The need for an online presence is becoming an essential component for businesses and companies in Dubai. For this reason, many companies are looking for qualified people to manage their social media accounts such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
Regardless of the excellent workflow for social media freelancers here in Dubai, beginners find it hard to land on these gigs. If you are unable to find social media work, worry no more. I am going to make the process super simple for you.
This article will take you through all you need to know about social media freelancing, what you need to land on better jobs, and how to find social media freelancing work on freelancing sites such as Bawabba, or even get direct clients.
So, if you are looking to start or advance your career in social media freelancing, read along, learn, and discover more.
Who is a social media freelancer?
A social media freelancer is a person who gets hired to build a social media presence for a company or an online service provider on a contract basis. These social media freelancers are typically tasked with creating creative and engaging social media strategies and managing all social media accounts. Their work is to oversee, plan and deliver brand content across social media accounts using scheduling tools such as Hootsuite, Sprinkl, and Asana.
Also, they monitor, track and analyze performance on all social media platforms, and evaluate new trends and techniques to find new and better ways of measuring social media activity.
Social media freelancers run social channels for different brands, contrary to in-house (company-employed) social media managers. They can work with many brands at the same time as long as they maintain quality. They can set their schedule, choose who to work with, and make a difference to brands in different continents.
The best part is, you get to set your rates depending on your experience and the quality you can provide.
How to find social media freelance work in 2021
You can find social media freelance work by sending cold emails, warm emails, using your website, joining online communities, applying for LinkedIn Jobs, and pitching on job boards and other freelancing sites.
Many social media freelancers have a hard time looking for gigs.
The good news is, I have saved you the hassle. I have gathered several ways you can find social media freelance jobs here in Dubai.
Here are 7 ways to find social media freelance work in 2021:
- Sending cold emails/pitches.
- Sending warm pitches.
- Using your website.
- Joining online communities.
- Reaching out to experienced social media freelancers.
- Applying for LinkedIn jobs.
- Pitching on job boards and freelancing sites.
1. Send cold emails/pitches
Did you know this is the best way to land better clients? If you had no idea, then this is one of the methods employed by most seasoned writers. Here is why; using this method is less compared to applying for a job on job boards.
Here is how to go about it;
You can search for brands and reach out to them, including your details such as who you are, how you came to know about the site, your skills, and how you will help the brand. If a company lacks a social media presence, you can offer to build a social presence at a fee. Note, you can do that if their posts on social media are optimized and visible. If not, you can bring the concept of SEO in a bid to convince them.
The good thing about this method, your application stands a better chance to be seen.
2. Send warm pitches
Our first point focused on sending cold emails, and now we are telling you to send warm emails? Yes. It’s another tactic used by freelancers to land on social media freelancing work. It entails building a connection with a company that you think might give you a chance to work with them.
But how do you create connections? You can follow their social media and actively comment and share in a bid to get their attention. When they notice, they may try reaching out. This is where warm pitches come in. You can shoot them an email explaining what you can do and assist them in building their social presence or optimizing their social media pages.
3. Use your website
For a beginner, this might not be the first option. But as you advance and grow your experience, getting a professional website is vital. You can always start a simple website using free website builders such as WordPress before thinking of a paid website.
Here, you can advertise your services, including your portfolio and testimonials. You can even start a blog of yourself and monetize it and get additional income from blogging in the long run.
4. Join online communities
There are several online forums on Facebook for social media managers/ marketers. And a good social media manager is always looking out for the best places to interact with professionals like you are. These Facebook groups offer valuable insights which you need to advance in your career.
Brands reach out to these Facebook groups looking for professionals to build their online presence. You can utilize the freedom to advertise your skills in a way that attracts potential employers.
5. Reaching out to experienced social media freelancers
For beginners, this might be the best option to get your feet into the industry. You may know many people who’ve been in the industry for a long time and have more workflow. You can reach out to such people and talk them into recruiting you to work under them. You may volunteer or accept a low rate as you continue learning and improving. Some people will be willing to train you more. In addition, you can get more experience by helping them edit and proofread the projects you are given.
6. Apply for LinkedIn Jobs
LinkedIn has an essential feature where you can search for jobs depending on your profession. You can do this by keying the word social media manager on the job board. The best part is, you can filter results by location and how recent the post was made.
This is another way to get a gig in social media freelancing.
7. Pitch on job boards and freelancing sites.
If you’ve been a social media freelancer for a while now, you should know that pitching on job boards is not easy. Millions of social media freelancers worldwide are always on standby to apply for jobs as soon as they are posted.
As much as it may be hard to land these jobs, it shouldn’t stop you from realizing your dream. There are many beginner-friendly freelancing sites, such as Bawabba, where you can land on a client without being a registered member for long.
You can also take advantage of other freelancing sites such as Upwork, Fiverr, Contena, PeoplePerHour.
Freelance social media work can also be posted on job boards such as ProBlogger, Indeed, and Simply hired.
What do you need to become a social media freelancer?
With a laptop, good internet connection, and copywriting skills, you are good to go. Unlike other jobs, entry to social media freelance jobs is pretty straightforward. You can take free courses online on sites such as Udemy and Hubspot.
