The Ever-Changing World of Social Media Marketing: An Inside Look

Social Media was once a non-existent platform – it was simply used as a means to communicate with your friends and family.

When Michelle Nick returned to Australia from an 8-month stint as a journalist in New York, she went on the hunt for a new job and saw that social media positions were of abundance.

Quickly recognising that journalism was said to be a dying art, she jumped on the fast-moving social media train and began to learn everything she could about this ‘niche’.

Who knew that many years later, social media would become a powerhouse for marketing.

Michelle studied a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism) at university and completed multiple internships during that time.

She interned at the Australian Associated Press, the Australian Fashion Guide, Madison Magazine and Cleo Magazine.

With this impressive resume and a passion for the fashion industry, Michelle pursued her dreams and gained a position with a fashion publication in New York.

One of her goals in life was to sit front row during New York fashion week and during her eight months there, she achieved this goal

After this point, Michelle had felt she’d accomplished everything she needed to in New York and slowly made her way back to home soil in Australia.

Using the skills she procured at university, Michelle went on the hunt for a new job. Social media was something she’d had a bit of experience with and recognising that magazines and journalism were slowly becoming a lost art, she pursued social media.

Social seemed like the perfect fit, as it suited all of her interests and she could see that the industry was going to boom. When Michelle began working in the position, she had to learn a lot of what she knows now on the job as there weren’t any social media courses back then.

People will often ask Michelle, ‘What if social media doesn’t exist in a few years? What are you going to do? You’ve grown your career in something that could just vanish.’

But if Facebook or Google wasn’t around tomorrow, she believes that something would take its place. Recognising that you’re going to be learning something new throughout your career is an extremely important skill to have in any social media role.

After five years of experience in social media, Michelle began working for the Digital Picnic as the head of social.

The Digital Picnic is a small business that offers social media marketing services to its clients through content creation, copywriting, Facebook advertising, influencer marketing and Facebook advertising management. They also offer workshops, corporate training and online training.

At The Digital Picnic, they understand that social media has the power to uproot what we think we know about business as a whole.

The Digital Picnic is a vibrant and colourful company, that has a firm grasp on everything there is to know about social media management and social networking sites, like Facebook.

According to Michelle, every member of the Digital Picnic team brings something different to the table. They’re not only her work colleagues, but have also become some of her closest friends.

Check out The Digital Picnic’s amazing Instagram page here.

“Businesses that have spent 50 years growing a reputation can be challenged by new businesses that have grown to the same standard, purely through the power of social media.”

Looking to work at an agency like The Digital Picnic? When hiring, Michelle says they look for people who not only have a qualification and the knowledge about social media sites but have also done the time through internships and work experience.

At The Digital Picnic, the team looks for people that have a passion to learn new things and the initiative to perform tasks like creating new content.

In Michelle’s role as the head of social, she oversees all of her team’s activity working on their clients’ social media accounts.

She regularly checks in with her team to ensure that they are across their workload and oversee all of the resourcing.

She also delivers work for her clients, such as ad management and sales for e-commerce businesses.

If you wish to one day work in social media marketing, these are some of the skills you’ll require:

Education

Bachelor of Communications

Before pursuing a career in social media, Michelle undertook a Bachelor of Communications (Journalism). When Michelle was searching for job positions, she realised she could utilise her journalistic skills in a social media role.

Michelle was able to learn a lot on the job, as social media courses just weren’t around back then. However, she strongly recommends short courses and workshops to keep up with the fast-paced nature of the industry.

Nowadays, social media is the fabric of all marketing degrees and is placed with the utmost importance as a requirement for many marketing positions.

Every person has a smartphone or android that they use to access popular social media sites every day, so a career in social marketing is one that is projected to only continue to grow.

You can check out all of our social media and marketing courses here.

“You need to see change as an opportunity, rather than a hindrance”

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