The Five Things I Wish I Had Known About Working in Social Media When I Graduated

Imogen Connett, Social Media Executive at Bongo's Bingo, graduated nearly two years ago with a degree in Advertising Management and Brand Management.

We sat down with Imogen to find out five things that she wishes she had known about social media before she had graduated.

1. Work experience is invaluable.

Whilst University provided me with a strong understanding of what social media is and how marketing experts use it, they aren’t able to provide real-life practical knowledge and confidence in using it from a company’s perspective. (Trust me, there’s a lot more that goes into a post than you realise). During my undergraduate I did a marketing internship at The Candidate, I can’t stress enough how much I learnt. During this time, I had the freedom to learn what time things should be posted or what type of content works best for my audience. This was such an invaluable experience, experience which other candidates won’t have.

It is such a competitive market – with relevant work experience you’ll definitely stand out from the crowd at an interview.

2. Have a basic understanding of Creative Cloud.

This is something which I have since learnt! I had no understanding of how Photoshop or Illustrator worked and I really do feel like it’s an absolute must when applying for a social role. You’ll want to get creative and whip up your own stories and posts that give the same look and feel as the website and print copy. The preset edits in Instagram stories, for example, won’t use the same font or colours that your brand does - it just doesn’t look super professional and can mean customers lose a little bit of trust.

I’d definitely recommend enrolling yourself on an Adobe Photoshop course or watch a whole bunch of YouTube videos, set yourself little projects to make and teach yourself.

This was my first attempt:

3. Believe in yourself and your abilities

When you’re a graduate in a new business, it’s easy to not have the confidence to stand up be assertive and what you post. You're the one with the knowledge of your audience and what resonates/ works best and what doesn’t.

It can feel quite awkward at first to stand up and say you don’t think something would work, but if you can back it up with stats and figures, show them sessions to website and conversions etc., it’ll work in your favour and give you the confidence to say what will work.

Remember, you’ve been hired to do a job because they feel that you have the capabilities that match their needs. Social media can be a tricky industry as there are many people with an opinion but it doesn’t mean that anyone is wrong. So, don’t be afraid to put your ideas out there and have faith in yourself. You got this!

4. Content is King (and engagement is Queen.)

Why is content king? Because it is how your audience engages with your brand - it builds loyalty and gains new customers. Content can take many shapes and forms and knowing how to use it, is the difference between a successful social media campaign and a social media flop. Anyone working in social media knows that they have seconds to grab their target audiences’ eye and how to do this can vary from channel to channel. You have to be able to tailor your content, without compromising your brand’s voice.  But then on the flip side, you have to understand that how you write on the website may differ to social. Make sure to get them emojis in your posts and show excitement!!!!!! (There is no such thing as too many exclamation marks, right?).

5. Social Media Roles are also Customer Service Roles

A lot of people assume that social media roles just involve posting different content on all platforms and whilst that part is mainly true, people fail to realise that a large part of the job is actually providing excellent customer service.

Think about it, if you tweet a company, then you expect a reply (usually in minutes) and you won’t be happy if you don’t get one, it’ll give you a negative perspective of that brand. Day-To-Day responsibility of a Social Media Executive will include responding to all mentions and direct messages in order to ensure the very best customer service! Sometimes this can take over your workload so make sure that if it does, to speak to management as this could be handled by someone else but don’t neglect them if it’s your responsibility.

Thanks, Imogen for giving us an honest insight into social media, if you would like to see our current social media roles click here.

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