The Ultimate Guide To Being A Social Media Strategist

The explosive growth in social media platforms represents massive potential for all businesses.

Companies can take advantage of the huge number of people that spend their time on these platforms each day, by marketing to them “where they live”.

This offers smart marketers the chance to tap into the mini social media marketing gold rush, but most don’t know where to start.

The good news is that when you do know how to generate leads and revenue from social media marketing, then you can help businesses make more money and they’ll pay you for your services.

First and foremost, to succeed in social media marketing, you need to be a great communicator.

This is absolutely key. If you manage the social media accounts for your company, then you are essentially the voice of the company. And as that voice, there is a ton of room for both risk and reward. Post something with a misspelling and you make your company look unprofessional. If you fail to understand a customers problem when they post about it online, then you won’t know how to fix it. But you could make them even more aggravated and make the situation worse. As well as being able to communicate with your customers via Social Media, you also need to be able to communicate effectively with your colleagues. If you ran an Ecommerce store for example and your customer didn’t receive their order, you would need to know who to contact and how to fix the situation.

Do you need to contact the warehouse? Was it a problem with the shipping company? Or maybe there was a problem with the website and the order never came through? Effective communication can help talk your customers off the ledge. It can help potential customers understand what you do or see the value in a special offer your running on your social media platforms. Or it can help band together internal departments to fix a customers problem. Which leads me to the next most important skill you will need if you want to work in social media marketing.

The ability to multi-task

That’s right. If you want to work in social media then boy do you need to be good at multitasking.

Think of the scenarios I mentioned above! In one paragraph I listed off a whole host of tasks that might only take 10 minutes in the day of the life of a social media strategist, but cover a huge range of departments. One minute you’re wearing your marketing hat, posting a special offer and trying to acquire new customers. The next thing you know, you’re wearing your customer service hat and responding to a customer’s Facebook message or comment. Then before you know it you’re operational hat is thrown at your head (duck) and you’re talking to fulfillment, to find out why the customers order didn’t ship yet. The customer might have needed “that dress” by last Friday, but it’s Monday now and she doesn’t even want it any more, so you need to process a refund (while wearing your accounting hat). Before you know it your back on customer service duties responding to the customer, apologizing for the issue and letting her know you’ve processed a refund. Then finally your back wearing your marketing hat, because after showing such a quick response to the customers original comment on social media, you acquired some new customers that were impressed by your fast reaction to a customers issue on social media.

To have a successful career in social media marketing, you also need to be:

Customer-centric

To Impress your customers, you must focus on them and become a champion for them.

Creative

If you want to catch their eye, you need to be able to create posts that stand out. (You can do that with Design Wizard’s easy to edit social media post templates).

Proactive

You need to be able to plan posts that spark conversations and good interactions with your brand.

Reactive

When something happens you need to be able to deal with it. Whether that’s responding to a bad customer comment, or seeing the potential to go viral. If you react accordingly you will be rewarded.

Analytical

With such little organic reach for companies on the various social media platforms these days, you need to be able to analyze what makes your customers and prospects tick. This means properly understanding your social and web analytics data.

Organized

With so much multi-tasking involved, the life of a social media strategist is an organized one. If it wasn’t organized, it would be sheer chaos.

Passionate

As the voice of your company (via their social media profile) you need to be passionate about your products and your company’s mission. You also need to be passionate about your customers. If you are passionate about both, then it will shine through and make for an amazing customer experience.

Tech Savvy

This one goes without saying! If you can’t even log on to the various social media platforms, then it will be tough to work in social media marketing!

Daring

Sometimes as a social media strategist, you will sometimes see an opportunity to capitalize on. Whether that’s responding to a trending topic or creating a viral video campaign, you need to have big cajones, that allow you to be daring and take risks to capture your followers attention.

If you still want to work in social media marketing, then you will be happy to learn that it can be a rewarding career and there are a number of roles for you to choose from:

Director of Social Media – This is usually the head of the social media marketing department and will be responsible for all of the staff within. They will be the person who makes the final decisions and will represent the department at the C-Level meetings.

