From Novice to Pro: Lessons from Working Over Ten Years in Social Media

By Dave McDonald, Director of Social Media

11+ years working in social media; I never thought I’d see the day. It seems like yesterday when I was a bundle of nerves walking into my first desk job, where they threw social media at me since I was a young marketing guy in the office. Over 11 unsettlingly quick years later, with my nerves subsided (maybe only a little bit) and perhaps a bit of a thinner hairline, it’s fantastic to think about how far I’ve come, how much I’ve learned, and all the wonderful people I’ve met along the way.

Six years ago, I wrote about everything I wish I had known before working in social media. With another half a decade under my belt, here’s what I’ve learned working over ten years in this ever-changing industry. Let’s do this.

Your content is only as good as your organization’s understanding of social media:

Throughout my time in the industry, I’ve realized that your creative ideas won’t see the light of day unless your team and supervisors genuinely understand social media and its purpose. While any social media professional knows that taking creative liberties is part of the gig, depending on the organization you work for, having the autonomy to take those risks can take time to build and sometimes may never come. This is especially true if you work for people with misconceptions about how companies should use social media. For example, I’ve worked for organizations that thought social media’s only purpose was to drive web traffic.

In my experience, when proposing a new idea or strategy that may differ slightly from what your organization usually does, it’s important to lay everything out for your team. Here’s my recommendation for structuring your proposal to help get buy-in:

1. Introduce the idea, its goal, and your recommendation.
2. Present the pros and cons of the idea(s)
3. If possible, present similar examples from competitors
4. Highlight metrics for success
5. Present your timeline

If you get buy-in, congratulations, and best of luck on launching your new campaign. If you still receive a “no,” ask for feedback and adjust, but it might be time to start looking elsewhere if your organization doesn’t care to listen.

You can’t do it all. Get buy-in for the support you need:

In the early days of social media, having one person manage an organization’s social presence was reasonable. Those days are long gone. Running successful social media channels now requires copywriting, customer service, graphic design, video production, data analysis, you name it. It is impossible to do it all, and attempting to is an express train to burnout town. If you’re working on a small team and desperately need support, here’s my advice for making your case:

• Do your research: Find organizations like yours, contact their social teams, and ask about their team structure. Don’t feel like you’re being a burden. You’d be surprised by how much people are willing to offer advice. If you’re struggling with understaffing, likely, other teams are as well.
• List your top needs: Once you’ve researched, list your team’s current needs and determine which are essential to your future success.
• Draft a job description: Create a job description that includes your needs. This can take some time. Ensure you’re realistic about what this potential new team member can take on and who this position should sit with on your team.
• Send the job description up the ladder: Meet your manager and propose the new role. By creating the job description beforehand, you can give them something tangible they can digest and edit instead of just voicing what you need and leaving it to them or your team’s HR rep to piece together. From there, your manager should be able to give guidance on whether this is something your team can pursue or not.

If you can’t get approval for a full-time position, remember that other options exist, such as hiring an intern or freelance support.

The industry moves fast; keep up or get run over:

Social media is like fashion. Your strategy is “in” one day, and the next, it’s “out.” Keeping up with changing algorithms and trends is not a suggestion; it’s a requirement. Not adjusting your social media strategies to the constantly shifting social media landscape can be detrimental to the reach of your messaging. To ensure you don’t fall behind, find a few reputable industry news sites and set aside time each week to scan and read about updates. Social Media Today, TechCrunch, and Marketing Brew are a few of my favorites.

Pro tip: sign up for their newsletters to get their daily updates.

If you’re not making data-driven decisions, you’re doing it wrong:

It is important to analyze the performance of your content to understand what resonates with your audience and what does not. Without this insight, you are wasting time, money, and your followers’ attention on content that doesn’t matter to them. Establishing regular reporting intervals, such as monthly, quarterly, and yearly, allows you to identify the content that connects with your target audience. This information can then be used to shape your future content strategy. Social media management tools like Sprout Social, Sprinklr, and Hootsuite can assist in streamlining your reporting process.

Burnout is real. Find time for yourself:

Social media never sleeps, but you need to! You will burn out if you do not take time for your self-care. Find time to go on walks, hit the gym, read, and do whatever makes you happy that doesn’t involve staring at a phone or computer screen. Also, use your PTO! Get someone to cover for you while you’re gone so you can return from vacation with a clear head to fill with more creative ideas.

Crises are inevitable; learn from them and move on:

When working in communications, especially social media, you will eventually find yourself in troubled waters. Perhaps your organization released a poorly received statement, or your social posts ruffled feathers. These things happen, but the most important thing is what happens next. In times of crisis, fight the urge to react immediately. Be transparent with the key stakeholders at your organization on what’s being said on your social channels, offer suggestions for next steps, and, if needed, implement policies and procedures to ensure it doesn’t happen again. It’s ok to pause your social media posts until things settle down. Just remember: This too shall pass.

Position yourself as the expert within your organization:

Social media professionals don’t realize the power they hold. Even though the industry has matured considerably since its inception, many misconceptions remain. Be the person in your organization who showcases its magic. Start a Slack or Microsoft Teams group to share industry updates, hold lunch and learns, or host office hours so your colleagues can come and talk through their social media ideas with you. By doing this, you’re making yourself invaluable to your organization and educating others on everything social media is capable of.

No, you can’t age out of the social media industry:

Don’t fall for this nonsense. If you’re someone like me who has aged alongside the industry, your knowledge and experience are invaluable (millennial here!). Yes, younger social media professionals will inevitably know the latest trends and new ways to speak to your stakeholders. So, instead of resenting them, hire them and thrive off of their fantastic energy. These folks are looking for mentors like you. They can teach you so much and will also want to learn from you.

Final thoughts:

It’s been a wild 11+ years, and I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner. The most important thing to remember is to keep learning, make connections with those you trust, and have fun while doing it. And isn’t that precisely the key to any good social media campaign? To teach, connect, and entertain? Anyway, I’m philosophizing a bit too hard. Until next time, social pros!