs to have the following skills:

online applications;

marketing communications;

communication with people via the Internet;

literacy and large vocabulary;

a sense of humor (a serious requirement of many employers).

In addition to the above points, an SMM specialist should also be aware of all most social networks. Especially the most popular ones.

Let's look at them in more detail.

Where to start SMM promotion on the social network VKontakte

VKontakte groups have become an integral part of the lives of many users of the social network. Every day, millions of people scroll through their news feed, like and repost.

Sometimes the information these records carry affects us more than the people around us. It shapes our needs and opinions, our style of communication and behavior in society, and sometimes even influences our worldview.

Let's go through the possibilities for SMM promotion within vk.com

The first thing you need to do is determine the type of community that best suits your SMM tasks: a public page or a group.

Main differences:

1. The group can be open, closed and private (invitations are sent by administrators); The public page is always open to any users;

1. On a Public Page, entries are posted only on behalf of this Page, but at the same time, users offer entries for posting;
2. In the Group, participants can post posts on their own (if you give them access);
3. On the Public page, the “Discussions”, “Photos” and “Audio recordings” blocks are located on the right, in the Group - in the center.
4. Events are created on behalf of the Public Page, but not on behalf of the Group;
5. There is no “Latest News” block (menu) on the Public Page, but you can create wiki pages;
6. The Group has a section for storing documents;
7. You can invite other users to the Group through the “Invite friends” button (valid for all participants), the limit is up to 40 invitations per day.
8. One of the important advantages of the Public Page is the display of the logo in the profiles of subscribers, in the “Interesting Pages” tab, this contributes to the natural growth of the audience.

If you are creating a platform to inform subscribers about company news, choose a Public page. The group is intended for active interaction between participants, discussions in “Discussions” and exchange of materials. You can transfer the Group to Public and vice versa, but you can do this no more than once every 30 days.

So, we have created a community, figured out the needs of the target audience, fill it with suitable content, advertise and get clients. What to do next? We continue to do the same, but now rely on our own statistics.

We pay attention to such parameters as:

1. subscriber data (age, gender - are we within our target audience);

2. audience coverage (increasing or not);

3. activity (which posts have the most engagement).

To do this, use special services for analyzing communities (not only your own, but also your competitors): Popsters or JagaJam. Statistics will show whether you have developed the right promotion strategy, and will also allow you to evaluate opportunities for growth and adjust your actions for the next month.

Where to start SMM promotion on the social network Facebook

This question is asked by many SMM specialists. It is increasingly difficult to answer definitively because groups and pages are becoming more and more similar.

For example, the advantage of the pages was the ability to study statistics. Groups now also have a built-in analytics tool. And advanced SMM specialists can acquire such a tool as.

Let's look at the advantages of these two types of communities.

Facebook page:

1. Built-in statistics.
2. Call to action button (for example, “More details” or “Book”).
3. Promoting your page and posts with Facebook Ads
4. Likes and comments on behalf of the page.
5. The ability to add applications and services to make it easier for customers to order goods, find out the price and contact support.

Facebook group:

1. Built-in analytics
2. Set up the group as public, private or secret.
3. The ability to post documents, create surveys, and even buy and sell in a group.
4. Group chat function.

Facebook Group Options

Choose a name for the group;

Enter the names of the friends you want to add or the email addresses of the people you want to invite (you must add or invite at least one person);

Select your privacy settings (public, private or secret).

For example, a public or private group may be great for your customers to communicate with, while a secret group is more suitable for exclusive groups such as VIP clients or beta testers.

If your group is public, it's worth noting that even people outside the group can see posts and comments. If you want to protect the privacy of your members, it is worth creating a closed or secret community.

Once you have decided on your privacy settings, click Create.

Instagram account

The Instagram mobile app can be downloaded on iOS and Android phones and tablets, as well as Windows Phone 8 and newer versions.

Download the Instagram app for iOS from the App Store, for Android from the Google Play Store, and for Windows Phone from the Windows Phone Store. Or go to his website.

Tap Register with email. address or phone number, enter email. address or phone number (a verification code will be required) and click “Next”. You can also log in via Facebook to register with an existing account.

If you registered via email or phone number, create a username and password, then fill out your profile information and click “Done.” When registering via Facebook, you will be required to log in to your account if you are logged out at this time.

Images are already almost the main content for social networks, but on Instagram you cannot publish anything without posting a photo. And your avatar or profile product image is the first thing a potential subscriber will see. A short text is also required - personal information, description of the company or product.

For many, the design and first impression of a profile is a decisive factor. By looking at the image, people decide whether to follow you or not. If you treat your profile photo carelessly, you will scare off your target audience.

The description should be concise but informative. Indicate your location, type of activity, topic and link to the main site, if there is one. This is the only place on Instagram where you can put an active link.

Instagram is only possible through . It looks like this.

Conclusion

Modern people spend more and more time on social networks. In their spare time, people often take out their smartphone to scroll through their feed and chat with friends and strangers. Nowadays, almost everyone has an account on a social network. And this opens up enormous opportunities for advertising (in this case, SMM promotion).