Brand Ambassador – This one is interesting as the brand ambassador might not and usually doesn’t work for the company, but instead, uses their own social media following to promote the companies products. This can be blurred sometimes though, for example, Conor McGregor owns Proper Twelve Whiskey, but he is also the companies main brand ambassador

Social Media Manager – This is probably one of the most commonly known roles when it comes to social media marketing. It’s often an all encompassing role, much like the scenarios I described earlier, a social media manager can wear a variety of hats. Depending on the size of the organization, the role of the social media manager can mean a lot of different things. In a small business, they might be the sole person responsible for managing all social media accounts. In a large organization, their role might be much more specific, such as managing one platform or being the voice for one certain product.

Social Media Marketing Coordinator & Social Media Executive – This role is much like the role of social media manager, but tends to exist more in larger organizations and as a more junior role. If you’ve got no experience, but a keen interest to work in social media marketing, then this could be the role for you.

Social Media Assistant – Again this can tend to be a more junior role and is often reserved for virtual assistants, or people with little to no experience. The social media assistants role is often to assist the others within the social media team, such as carrying out research on trends etc.

Community Manager – Community Managers tend to exist in larger organizations, where their role is to foster and grow the community of users of the product. Online companies such as Clickfunnels have done this really well and their CEO has inadvertently been acting as their community manager for years. Because of this sense of belonging to a greater community, customer retention and brand loyalty are hugely increased.

And lastly we get to the role of a Social Media Strategist. If you’re looking for a rewarding career in social media marketing, then this is the role for you. If you are able to plan and execute social media marketing strategies for businesses small or large, that generate sales and grow revenue, then you’ll never go hungry.

Not surprisingly, Social Media Strategists make strategy, their first priority. While a Social Media Managers role might involve strategizing, they don’t focus solely on it. A company can live or die by it’s social media strategy and this is where social media strategists thrive.

A social marketing strategist can look at the entire picture and instantly know where to start on a new campaign, or what’s going wrong on an existing campaign. They’ll know why Facebook likes aren’t converting into sales or why your content just doesn’t get any engagement. They’ll know why your tweets aren’t generating website traffic or why your youtube videos don’t get any views.

It’s also one of the best places to start your career in social media marketing, because often times in larger companies it is a more junior role. But by working as a social media strategist you can gain all of the skills you need to progress your career in social media marketing.

What don’t they do?! First of all one of the key tasks of a social media strategist is to focus on the integrated marketing mix. They look at what the company is doing on other advertising mediums and strategize ways this can be translated to and capitalized on social media.

They know how to communicate across various platforms. For instance on Twitter you need to make it short and sweet, but on Facebook you can almost write a short story. A great social strategist will work out ways to capitalize across the various platforms and even work it down to a very granular level, such as “on Twitter we need to post in the morning, on facebook we need to post in the evening.

As part of their workflow, they will need to know what is going on in the world. Has something gone viral overnight that can be capitalized on? Is there a trend that’s relevant to us.

Shutterstock capitalized brilliantly on the recent hoopla created by the Fyre Festival documentaries and created a video of their own. The Shutterstock video showcased the amazing footage in their library and popped a shot at the festival organizers, by showing how they could have made their Promo video for way less money using Shutterstock! There’s no doubt there is a social media strategist somewhere in Shutterstock that got many a pat on the back because of this.

A good social media strategist will respond to and interact with customers in a flawless way. Much like the scenario I described earlier.

They will also schedule all of the companies posts in the array of social media marketing tools that most companies use nowadays.

They’ll figure out ways to continue to build the companies audience across a range of social media platforms.

They will perform social listening related tasks. This could be “listening” for mentions of their brand on the social stratosphere, or listening for a complaint about a competitor to capitalize on and acquire a new customer.

Last but not least, they will report on challenges and wins. They will keep their superiors informed on how their brand is being represented on Social Media.

Whether that’s getting new sign ups via Linkedin, or receiving and dealing with customer complaints via Facebook messenger, the social media strategist will keep abreast of everything, then report on why it’s important for their organization

So how much does a Social Media Strategist earn? It’s an interesting question with varying answers, but across the board the role is one that comes with good remuneration.