Also, you don’t need any special equipment to start. Regardless, there are a couple of factors you should put into consideration before getting into the field.
Here are the skills you need to achieve top success in social media freelancing.
1. Copywriting
Social media management involves creating engaging content that your customers can understand and promote a brand’s positive image. This means copywriting skills are fundamental to any social media manager. To drive customer engagement and a large following, you have to fit an engaging story into your post, and without copywriting skills, it won’t be easy to provide quality. Also, each brand has a unique writing style that defines the voice of a specific brand. And since you will work on a freelance basis, you have to master different writing styles as you will be working with different companies.
2. SEO knowledge
As a social media manager, you need to optimize your content on social media platforms. Optimized content can reach a larger audience hence more potential customers. A good social media manager should understand the relationship between social media and increased ranking in SERPs, how to promote social media content, and the importance of driving traffic to the website to increase revenue.
3. Customer service
Consumers prefer to interact with brands on social media rather than visiting stores. According to Forbes, 96% of customers will leave because of subpar customer service.
This means that a lack of social media response might implicate the image of the company. It may result in negative reviews on google. A skillful social media freelancer should have conversational skills and empathy to interact with prospects and customers appropriately.
4. Research skills
Technology keeps changing every day.
A good social media manager must keep up with technological changes that influence social media. They must know trending content and how brands use social media to grow their businesses and create a large following.
As a social media manager, you can learn how to use the Facebook trending sidebar, Twitter trends, research hashtags, and how to set up essential tools such as Feedly and Buzzsumo.
5. Social Media skills
To become a social media manager in Dubai, you need to have experience. As a beginner, you can gain experience through working under an experienced social media manager. You can also do lots of research and experimentation.
Similarly, you will need to understand the type of content on each platform and how to keep your audience glued to your content.
6. Graphics design skills
Posts with unique images and videos can set your brand apart. Adding graphic design elements to your posts compels your prospects and customers to read through the post and boosts engagement levels.
Also, adding creative thumbnails to your videos makes them more imaginative and charming.
How to land on better social media freelance jobs in 2021?
You can land on better social media jobs if you have a portfolio, excellent writing skills, testimonials, and know how to write killer proposals. Many people around the world are making millions through social media freelancing.
However, success in the freelancing industry doesn’t happen overnight. You need to know how to sell yourself well enough that clients keep knocking on your door for more work.
You can sell yourself by doing the following:
1. Having a portfolio
Before a client hands over a job to you, they want to ensure you can provide the quality they want. They will ask you to provide samples, and if your samples are published, you stand a better chance to get the job.
So, as a freelancer, a portfolio is vital. When asked to provide samples, your answer should be simple, here is my portfolio. Providing a link to your portfolio looks more professional, and a client is likely to hire you, unlike a person with no portfolio.
2. Advancing your writing and creative skills
Social media freelance is progressive; the more you do it, the more you improve your skills. This won’t happen if you don’t keep experimenting and learning new techniques in the industry. If you are not consistent in your career path, you will likely continue reaping and charging low because you lack the right skills to advance.
High-paying brands will not just hand anyone a job to build their social presence. They need a professional person with advanced skills and technology. They are likely to hire someone with SEO skills who can optimize content to reach a large audience and submit error-free work.
Also, they need to know if you can provide engaging content that connects with the target audience emotionally and can craft catchy headlines and back their content with facts.
So, before delving into social media freelancing, be ready to keep practicing and learning.
3. Ask for testimonials
The freelancing industry is lucrative. However, it would help if you kept looking for jobs always. For you to land a high-paying job, you need to provide evidence that you’re qualified. This is where testimonials come in. Testimonials go a long way to instilling trust in your potential employers. It’s proof that you have done a good job before.
You can ask for testimonials from your previous employers upon completion of the project. You can add it to your website, social media pages, or portfolio so that clients can find it easily.
4. Learn to write killer proposals
So you’ve seen a job posting for social media freelancers, but they don’t know anything about you. How are you going to convince them you are qualified for the job? Many qualified people lose chances due to inadequate proposals.
Brands and businesses get many pitches each month from qualified persons to build their social media presence. How can you make your proposal stand out amid thousands of pitches? The good news is, you’ve got plenty of leeways when it comes to creating pitches. But they are some common mistakes you need to avoid:
- Don’t write long pitches. Clients are busy. Cut the rat race and go straight to the point.
- Don’t send the same pitching templates you sent to another client. Reason? Every brand has unique needs. Your pitch should be customized to fit their needs.
- Don’t ignore instructions. Some clients clearly state submission guidelines. Be sure to follow the guidelines to the latter to stand a chance. Failure to follow guidelines is a sure way to have your pitch rejected.
Finally
With the pandemic, many people are opting to work on a freelance basis.
So, if you are opting to start working as a social media freelancer, you should arm yourself with the above skills and tips on how to land yourself a better client in 2021.
If you follow the above tips, it will be easier to land yourself a well-paying client on freelancing sites such as Bawabba and job boards.
from Best Blog For Freelancers https://blog.bawabba.com/freelance-social-media-marketing/how-to-find-social-media-freelance-work-in-2021/