In relation to touchdown your subsequent social media consumer or gig, displaying is healthier than telling. That’s why you want a social media portfolio that highlights your inventive content material, savvy methods, and memorable outcomes.
With some steerage from Brittani Fagal, Founding father of the SHE Collective, we’ll present you construct a portfolio that reveals off your brilliance and stands out in each hiring alternative.
Bonus: Obtain a free, absolutely customizable social media portfolio template to make your work shine — and land extra shoppers.
A social media portfolio is a curated assortment of previous work highlighting your expertise, processes, and successes. It sometimes contains examples from social media campaigns — together with their context and outcomes — and a few details about you as a social media skilled.
You’ll use your social media supervisor portfolio that will help you land new freelance gigs, get full-time jobs, discover potential shoppers to your company, and even negotiate a greater wage by showcasing your finest work in a single spectacular package deal.
You may simply hand out resumes, since they checklist your expertise. However employers and advertising and marketing administrators have lots on the road, and a social media supervisor portfolio will enable you:
- Show your social media experience, expertise, and successes with actual work.
- Be extra memorable in interviews or consumer pitches.
- Present the way you suppose via, plan, and execute a social media technique.
- Simplify your software and pitch course of since all the pieces is already packaged collectively.
- Instill confidence in future employers that you’re the best candidate, amongst all different content material creators, for the job.
We don’t simply need you to have a portfolio. We wish you to have the portfolio — the one which proves you’re one of the best at your craft. “Embrace a brief intro, the area of interest you serve, your strongest work, and outcomes that again it up,” Fagal says.
Listed below are some extra specifics:
- Contact particulars: Place your contact particulars in a number of extremely seen places round your portfolio. At a minimal, embody your electronic mail deal with. Hyperlinks to your web site and LinkedIn web page are additionally useful. Double-check any hyperlinks.
- Skilled photos: Because you’re making use of for a visually intensive job, splash in just a few skilled headshots and “candid” pictures of your self. Throw in some background photos of issues like your workplace, desk setup, you in motion working, that form of factor. Simply ensure that it screams, “I’m a inventive, meticulous skilled.”
Supply: Kristine Gumera
- Clear, intelligent copywriting: You’re inventive, concise, and intelligent. Let that shine via within the phrases you write to your portfolio. And naturally, ensure that it’s error-free.
- Your resume: Your resume gives employers with a complete overview of your expertise and schooling. With a look, they’ll know the way lengthy you’ve been on the social media recreation, what tangential experience you possess, and who you’ve labored for and with.
- Finest performing social media posts: That is the center of your social media advertising and marketing portfolio. Create a collage of the posts you’re most pleased with and those that racked up a ton of engagement. Embrace quite a lot of publish varieties (nonetheless picture, carousel, video, and so on.,) and organize them aesthetically.
Supply: BM Social
- Marketing campaign highlights: Current just a few of your most profitable social media campaigns and current them holistically. Deal with them like case research and embody the unique enterprise problem, purpose, methodology, and end result (specializing in tangible outcomes). If doable, go upstream from social media and clarify the constructive results these campaigns had on the enterprise.
- Companies and industries: Are you a photographer? Do you supply big-picture advertising and marketing technique? Checklist all of that out in a transparent checklist of companies. And should you concentrate on a distinct segment business, embody it right here as effectively.
- An “About me” web page or biography: Your “About me” web page is a chance to transcend your expertise and share extra concerning the individual behind the skilled. Say what you’re obsessed with and point out high-profile manufacturers you’ve labored with.
Supply: Alison Rojas
- Testimonials: Lastly, don’t overlook that social proof! Share the glowing opinions and kind-worded thanks messages you’ve obtained out of your finest clients. Each time doable, embody the title, title, and firm of the reviewer. And add logos from any notable companies you’ve supported (if allowed).
Essentially the most difficult step in making a social media profile is the primary one. Allow us to provide you with an enormous head begin with Hootsuite’s free social media profile template.
The template has all the pieces it is advisable construct and optimize a wonderful social media portfolio, together with a expertise part, marketing campaign highlights, a buyer testimonial web page, a companies checklist, and extra!
