January 10, 2022

Are you wondering how to stand out as a new social media manager, especially in such a saturated market? Well, today on the podcast I’m going to share with you my top tips to help you stand out as a new social media manager & ultimately get in front of your dream clients. 

Now I know how intimidating it can be to enter this whole online space, start putting yourself out there, & feel like you’re drowning in a sea of other service providers. You begin to see all of these other social media managers who are essentially doing & offering very similar things to you, and you start to ask yourself “am I good enough”, “will people actually want to work with me”, & “how in the world do I stand out”?

So before we dive into the episode, I want to first address this concern that the market is too saturated because I hear this A LOT and this is oftentimes what holds so many new social media managers back from actually putting themselves out there and getting visible online.

The truth is, now more than ever businesses need to be on social media and with the wave of the pandemic, more and more businesses are realizing just how powerful utilizing social media can be for them. It is truly that connective tree branch for businesses to reach customers and for potential customers to reach new businesses. It’s a way to stay connected, nurture relationships, build trust, & ultimately convert audience members into paying customers.

So with this shift toward more digital-focused marketing strategies & businesses realizing “hey I need to be on social media” – social media managers have become more in demand than ever. So while yes, there are millions of other social media managers out there, there are also millions of other dentists, accountants, and lawyers out there as well so don’t let this deter you from getting into this space, putting yourself out there, & ultimately building your dream business. 

Now when it comes to standing out online as a new social media manager, I have 4 key things that I recommend focusing on:

#1 Work On Your Mindset

The longer I’ve been an entrepreneur, the more I’ve realized that mindset is truly the key to success. Now mindset isn’t something you work on once and you’re like cool I did it let’s move on. It’s actually something you are going to continuously work on and strengthen throughout your entire entrepreneurial journey. 

When it comes to mindset, your thoughts determine your actions which will guide the direction you are going to go with your own business. So, if you are having all of these negative thoughts – thinking you aren’t good enough, talented enough, experienced enough, etc you are going to have a much harder time standing out because people will feel that you aren’t fully confident in yourself or your business. And if you aren’t fully confident in yourself, your business, or your offers then how exactly can you expect others to be either right?

So you need to develop this kind of bulletproof mindset. You need to be able to identify these limiting beliefs that are popping up and develop such a strong mindset that these thoughts and beliefs essentially just bounce right off of you.

Now one example of a limiting belief that might be popping up for you is this belief that you aren’t experienced enough and therefore no one is going to hire you. But I want to tell you that you can find + learn anything online. It doesn’t matter what skills you have at this current moment you can say ok I’m resourceful, I can figure this out, I can leverage Google university, HubSpot courses, hire a mentor, etc. So work on your mindset as this is truly the key to success.

#2 Niche Down

Think about helping a specific group of people with a specific group of needs. Now you do not need to have a niche from the minute you start your business, but it’s going to be a heck of a lot easier for you to stand out from the masses when you can focus your business on helping a specific group of people that need your specific type of services. 

One way to think of this is right now as you enter the online space you are essentially a needle in a haystack, there’s a lot of noise in this space & there are many other social media managers out there – so you have to think of ways to stand out.

And one way to do that is by narrowing down the pool of people you want to work with. So yes, this might sound counterintuitive but let’s say you for sure don’t want to work with photographers, or influencers, or salons, or whatever it might be. By actually getting clear on who you don’t want to work with, it’s going to make that haystack a lot easier for you to sift through, have you stand out from the masses, and help you find people or business owners that you genuinely do enjoy working with. 

For example, if you are a social media manager in Hawaii and let’s say you love coffee, you can start by offering social media management services to local coffee shops or cafes in Hawaii. You can optimize your Instagram or social media accounts to specifically target these types of local business owners. That way, if a coffee shop owner is searching “social media manager” on Instagram, 9/10 times they are going to pick you vs another social media manager who just helps everybody and anybody. Why? Because helping cafes specifically based in Hawaii is your area of expertise & they are going to trust you over other accounts out there. So that is the power of niching down & being able to stand out in a giant haystack.

#3 Build Connections + Network

When you are just starting your business, no one is going to know who you are. So, in order to stand out from the masses, you need to put yourself out there, get in front of your ideal clients & start to build those connections with others. This is so important because in the online space, especially if you are a service provider, people are going to be 10x more likely to book the first person they really build that genuine connection with. 

Using my own example, one of my mentoring clients told me that the reason she decided to work with me vs all the millions of other mentors out there was that I built a connection with her. I genuinely got to know her, her love of country music, where she was at in her business, & I never once pressured her to buy from me which so many other coaches/mentors did. 

So really take the time to find + connect with your own ideal clients as those first connections truly go a long way when it comes to business. 

#4 Create A Stand-Out Client Experience

As I mentioned earlier, there are so many other social media managers doing and offering very similar things to you. But, what is going to differentiate you & have somebody invest in your business over another is because of the unique & stand-out experience that YOU provide.

So when it comes to this, you want to audit your own client experience & basically put yourself in your ideal client’s shoes. Think of the very first interaction they are going to have with you whether they come across your Instagram account or your website. Are you giving them free value, telling them exactly who you are/how you can help them, telling them where to go next, & are you sending them a welcome email as soon as they become a client? You want your client’s experience to be as seamless as possible so they are “wowed” every step of the way.

Because when you do have this amazing client experience, people are going to talk highly about you to others, they are going to refer you (aka keep that business coming in), & ultimately help you stand out as that new social media manager.

Episode Links + Resources

FREE Social Media Management Guide: Kickstart Your Social Media Management Business

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