Indeed says that a SENIOR Social Media Strategist makes over $90,000 a year Which is a nice chunk of change.

But in the UK, Payscale says that the average Social Media Strategist Salary is £24,000 (about $31,000 at the time of writing)

And finally, Glassdoor pits the average Social Media Strategist salary at around $54,000

So while it is varied across the board (and across the world) the role of Social Media Strategist seems to be a relatively lucrative one, and as a junior position in a lot of organizations should offer you a chance to get a headstart in your social media career.

Like with most positions an eye-catching resume is half the battle and luckily with Design Wizard, you can create a stunning looking resume in minutes.

• Be sure to include the most important things to include in any resume.
• Keep it short and sweet, Keep it well organized and easy to read. Draw attention to the most important elements.
• Include an image of yourself.
• Keep it clean with lots of empty space.
• Talk about your experience and love for social media.
• Talk about your achievements working in social media.
  

So now you know what it’s like to be a social media strategist, what’s involved with the role and how much you can earn, it’s time to become a kick ass social media strategist!

“But how can I become a better social media strategist” I hear you ask? Easy! By learning from the best of the best.

“But how am I going to figure out who the best social media marketers are” I hear you say. No problem. Why? Because we’ve only gone and scoured the web to pick the 50 best social media marketing blogs, that are guaranteed to make you a better social media strategist and propel your career to the next level. We’ve reviewed hundreds of social media blogs and cut through the fat to give you the cream of the crop! These blogs contain case studies, they contain best practices for the various platforms, results of A/B tests and so much more. These are the blogs that will help you propel your career in social media strategy to new heights

And without further ado, here are the top 50 social media blogs (in no particular order):

Mari is known as the premier Facebook marketing authority and she’s sometimes referred to as the Queen of Facebook, a title which is more than deserved. A thought leader in the space, Facebook themselves even head hunted her to partner with them, as the company’s leading small business marketing expert. Check out the impact on organic reach and 14 ways to get more facebook shares.

Ignite Social Media aren’t another one of those agencies who say they “do” social media. Instead they lead the way with their cutting edge social strategies. Their blog is consistently ranked in the best social media blogs to follow, because it’s brought to you by experts who live and breath social media marketing. Notable posts to check out include the top 50 branded Facebook pages and why people share.

Rebekah is known for training thousands of marketing leaders on marketing fundamentals, turning ideas into results, creating actionable plans and more. Her podcast the ‘Brand Authority Show’ is full of useful advice, that can help you grow your brand and your business. Her blog mirrors this, with useful articles on anything from strategy to implementation, and everything else in between. The posts to check out first are 5 elements of an irresistible social media call to action and 10 strategy ideas to generate real results.

Chris Sugrue heads a super-talented content team at Falcon.io steeped in social media insights, trends, anecdotes and lore. Their blog reflects their company’s status as a social media innovator. Being plugged directly into Falcon.io’s diverse clientele they’re able to understand social media marketers’ true challenges, and deliver the posts to solve them. Check them out – and never be shy to reach out with the topics you want to see covered. Start with their guide to Instagram marketing and how to structure your social selling

Jon Loomer has become synonymous with Facebook Advertising as a result of the amazing insight he’s given through his content over the years. The Jon Loomer blog is always up to date, with practical insight especially for more advanced Facebook marketers. His content tends to be ‘skyscraper’ style content, meaning every piece he writes is hugely in-depth on the subject and no stone is left unturned. Good reads on John’s blog include are facebook ads a waste of money and organic reach is not dead

Created by two French tech cowboys, who met in New York of all places (possibly at the Statue of Liberty) AgoraPulse is your one stop shop social media management tool and their blog is jam packed with amazing articles that cover all of the major social media platforms. Interestingly, they are also currently spending $15K per month to test organic vs paid social media theories and you can get their results delivered to your inbox each week. Most shared articles of theirs include Don’t touch that Facebook boost button and how to find and keep the best social media talent

Kim Garst is one of the foremost authorities on social media for business owners and you can learn so much from the Kim Garst blog. If reading isn’t your thing, don’t worry, Kim goes live on Facebook weekly with “The Ignite Your Business Show” dropping social knowledge bombs that will help you go above when it comes to creating killer marketing strategies. If you like a nice read in the morning her blog is a wealth of information including 17 killer facebook post ideas for small businesses and 13 killer Facebook contest ideas.