1. Select the proper format or platform
The 1st step is to resolve which platform you need to construct your portfolio on. There’s nobody proper reply right here, so contemplate the way you’ll use it, your consolation degree with every choice, and whether or not you’ve seen employers request a selected model.
Listed below are some choices to contemplate:
- Web site: A preferred choice as a result of it has a spot for all the pieces, it’s straightforward for employers to navigate, and it seems to be actually skilled.
- Google Slides: For those who plan to current your portfolio personally, a format like Google Slides or PowerPoint can be a sensible choice.
- Canva: Canva has plenty of pre-made design templates so as to add just a little visible aptitude to your social media portfolio.
- Notion: Workspace purposes like Notion are intuitive to work with, so should you’re not significantly savvy with these apps, then this will likely work effectively for you.
- PDF: Many software processes desire a format like PDF included as an attachment, so chances are you’ll want to contemplate making a model of your portfolio this fashion.
- Devoted social media account: You might be making use of for social media supervisor gigs, in any case. One strategy to exhibit your prowess is to create a brand new account to deal with your finest work. Simply ensure you embody some context and leads to the feedback.
“Actually hone in in your private branding and let your character deliver your work to life.”
“Social media platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, and TikTok additionally work as nice portfolios when you find yourself intentional with what you’re posting with the purpose of constructing a portfolio, as a result of viewers can see the true outcomes entrance and middle,” says Fagal.
2. Begin with a robust bio and picture
Each SMM could have examples. Your bio web page is an opportunity to actually stand out. Give folks a way of who you’re and why it’s nice to work with you.
That is additionally the place you need to place that extremely skilled headshot or your finest “in motion” picture.
Supply: She Collective
3. Add a private tagline or mission assertion
This must be a good, memorable, and uniquely you phrase.
Embrace a way of what you do and the way it’ll assist the enterprise that hires you. One thing like, “Serving to manufacturers develop via scroll-stopping content material.”
4. Showcase your finest social media content material (with context)
Consider this part like mini-case research vignettes. Every one ought to embody an instance publish, some context concerning the targets and technique, and the outcomes or efficiency.
You should use both screenshots or embeds for the posts. For those who select to make use of embeds, simply ensure that to replace your portfolio if the publish is eliminated.
Supply: Teresa Almoguera
A word about non-disclosure agreements right here.
For those who’ve signed an NDA, you in all probability can’t share the work publicly. Your choice is to ask for express permission to share it with a particular enterprise. However ideally, attempt to negotiate this earlier than you signal an NDA with a brand new consumer.
5. Spotlight efficiency with actual information
Most employers will search for SMMs who can transfer the expansion needle for his or her enterprise. So, be daring right here and exhibit the outcomes of your work. Embrace quite a lot of post-level metrics and big-picture marketing campaign outcomes.
This half might be very easy when you have entry to Hootsuite’s analytics dashboard.
The precise metrics you point out will depend upon the actual marketing campaign. “It actually is dependent upon your area of interest focus and the targets of your clientele,” says Fagal.
“For natural progress, prioritize attain, saves, shares, and engagement price. For conversion-focused work, click-throughs, hyperlink faucets, and direct gross sales are your go-tos.”
Right here’s a listing to contemplate:
- Follower progress
- Saves and shares
- Click on-throughs and hyperlink faucets
- Engagement or engagement price
- Attain and impressions
- Gross sales and leads pushed from social media
- Model mentions
- Utilization of branded hashtags
- UGC created for the model
6. Embrace testimonials and consumer names (if allowed)
There’s nothing fairly like consumer love to draw new enterprise alternatives.
Make certain that you’ve got the consumer’s permission to share their phrases earlier than together with them in your portfolio. After all, in the event that they publish a public overview on Google or social media, that’s honest recreation to your portfolio assortment.
Supply: Shelby Parker Artistic
The identical goes for the gathering of brand name logos you’ve labored with. Ask if it’s okay to publish them in your portfolio, then place them prominently.
7. Make it straightforward to navigate or obtain
Anybody reviewing your portfolio is probably going taking a look at a dozen others. