There is a huge demand for social media freelancers today. Every business needs an online presence, and a platform to connect with their customers without selling their products or services directly, this is where social media marketing plays a key role.
While there are tons of advertising and digital marketing agencies that will pitch their services to clients, let’s be completely honest, they are way too expensive, and more often than not, you don’t even know what they are doing with your account.
Nobody want’s to speak to 10 different departments to get a task done, and that is where an experienced freelance social media marketer can help. Also, due to Covid, a lot of professionals want to shift to freelancing.
The landscape has changed and no matter at which level in your professional journey you’re, I’m going to show you how to become a social media freelancer in 2022.
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Why choose a Freelance Social Media Marketer?
Freelance Social Media Marketers can just as easily help brands and organizations achieve their marketing goals with a fraction of the price, there aren’t any hidden agency fees, and the best part is that you don’t have to speak to multiple departments. They truly add the social and human touch in social media, not only for the clients’ customers but for the client themselves.
So how does one become a social media freelancer and start getting clients easily? Here are a few steps that worked for me. Implementing it correctly will help you bag clients too.
Step 1: Make your own Freelance Social Media Marketing Website
Rightly Digital has been getting me, clients, organically, every single month, without me spending any money on advertising.
My organic game is awesome, and honestly, all I had to do was follow YouTube videos to create this website. Now if you don’t know how to create a website and are feeling overwhelmed, reach out to me by hitting the WhatsApp button on the bottom right-hand corner and I will try my best to help you speed up the process.
After that, I worked on my SEO strategy. By writing highly targeted articles, that ranked for bottom-level keywords, I am able to attract people who are looking for my services.
What are bottom-level keywords? They are queries that customers are typing on the search results that will result in a sale.
Here are a few examples of Bottom Level Keywords for my Business:
- Freelance Social Media Marketer Near Me
- Digital Marketing Freelancer in Mumbai
- Best Social Media Marketer in Mumbai
These are fine examples of bottom-level or high intent keywords. Once you start ranking for these keywords, you will start getting customers who are looking to hire you.
Step 2: Work on building Your Portfolio
You have worked on your website and started acquiring organic traffic as well, due to which, clients are even reaching out to you.
But what do you do now? How do you close a client? That is where a portfolio of your work will come in handy.
Clients are just people who want to know if you can serve them, and the best way to show them that you’re their money’s worth is by showing them your portfolio.
But if you haven’t worked with any clients before, how can you show a portfolio of your work? Simple, a portfolio does not need to be only of work that you have actually done, you can also build concept portfolios of different advertising categories.
For example, you can build social media strategies for different brands and how you would do it better. You should also consider making concept portfolios for multiple niches that you can showcase to your clients.
Humans are visual creatures, if you build in-depth strategies with visuals and videos that your prospective clients can see at a glance, they are more likely to hire you and give you a chance.
I have also found that working on portfolios helps you learn new strategies and enhances your creative juices.
Just pick out brands by following their social media channels, and start analyzing what they have been doing, and how you can help them do better.
You can even use free tools like Canva to make new creative concepts, write taglines, contest strategies, and so on. It’s all about practicing.
Step 3: Leverage the Power of Facebook Groups
Facebook Groups can be a magnet to get clients who are looking for freelancers to help them with their business. Join relevant Facebook groups, especially the ones that are related to entrepreneurs, media vacancies, or digital marketing groups. More often than not, you have clients posting their requirements on these groups, and you can directly reach out to them.
Another way is to help people by sharing your knowledge when they need help and answering questions related to social media marketing or digital marketing.
Believe me, when you share and help others, you will always attract prospective clients who will want to hire you. But don’t just do it for the clients, just do it to help and share your knowledge.
Okay, this article wouldn’t be completely intensive if I did not share a few Facebook groups that have helped me bagged clients, so here are the list of my favourite groups:
Media Movements
Media Jobs Daily (India)
Media Jobs Daily
Media Vacancies by St Pauls Institute of Communication Education (SPICE)
Digital Marketing Practitioners
All of the above groups have helped me bag clients and earn money, and I am confident they will be of value to you too
Step 4: Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile
Linkedin is a great place to get prospective clients as well as job opportunities. Make sure your LinkedIn profile is completely optimized with the following
- Clear professional profile image
- cover image
- education qualification
- certifications
- projects, etc.
You can use the free tool, ResumeWorded to optimize your LinkedIn profile.
You may think, LinkedIn is only for people who are looking for jobs, right? But that’s not true. It is one platform where you can connect with business owners and CEOs directly. These are the guys who can hire you as a social media freelancer once you have got their attention.
How do you boost your profile presence on LinkedIn?
By creating and sharing helpful content, and by engaging with others on the platform as well.
Genuinely engaging and behaving in a professional manner will get you on the right track with potential clients. Remember, LinkedIn is all about professionalism, it is not Facebook or worse, Tinder. So be professional. Create, Share, Engage and see how things work for you.
You can also connect with potential clients on LinkedIn by using the LinkedIn search tool and reaching out to them, however, I personally don’t recommend doing it, as it is an outbound approach and no one likes to be bombarded with pitches on any network
Step 5: Paid Ads Using Facebook and Google Ads
I kept this as step 5 because I personally don’t use this method to acquire clients, however it does work. You can create ads on Facebook and Google to showcase your services and get clients back to your website to hire you.
However, with paid ads, you will need to keep an advertising budget and it is going to cost you money. The positive about paid ads is that you don’t have to rely on SEO to get clients and with the help of Google Ads, you can reach your services to people who are actively looking for you.
Summary
To summarize, here are the steps to become a Social Media Freelancer in 2022
- Make your own Freelance Social Media Marketing Website
- Build Your Social Media Portfolio
- Leverage the Power of Facebook Groups and Social Media Communities
- Optimize Your Linkedin Profile and Share Relevant Content
- Boost your Presence with Paid Ads
Odell Dias is the founder of RightlyDigital.com where Online Marketing concepts are made easy. He has over 6 years of experience in the Digital Marketing industry, helping brands and individuals alike to achieve their marketing goals. He is known as one of the best digital marketing freelancers for small-to-medium-sized businesses.