Donna’s focus is all about visual storytelling and content strategy. She helps brands tell their story in a way that connects with their ideal audience, allowing them to build trust and getting customers knocking on their doors to do business with them. Her blog goes a long way to explain how brands can utilize social media to grow their audiences, and grow their businesses as a result. Great posts to start with are the social media tips for business infographic plus marketing podcasts everyone should listen to

Maximize Social’s mission is to help you learn how to use social media to gain more customers and grow your business. Run by the ever-brilliant Neal Schaffer, Maximise Social has a hugely engaged audience of social media savvy readers, who visit the site to stay up to date on the latest trends, insights and actionable advice. Worth a look are 8 ways to get website traffic via social media and the list of best social media books.

These guys are easy to like! (See what I did there?) Matter of fact they promise that you’ll love them. Rather than tell you deadlines aren’t realistic, the team at likeable will work to make it happen. Instead of staying on top of the social media marketing world, they stay ahead of it, hypothesizing on the future and their blog reflects this philosophy. Top posts to read first are how to write the perfect social media bio and the social media cheat sheet for brands.

While Ignite Visibility are your more typical, full service digital agency, there is an awful lot for social media marketers to learn by checking out their blog. Because they are a full service agency they approach marketing from all angles, meaning that checking out their content won’t just make you a better social strategist, it will help make you a better marketer full stop. Check out their post on social media audits and the best times to post on Facebook

Everywhere combine clever social media marketing strategy with influencer marketing to deliver great results.Their site is an absolute minefield of useful information to help you become a better social media strategist, from their case studies to their blogs, it’s packed with valuable, insightful and actionable information. Worth reading are how they set a Guinness world record on a pro-bono campaign and also the transformation of traditional media

Andrea Vahl is another social media marketing powerhouse that you need to follow if you want to become a better social media marketing manager. An accomplished speaker on the subject, her site and her blog are packed with useful and actionable insight on Facebook marketing. I love her social media page checklist infographic and her guide on how to use the conversion pixel in Facebook ads is also really useful.

Katie’s motto is that social media is not a one-way street, you have to give to get. With over 15 years in the marketing and branding world, in more recent times she’s fallen in love with social media and this is now where she focuses all of her efforts. She works a lot with in house marketing and communications teams to help create impactful social media strategies. She’s also an accomplished speaker and recently launched a book called get social smart. She’s got some interesting musings on Facebook dark posts and social media time management

A lot of Jenn’s marketing education came from hands on experience (which is actually probably the best way to learn anything). Interestingly her formal education is in biology and she’s got a masters in forensic science. But the science world’s loss is the marketing worlds gain, because the Jenn’s Trends blog is packed with useful, actionable, social media marketing advice. She’s one of the world’s leading minds when it comes to Instagram marketing, so anyone looking to utilize the platform should bookmark Jenn’s trends and study it profusely. My favourite posts include how to create a hashtag strategy and how to use hashtags to find your target audience

Convince & Convert’s blog is based around the premise that you already know the what and the how, they deliver the why and the whether. They aren’t just social media marketers, they are also world leading content marketers and they combine the 2 channels very effectively. There’s lots to learn from the Convince & Convert blog and my favour’te posts are social media strategy in 8 steps and 10 creative ways companies are using Snapchat

Pam’s tagline is that she’s half geek, half marketing 100% social nut – and her blog is 100% amazing. She focuses on social media training and consulting, and has helped thousands of businesses implement better social media marketing strategies. The ‘marketing nut’ blog is a treasure trove of practical content that can be broken down, dissected and used to help you grow your audience and your business. Top posts to check out first are 100 things to tweet about besides yourself and how to determine if a business page has fake fans