A company that keeps up with the times and uses social networks and SMM is more open to its customers. Inspires more trust. And what, if not client trust, is a source of inspiration and real profit for a brand?

This article will expand over time, as every month we see new features within social networks. Follow us and stay up to date with new products. Good luck!

We've released a new book, Social Media Content Marketing: How to Get Inside Your Followers' Heads and Make Them Fall in Love with Your Brand.

An SMM marketer is a specialist who attracts traffic from social networks for companies.

Such an employee can be compared to a magician. One who skillfully juggles several objects in the air at once. All the attention of the public at this moment is concentrated on the circus performer. The same is true in social media marketing. A true professional in this field is a one-man orchestra. He uses a large number of tools to gather his target audience around the brand, expand its reach, and increase profits. There is only one difference - people look at the brand, and not at the SMMer himself.

Ideal SMM marketer for the project

It's not easy to be such a specialist. To give you an idea of ​​the scale, a few years ago an article was published about one hundred skills that he should master. We will talk about key skills. In general, such an employee is responsible for all work with content, communications and traffic.

What are the responsibilities of an SMM marketer?

• Analysis of competitors' activities.
• Research of preferences and reactions of potential buyers.
• Drawing up a content plan for the month.
• Preparation of a brand or product promotion strategy.
• Creation, content and maintenance of a group, public, account.
• Communication with users, etc.
• Attracting people to the community.
• Studying new trends and implementing them when necessary.
• Conducting competitions and quizzes.
• Setting up targeted and contextual advertising, searching for a platform for its placement.
• Tracking indicators using special services (number of subscribers, growth in coverage, number of transitions to the site, company recognition, involvement, user activity, return on money invested in promotion).

Qualities and skills of a good SMM manager

Do you like to use social networks? Do you know how to communicate with different people? Do you have analytical thinking? If you answered “yes” to all these questions, you have a good chance of becoming a... Of course, you will need a lot more skills to grow into a professional.

• Literacy. Communities run by a specialist are the face of the brand. Mistakes are unacceptable, as they can cause negative reactions from subscribers.
• Introduction to graphic editors. Most of the content you will have to deal with is visual. Resizing an image, adding a logo to it, enhancing a photo - all this should not be a problem for you.
• Knowledge. It is very important to learn at least the basics, because this position involves working with the company’s reputation, attracting clients, managing advertising and its budget.
• Ability to write texts. You need to know the nuances and formulas of writing informational and regular posts. You also need to have an instinct and understand what your target audience will like.
• Understanding psychology. The specialist’s responsibilities include communicating with subscribers, increasing visitor activity, and responding to negative reviews and messages.
• Creative thinking. You will need it in order to easily generate new promotion ideas, create competitions, promotions, and features to increase audience involvement.
• Knowledge of web analytics tools and services that help evaluate work results.

How to become an SMM specialist

There are no educational institutions where you can obtain the necessary skills, but there are numerous courses. A higher education as a marketer will be a good help. But the only guarantee of success for an SMM manager is constant self-education.

• Read books on PR, SEO, copywriting, advertising. All this will be useful in your activities.
• Watch video tutorials. There is plenty of free material on YouTube and other sites.
• Take online and regular master classes. Don't miss the chance to chat live with an expert. This way you will receive valuable advice and be inspired by his example.
• Public pages, groups, blogs, Instagrams on relevant topics. There are a lot of them: Cossa, SMMPlanner, Popartmarketing, Instashkola, vk.com/bizness_online, vk.com/cerebro_vk and more.

There are a lot of sources; you need to be able to structure the information received and immediately apply it in practice. Remember that theoretical training is important, but it will not make you a professional. How to gain invaluable experience?

To get started, create personal accounts on those sites where you want to work first. You can immediately apply all the knowledge gained on your account. In addition, it will be strange if an SMM marketer does not have his own page. This way you will kill two birds with one stone: you will begin to create a personal brand and develop skills.

There are several more ways to learn how to promote on social networks from scratch:

• Come up with a company and promote it.
• Create communities for the businesses of your acquaintances.
• Find companies that clearly need help and offer your services.
• Get a job as an intern at an agency or with a well-known specialist.

How to learn to write

You need practice. The more you write, the better you get at it. Read books about sales and informational texts, think about what interests your audience (real or fictional) and get started. You can create your own tasks or register on a content exchange. The second option is less suitable, since an interesting task is not always found. But for completing it you will receive payment (albeit small), overcome the fear of a blank sheet and get an idea of ​​​​what commercial articles are.

An SMM specialist is a complex and in-demand profession. If you decide to become an SMM specialist, get ready for constant self-education, experiments and irregular days. Very often, such specialists are in touch most of the day, since you also need to be a community manager, which means answering subscribers’ questions in a timely manner. This can be called the main disadvantage of working on social networks. Otherwise, this is an exciting activity, during which you will gain a lot of knowledge and skills in related fields and become a sought-after employee.