As a social media manager, your portfolio should demonstrate the results that you can deliver to clients. Include measurable metrics and client testimonials so prospects have confidence in you as an agency. Guide on what is xsignal?
Some clients may feel uneasy with you sharing their work on your portfolio website; in such instances, consider including testimonials or reviews from past employers and clients in your bio section.
1. Identify Your Objectives
An effective social media manager portfolio is an effective way to showcase your skills and experiences, no matter whether you’re searching for full-time work or freelance gigs. A well-curated social media manager portfolio should demonstrate past work examples as well as results achieved for clients, expertise in managing various platforms, and the ability to develop strategic plans and tactics for each social media channel you specialize in, among many other qualities.
At the start of creating a social media management portfolio, identifying your objectives should be your top priority. This may involve simply noting what types of positions or brands interest you (for instance, if targeting small businesses, it would be helpful to emphasize experience working with local companies) as well as researching which social media platforms employers use and what content is being posted to those platforms.
Next, it is crucial to establish your experience and skill set. This can be accomplished by listing out what kind of campaigns or accounts you’ve managed in the past and any measurable metrics that demonstrate its impact. For instance, helping clients increase their following or engagement may serve as evidence that illustrates your capabilities when speaking to potential employers.
If you’re having difficulty with what to include in your portfolio, reaching out to former clients or employers for testimonials and case studies could be an excellent way to showcase some of your most impressive accomplishments while providing hiring managers an inside view into what it’s like working with you.
Once you’ve determined your objectives, the next step should be creating a social media manager portfolio to display your best work. A website is often the preferred method, as it offers excellent customization features like videos, images, and links – adding a blog section is perfect for SEO purposes and drawing in new clients!
The design of your social media manager portfolio is just as essential to its content. The layout should be clean and professional while reflecting your personality and brand; choose an approachable style.
2. Cull Your Past Clients Down to a Selection of Your Best Work
Social media managers require a wide array of skills, such as copywriting, digital marketing, content strategy, analytics research, and customer service. Your portfolio should demonstrate how these abilities have been put to use on past projects; if NDAs prohibit tangible assets or client names being revealed publicly, then case studies detailing challenges you encountered and their resolution should suffice as examples of your abilities being utilized effectively.
Alex Nicolle uses her website to showcase client work in an attractive, user-friendly portfolio that features images and screenshots from client campaigns. Each case study has its page featuring a title, description, and client logos that can be clicked for easy comparison purposes. Furthermore, each project comes equipped with a list of tasks and metrics for easy analysis.
August Media from Toronto provides a more selective social media manager portfolio. Their website features an eye-catching, vibrant layout that makes browsing through their various portfolio sections straightforward for potential clients. They present both image- and text-driven case studies to illustrate their abilities across platforms; further proof comes in the form of testimonials from previous clients as additional proof.
Your social media manager portfolio can be displayed in many different ways, from an online website to PDF and PowerPoint documents. When selecting how you say it, make sure that quality over quantity is paramount – prospective employers may only glance over your portfolio before making their decision! Furthermore, clients will compare you against other candidates, so ensure your portfolio engages them while giving an accurate portrayal of your capabilities.
Hootsuite’s Social Media Portfolio Template is an effective way to showcase past social media management work and demonstrate audience growth and management abilities. Create a professional, SEO-optimized social media management portfolio easily with our user-friendly template; get yours today!
3. Showcase Your Skills and Experiences
Employers will evaluate your abilities – no matter your level of experience – against two criteria. First is managing social media accounts effectively. The second is working effectively within teams of creatives. Even if you haven’t worked on any paid social media management projects yet, having a portfolio that showcases the experience and any lessons learned can be essential in landing future positions.
Case studies of your work are the best way to demonstrate it, with examples such as campaigns with objectives, primary responsibilities, software used, results (including any KPIs), and screenshots/images to illustrate them. Also include client testimonials or positive feedback from past employers if applicable.
Showing your creative process can also help demonstrate your abilities as a social media manager. Brenida of Contra’s portfolio website showcases her creativity by detailing the steps she took to deliver a successful social media campaign, starting with an overview and ending with details on key steps she took towards success and its results.
Include an area for your services detailing all of the aspects of social media management you specialize in. This can help your clients quickly locate what they need while simultaneously showcasing your expertise.
Suppose you don’t yet have paid work experience to draw upon; look for local companies or charities that could benefit from social media presence to take on some freelance projects and offer to take on some freelance work for free. In that case, this will quickly build up your portfolio while giving you valuable work experience that could potentially open the doors to more clients later on.
If you have experience to draw upon, ensure your portfolio website is easy for prospective clients to navigate. Keep the design clean and simple for an optimal experience for prospective clients – this Contra portfolio features an image of its consultant along with brief service description details and an explicit call-to-action button inviting viewers to view more work.
4. Include Testimonials
Employers want evidence of your social media skills. A great way to show this off is by showing them accurate world results for past clients. Show screenshots from campaigns you have run with their permission (of course!) before providing a bulleted list with their goals, key statistics, and outcomes as a concise explanation of each project you were responsible for running. Adding testimonials or positive feedback from former employers/clients also adds weight to why you are the ideal choice for this role.
Building a social media manager portfolio is an ideal way to showcase your artistic abilities while showing that you’re a hardworking, dedicated professional who knows how to get things done. A well-organized portfolio that stands out among its competitors increases your odds of landing an interview.
Alongside your best work, it is also important to emphasize any relevant skills and experiences for the job at hand, such as social media knowledge and platforms, content creation/copywriting experience/campaign planning experience, etc. Passion projects completed for friends/family are another excellent way to demonstrate versatility while building connections within the industry.
Provide an in-depth description of each project you completed, focusing on how you approached each task and the results achieved. This will allow potential employers to gain an understanding of your thought process as well as understand your approach and how those skills could apply to their own marketing needs.
Once your portfolio is completed, it must be thoroughly proofread and checked for errors before sending it off to potential employers. Even an inaccurate typo can render your entire portfolio appear unprofessional, so take the time to ensure everything is accurate and error-free before submitting it! Also, include contact information, pricing packages available, and an outline of services provided.
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