JC Social Media provide social media campaign management, auditing, training and consulting and they’ve worked with businesses across the world to help them grow their revenue by leveraging social media platforms. If you want to up your social media game, JC Social is a great place to start, they’ve got some amazingly detailed e-books and their blog is pretty jam packed as well. Good reads on the blog include Direct response marketing and social media and 3 simple ways to increase your fans

Agency 2 is the UK’s first social media agency and they’ve been working with clients such as Barbie and Pan MacMillan to deliver results that far exceed expectations, through their ability to combine the power of social media with social data. Their blog is up to date and full of useful information, such as their post on the targeting capabilities of each social platform and how to take advantage of going live.

The Social Lights (see what they did there?) was created by two college friends back in 2011, after they noticed a growing need for social media marketing services. Since then they’ve been working with local businesses to help them grow their audiences and get more leads and customers through social media. By managing social media marketing campaigns for all kinds of businesses based across the US, they’ve gained a wealth of knowledge and hands on experience that’s shared on their blog. My top posts to check out are how to trick the Facebook algorithm and their 2018 social media predications

NM Net Media help businesses turn likes and shares into customers and profit. Their campaign management expertise not only spreads across the main social media platforms, they are also experts in additional channels such as search engine optimization. Meaning that you can learn a more holistic to social media marketing and how it can be complemented by adding traffic from other channels. Two recent posts I recommend checking out are why you need social media marketing and Instagram vs Facebook engagement rates

Tailwind’s blog is straight up laced with strategies to grow your Pinterest and Instagram followings. Pinterest is an anomaly for most marketers, but the Tailwind blog covers everything you need to know about Pinterest from head to toe. Start with their guide to Pinterest Analytics and also check out their Ultimate Pinterest Planner

Vulpine Interactive are your friendly neighbourhood social media marketing agency and they are the perfect partner for exciting brands. They imagine a world where all businesses are using social media for the greater good and their blog is a testimony to that as it’s got tons of interesting content. Worth checking out first are their posts on growth hacking Twitter with auto mentions and their guide to Facebook custom audiences

Based in the Philippines, M2 Social is packed with young and dynamic marketers who are passionate about helping businesses grow through social media marketing. With clients throughout the world, they’ve developed tried and tested methods to help businesses grow, by getting more leads through social media marketing. Their blog is very regularly updated and with in depth information on social media marketing. They’ve also been known to create a killer infographic in their time and if you’re partial to a marketing infographic, then it’s worth checking out different types of social media influencers and shortcuts every social media marketer should know

The Marketing Nutz train and consult with businesses from all ends of the spectrum, from your local mom and pop all the way up to Fortune 10 companies, they’ve helped formulate and execute social media marketing strategies that deliver. Given that social media training is a core element of your business, they know a thing or two about developing social media strategists and their blog reflects that. In this case rather than recommending blog posts, I’m going to instead recommend that you check out some of their podcasts and in particular I would recommend having a listen to develop an audience first strategy and why random acts of marketing don’t work

Brightspark take the stress out of social, they spend a lot of time researching and staying up to date on all of the main platforms so you can be sure that the advice they give is current. Right up to the minute in fact! Their blog includes actionable advice as well as interesting case studies. Worth checking out are their posts on b2b buyer persona’s as well as their social media crossword puzzle

Polaris PR bring their years of PR and marketing experience to the social media marketing world, where they help consumer brands grow through the various platforms. Their blog covers lots of issues and gives thoughtful insight into the marketing world. Check out their social media page evaluation checklist and Twitter hashtags for B2B marketing superstars.

