SEO
Social Media Career Path: How To Get Started
The social media landscape has changed drastically since we started using Facebook in the mid-2000s.
Nowadays, companies rely heavily on social media platforms to connect with their customers and build communities around their brands.
As a result, many people are getting into social media marketing as new opportunities arise and career paths develop. But it can be challenging to know where to start.
What steps should I take to start my career path in social media? Is it possible to become a professional social media marketer without previous experience or a degree?
I’ll answer these questions and more in this social media career guide.
How To Get Started
Like with most career paths, it becomes easier once you know what you’re doing.
The first step is deciding which platforms you want to learn more about, researching, and using them. If you’re already comfortable with and have a profile with specific platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter, you should already have a knowledge base.
Once you’ve got the basics down, you should also consider building out your understanding of other platforms like LinkedIn, Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram.
The best way to get started with social media marketing is to build your audience on your profiles. It’s the best place for trial and error. And it will help clarify which platforms you actually want to work on within your career.
Once you understand the different platforms, you can start evolving your social media skill set.
Essential Skills
Over the years, businesses have relied upon social networks to gain insights into consumer psychology and gauge public opinion.
This has enabled them to identify trends or changes before they take place. But what skills do you need to identify these trends or create engaging social media posts?
1. Copywriting
Now I’m not talking about copyright or intellectual property rights. I’m talking about crafting compelling copy to market a brand, product, or service.
Even if you don’t have a background in writing, you can still develop the skills to become an effective copywriter. Pay attention to the ads and social media posts today.
Who’s getting it right, and what brands are clearly missing the mark? You can start practicing copywriting by simply editing brand copy that misses the mark.
While copywriting is a career in itself, it’s important to practice and perfect the art of social media copy.
2. Research And Analysis
Whether you’re researching a brand and its competitors to get the lay of the land or finding the right time to post, becoming a good researcher will save you time and help you with social media marketing.
You’ll also need to be able to interpret the key performance indicators (KPIs) for different brands. This is usually based on the platform’s insights or other programs used to analyze social media performance.
Comprehending and utilizing the insights social media platforms and programs provide are necessary skills to have in this career path. And things change fast online, and that’s no different for social media, so becoming a great researcher and analyst is a beneficial path.
3. Understanding Brand Personality And Tone
If you’re working as a freelance social media manager or with a marketing agency, you’ll need to be able to understand a brand guide.
These guides usually include the brand tone, colors, fonts, and the target market personality.
Surprisingly, not all brands have this, and sometimes, you’ll need to help establish a brand guide for a company.
Understanding and utilizing a brand guide will help you keep the right tone and personality when addressing customers and creating social media copy for brands.
4. Creative Development
You’ll need to develop a creative perspective incorporating the brand identity when producing videos and graphics for a brand’s posts. In addition, staying within the brand’s colors and font types can help create unity across posts.
Now, you don’t need to be an expert graphic designer to create social media posts. There are numerous free platforms out there, like Canva and Adobe Express, that can help you create professional and unique social media posts.
5. Customer Service
If you go the route of social media manager, you’ll also likely be monitoring the comments and direct messages for a brand’s social media accounts.
Customer service generally requires critical thinking and problem-solving, which you’ll also need in this career field.
In addition, it’ll be important to be polite, respond quickly and thoroughly, and know whom to direct your questions to if you can’t answer them yourself.
Recommended Education
There are numerous ways to educate yourself on social media marketing, from getting a bachelor’s in social media management, interning and getting some hands-on experience, online courses, and countless free online resources.
If you’re entirely new to the field and are serious about learning about social media management, get a bachelor’s in marketing or social media management. The courses within these programs can lay the foundation to understand the business world and prepare you with the skills you need and practice and excel in the field.
If you’re not entirely sold on the career field or simply want to expand your knowledge, you can take a seminar or course for social media management or a specific skill.
For example, let’s say you want to get better at copywriting. Try the Comprehensive Copywriting Academy (CCA) or Copy Posse.