Xynergy have a wealth of experience in managing social media campaigns and they know how to establish and build a businesses social media presence. They don’t just post statuses to make profiles look busy, they focus on content development which allows for engaged readers as well as multi channel strategies. You can learn a lot from their blog, starting with how to combat facebook’s cut on organic reach and business owners reluctance to embrace social media

Vlogging Guides is the number one site for advice on how to create and monetize a Youtube channel. They cover everything from the equipment needed all the way to niches you can choose and how you can monetize every video. Check out their guide on becoming a youtuber in 10 easy steps and their huge list of Youtube video ideas

Based out of Philly (Go Eagle’s) Social Fire Media are a small agency, growing rapidly, because they are good at what they do. Outside of their blog, they’ve got some top notch case studies that are worth checking out, because they are no holds barred, no fluff, all useful. Their blog is a Rocky statue sized monster of information that will make you a better social media marketer, check out their social media platform stats infographic as well as 7 deadly sins of social networking

Katie Wagner social media is comprised of a team of journalists, who feel social media presents businesses with a chance to build a meaningful relationship with their audience. By creating a relationship through your social media profiles, rather than being another business trying to sell sell sell, they can help you set yourself apart by being genuine, transparent and human. As they are journalists, they love to write and their blog is updated with nuggets of gold almost daily. Top posts to check out first are how to go viral on social media and social media for real estate

Pioneers of social media marketing since 2007, Watconsult handle fully integrated social media campaigns that take in anything from ads to reputation management. Their blog carries lots of useful information, check out how a sale became a super sale by using social media and making mothers day special on Twitter

Founded by Nicole Harrison, AKA Social Nicole, this is the place to be if you want to learn how to leverage social media to grow any business. Nicole’s clients span from solo-preneurs to small businesses and all the way up to large corporations, but the goal remains the same: to help go getters create and grow businesses through social media marketing. Check out 7 tips to help you revamp your social media strategy and plans and the facebook marketing guide

Ittisa have dubbed themselves the creative rebels and while the designs they create are worth checking them out for alone, they also know how to throw a social media marketing punch or two! On their blog they have a mixture of posts, but 2 of my favourite posts are about how Game of Thrones uses social media and the top viral social media campaigns

James and Park make social media marketing campaigns stressless, by offering a done for you management service.They are also experts when it comes to influencer marketing so if you want to learn how to grow your brand by utilizing influencers, this is the blog to check out! Interesting insight on influencer marketing campaigns can be found in their guide to creating an influencer marketing strategy and their piece on how much influencers actually cost

Evolution’s approach to social media is to make sure you are part of your customers conversations every day online, they do this by correctly managing your company’s social media activity to grow your presence and tap into the huge pool of potential customers that spread their time across the various social platforms. Their posts tend to be in depth and insightful and their blog is one to check in on, top posts in my opinion are Social media strategy and why your brand needs to be visible on facebook

Smoking Gun bring their wealth of PR experience to the new fangled world of social media to help businesses grow communities, gain fans, build followers and boost engagement. They have senior marketing veterans and digital natives on the team and this combines to bring a multi pronged approach to social media marketing. Their blog is a mix of actionable tips and their own takes on different marketing issues, and is well worth a read. Check out their thoughts on if Twitter is the best web traffic source and the anatomy of a social media scandal

Passionate about creating conversations, Social distillery is your go to place to find cold filtered social media marketing tips and tricks.They focus on creating social media marketing campaigns that produce long term results and help companies grow. Their freshly distilled blog is cold frosted straight out of the tap, smooth into the glass and ready for you to put into action to grow your business. If you’re looking for a couple of tasty samplers, try the social listening IPA or the Brand love lager.

Social KNX’s service includes a mixture of planning, implementing and managing social media for businesses of various sizes. If you haven’t already factored social media into your overall strategy, these guys can help you “retro-fit” it. They’ve got an awesome resources section that’s well worth spending some time on, but their blog has some great content as well, I enjoyed FB business page: It’s never too late to get started and understanding the four faces of Facebooks

Molly started her marketing agency as a side hustle, after setting up an account on what was then called Elance (now Upwork). You can learn a lot from someone who spent their spare time in high school writing mock business plans for companies that didn’t yet exist. On her blog she shares tips and strategies on what she shows works when it comes to social media marketing. How I grew my FB page by 20% and 23 essential instagram tips make for great reads

Adel is a social media specialist, working with businesses to identify opportunities within social media grow and build relationships with their ideal customers. She’s been listed as a top social media influencer in both Australia and globally and her blog is full of skyscraper style articles packed with useful and actionable information. Check out her posts on social media facts and Facebook targeting tactics freelancers can use to target new clients

While these guys focus on inbound marketing as a whole, rather than just on social media. Their blog is packed full of social media related articles that are both interesting and actionable, specifically if you are looking to use the various platforms to compliment and drive your inbound marketing. The posts to check out first are why you need Facebook ads for inbound and Twitter’s character limit for digital marketers

The Brand Geeks have cracked the code on how to build a brand through social media and you can learn how to apply their methods for yourself on their extremely share-worthy blog! By combining awesome design with great marketing strategies, they help businesses grow their audience through the various platforms, increasing revenues and profits along the way. Notable posts to check are their guide to social media for business and their tips for creating a better online brand

Crave New Media focus their efforts on the hospitality industry, so if you’ve got a particular interest in that niche, these guys have the perfect blog to stay up to date with the latest trends in hospitality social media management. Would you like some Pinterest with your business and influencer marketing both make for interesting reads.

High Season are a team of social Savvy entrepreneurs that know what it takes to get results. They work on creating savvy campaigns that connect brands with customers. They create campaigns that engage with customers on their preferred platforms and are experts at social listening, community building, strategic planning and live event coverage. If you check out their blog, check out their facebook pay to play post and how to leverage user generated content.

Although it’s not run by Harvey Specter from the fictional show of the same name, these guys are just as cool! Experts on all of the major platforms and providing both profile management and social media advertising campaigns, you can learn a lot from these real life Mike Ross’s of the social media marketing world. How to set up a social media strategy in 5 steps is a great place to start on their blog, but also check out their take on Snapchat vs Facebook

We Like You are experts across all aspects of social media, from strategy to community management, from content creation to social media ads and everything else in between. These guys know what it takes to get results and their blog content reflects that. Have a read off some of their articles, you’ll be all the greater for it. I liked why visuals matter on social media and 10 ways to grow your Instagram following

Social Media One are a global social media management agency and their wealth of talent across the world combine to make them a power-house when it comes to actionable social media marketing advice. They also invest heavily in social marketing tools, so they are a great source on all of the latest tools and innovations. Check out their influencer engagement cost calculator and their guide to social media tools

Smarty Social Media are your personal social media geek squad. With a team of smart marketers (the clue’s in the name) they are ready to help your business grow, no matter the product, service, brand or sector through a mix of cohesive content, social marketing tactics, and buzz worthy influencer programs. Two great posts to introduce you to these ladies are 5 things to be an outstanding social media manager and social media networks to reach teens

Miss Ink have been doing social media since Myspace was a thing. They help businesses grow through social media marketing and their methods are based on strategy and results, helping businesses in Miami and throughout the nation grow, they live by the Mantra “if you don’t look good, we don’t look good”. Their blog is regularly update with social media marketing gems including tips to boost your Instagram following and Strategies you can’t afford to miss in 2018.

Kiwa Social Media are my favourite Kiwi marketing agency. Hailing from beautiful New Zealand they help businesses navigate through the social media landscape. They focus on building communities through social platforms and sharing stories that resonate. Check out their social media hacks post as well as their post on legally using images on social media

Bearly Marketing works with businesses to create tailored social media strategies that help companies grow, so these guys are the perfect people to learn how to become a better social media strategist from. Their blog content is long form and often backed with real life examples and tests, making it a great resource for every social media marketer. Check out their guide on site specific social media tips and 5 strategies for creating social media allies and advocates

Led by Conor Cochrane, a very enthusiastic entrepreneur, Social Media Elite specialize in social media management and graphic design promotion. They take over businesses social media platforms and transform them into marketing machines that generate leads and sales on autopilot. Check out their guide to getting your content seen on Facebook and Instagram and 5 reasons your an idiot if your not using Facebook ads for your business

Digital Quince is a social media agency with 10 plus years of experience delivering hands on, social media campaign management that utilizes the power of social media platforms to create customers that rave about your business. The posts on their blog are long-form, informative, unique and loaded with actionable insights. Start with their common social media mistakes post and their guide on using social media advertising to grow website traffic