You will benefit immensely from learning more about copywriting and dealing with brands from the CCA course.
Usually, online courses like these also allow you to join online communities, like private Facebook groups. These groups can help give feedback on coursework, answer questions, and even help you land a job.
You can also read online resources such as ours on Social Media Strategy and Social Media Advertising. There are many excellent and free online articles, tools, and ebooks that can help you stay on top of social media trends and learn more about specific skills and strategies.
Roles Available In Social & Career Path To Follow
Today, social media plays a crucial role in advertising, customer service, and brand management. Social media marketers play a vital role in helping businesses scale and grow.
Several career paths are available, from freelance social media manager to social media strategist. Here are a few career paths you might want to consider:
Social Media Strategist
A social media strategist will help develop the brand’s strategy for each online social media platform.
They will help identify and track the KPIs to ensure the social media strategy stays on track. This could include monitoring incoming followers, likes, shares, mentions, and comments across posts.
This role will likely work with different teams within the brand to create a cohesive and accurate portal of the brand. They will also need to understand search engine optimization (SEO) and how to incorporate it into the social media strategy.
On average, social media strategists make anywhere from $46,000 to $73,000.
Social Media Manager
A social media manager needs to know how to create content for various social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok. The social media manager must also understand how to optimize each platform and use analytic tools to measure performance.
In addition, a social media manager should be able to communicate effectively with both internal and external audiences.
As mentioned earlier, you’ll also need to use your customer service skills to respond to comments and direct messages on each platform.
Your income could vary depending on whether you are a freelancer or work for an agency, but salaries usually range from $42,000 to $66,000.
Social Media Influencer
People who create content using social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat are social media influencers or simply influencers. Many companies hire them to promote their brand or products through images, tweets, posts, video clips, blogs, and more.
In addition, they usually pay influencers to post content on their behalf because they want to reach targeted audiences.
This can be a lucrative and unique career path. Like being a freelance social media manager, being an influencer gives you the autonomy to create your career path and solely work with brands that align with your values.
Depending on your following and the brands you work with, a social media influencer could make between $41,000 to $69,000. Now, if you have a Huda Kattan level following, this could extend far past that.
Social Media Consultant
A brand might hire a social media consultant if it needs someone to evaluate its current strategy or social media profiles.
Sometimes getting a fresh set of eyes and an unbiased perspective can help take a brand’s social media presence to the next level. They can also help brands set goals and evaluate their SEO for their platforms.
Social media consultants generally make between $50,000 to $82,000.
Final Takeaways
Social media has changed our world, from how we interact with our friends, family, and followers to how brands market their products and services.
The career opportunities in social media are only expanding. You can move through different career paths if you practice the skills mentioned in this article and stay on top of social media trends.
More Resources:
Featured Image: 13_Phunkod/Shutterstock
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SEO
brightonSEO Live Blog
Hello everyone. It’s April again, so I’m back in Brighton for another two days of Being the introvert I am, my idea of fun isn’t hanging around our booth all day explaining we’ve run out of t-shirts (seriously, you need to be fast if you want swag!). So I decided to do something useful and live-blog the event instead.
Follow below for talk takeaways and (very) mildly humorous commentary. sun, sea, and SEO!
SEO
Google Further Postpones Third-Party Cookie Deprecation In Chrome
Google has again delayed its plan to phase out third-party cookies in the Chrome web browser. The latest postponement comes after ongoing challenges in reconciling feedback from industry stakeholders and regulators.
The announcement was made in Google and the UK’s Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) joint quarterly report on the Privacy Sandbox initiative, scheduled for release on April 26.
Chrome’s Third-Party Cookie Phaseout Pushed To 2025
Google states it “will not complete third-party cookie deprecation during the second half of Q4” this year as planned.
Instead, the tech giant aims to begin deprecating third-party cookies in Chrome “starting early next year,” assuming an agreement can be reached with the CMA and the UK’s Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO).
The statement reads:
“We recognize that there are ongoing challenges related to reconciling divergent feedback from the industry, regulators and developers, and will continue to engage closely with the entire ecosystem. It’s also critical that the CMA has sufficient time to review all evidence, including results from industry tests, which the CMA has asked market participants to provide by the end of June.”
Continued Engagement With Regulators
Google reiterated its commitment to “engaging closely with the CMA and ICO” throughout the process and hopes to conclude discussions this year.
This marks the third delay to Google’s plan to deprecate third-party cookies, initially aiming for a Q3 2023 phaseout before pushing it back to late 2024.
The postponements reflect the challenges in transitioning away from cross-site user tracking while balancing privacy and advertiser interests.
Transition Period & Impact
In January, Chrome began restricting third-party cookie access for 1% of users globally. This percentage was expected to gradually increase until 100% of users were covered by Q3 2024.
However, the latest delay gives websites and services more time to migrate away from third-party cookie dependencies through Google’s limited “deprecation trials” program.
The trials offer temporary cookie access extensions until December 27, 2024, for non-advertising use cases that can demonstrate direct user impact and functional breakage.
While easing the transition, the trials have strict eligibility rules. Advertising-related services are ineligible, and origins matching known ad-related domains are rejected.
Google states the program aims to address functional issues rather than relieve general data collection inconveniences.
Publisher & Advertiser Implications
The repeated delays highlight the potential disruption for digital publishers and advertisers relying on third-party cookie tracking.
Industry groups have raised concerns that restricting cross-site tracking could push websites toward more opaque privacy-invasive practices.
However, privacy advocates view the phaseout as crucial in preventing covert user profiling across the web.
With the latest postponement, all parties have more time to prepare for the eventual loss of third-party cookies and adopt Google’s proposed Privacy Sandbox APIs as replacements.
Featured Image: Novikov Aleksey/Shutterstock
SEO
How To Write ChatGPT Prompts To Get The Best Results
ChatGPT is a game changer in the field of SEO. This powerful language model can generate human-like content, making it an invaluable tool for SEO professionals.
However, the prompts you provide largely determine the quality of the output.
To unlock the full potential of ChatGPT and create content that resonates with your audience and search engines, writing effective prompts is crucial.
In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the art of writing prompts for ChatGPT, covering everything from basic techniques to advanced strategies for layering prompts and generating high-quality, SEO-friendly content.
Writing Prompts For ChatGPT
What Is A ChatGPT Prompt?
A ChatGPT prompt is an instruction or discussion topic a user provides for the ChatGPT AI model to respond to.
The prompt can be a question, statement, or any other stimulus to spark creativity, reflection, or engagement.
Users can use the prompt to generate ideas, share their thoughts, or start a conversation.
ChatGPT prompts are designed to be open-ended and can be customized based on the user’s preferences and interests.
How To Write Prompts For ChatGPT
Start by giving ChatGPT a writing prompt, such as, “Write a short story about a person who discovers they have a superpower.”
ChatGPT will then generate a response based on your prompt. Depending on the prompt’s complexity and the level of detail you requested, the answer may be a few sentences or several paragraphs long.
Use the ChatGPT-generated response as a starting point for your writing. You can take the ideas and concepts presented in the answer and expand upon them, adding your own unique spin to the story.
If you want to generate additional ideas, try asking ChatGPT follow-up questions related to your original prompt.
For example, you could ask, “What challenges might the person face in exploring their newfound superpower?” Or, “How might the person’s relationships with others be affected by their superpower?”
Remember that ChatGPT’s answers are generated by artificial intelligence and may not always be perfect or exactly what you want.
However, they can still be a great source of inspiration and help you start writing.
Must-Have GPTs Assistant
I recommend installing the WebBrowser Assistant created by the OpenAI Team. This tool allows you to add relevant Bing results to your ChatGPT prompts.
This assistant adds the first web results to your ChatGPT prompts for more accurate and up-to-date conversations.
It is very easy to install in only two clicks. (Click on Start Chat.)
For example, if I ask, “Who is Vincent Terrasi?,” ChatGPT has no answer.
With WebBrower Assistant, the assistant creates a new prompt with the first Bing results, and now ChatGPT knows who Vincent Terrasi is.
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023You can test other GPT assistants available in the GPTs search engine if you want to use Google results.
Master Reverse Prompt Engineering
ChatGPT can be an excellent tool for reverse engineering prompts because it generates natural and engaging responses to any given input.
By analyzing the prompts generated by ChatGPT, it is possible to gain insight into the model’s underlying thought processes and decision-making strategies.
One key benefit of using ChatGPT to reverse engineer prompts is that the model is highly transparent in its decision-making.
This means that the reasoning and logic behind each response can be traced, making it easier to understand how the model arrives at its conclusions.
Once you’ve done this a few times for different types of content, you’ll gain insight into crafting more effective prompts.
Prepare Your ChatGPT For Generating Prompts
First, activate the reverse prompt engineering.
- Type the following prompt: “Enable Reverse Prompt Engineering? By Reverse Prompt Engineering I mean creating a prompt from a given text.”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023ChatGPT is now ready to generate your prompt. You can test the product description in a new chatbot session and evaluate the generated prompt.
- Type: “Create a very technical reverse prompt engineering template for a product description about iPhone 11.”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023The result is amazing. You can test with a full text that you want to reproduce. Here is an example of a prompt for selling a Kindle on Amazon.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {product), capture the writing style and the length of the text :
product =”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023I tested it on an SEJ blog post. Enjoy the analysis – it is excellent.
- Type: “Reverse Prompt engineer the following {text}, capture the tone and writing style of the {text} to include in the prompt :
text = all text coming from https://www.searchenginejournal.com/google-bard-training-data/478941/”
Screenshot from ChatGPT, March 2023But be careful not to use ChatGPT to generate your texts. It is just a personal assistant.
Go Deeper
Prompts and examples for SEO:
- Keyword research and content ideas prompt: “Provide a list of 20 long-tail keyword ideas related to ‘local SEO strategies’ along with brief content topic descriptions for each keyword.”
- Optimizing content for featured snippets prompt: “Write a 40-50 word paragraph optimized for the query ‘what is the featured snippet in Google search’ that could potentially earn the featured snippet.”
- Creating meta descriptions prompt: “Draft a compelling meta description for the following blog post title: ’10 Technical SEO Factors You Can’t Ignore in 2024′.”
Important Considerations:
- Always Fact-Check: While ChatGPT can be a helpful tool, it’s crucial to remember that it may generate inaccurate or fabricated information. Always verify any facts, statistics, or quotes generated by ChatGPT before incorporating them into your content.
- Maintain Control and Creativity: Use ChatGPT as a tool to assist your writing, not replace it. Don’t rely on it to do your thinking or create content from scratch. Your unique perspective and creativity are essential for producing high-quality, engaging content.
- Iteration is Key: Refine and revise the outputs generated by ChatGPT to ensure they align with your voice, style, and intended message.
Additional Prompts for Rewording and SEO:
– Rewrite this sentence to be more concise and impactful.
– Suggest alternative phrasing for this section to improve clarity.
– Identify opportunities to incorporate relevant internal and external links.
– Analyze the keyword density and suggest improvements for better SEO.
Remember, while ChatGPT can be a valuable tool, it’s essential to use it responsibly and maintain control over your content creation process.
Experiment And Refine Your Prompting Techniques
Writing effective prompts for ChatGPT is an essential skill for any SEO professional who wants to harness the power of AI-generated content.
Hopefully, the insights and examples shared in this article can inspire you and help guide you to crafting stronger prompts that yield high-quality content.
Remember to experiment with layering prompts, iterating on the output, and continually refining your prompting techniques.
This will help you stay ahead of the curve in the ever-changing world of SEO.
More resources:
Featured Image: Tapati Rinchumrus/Shutterstock
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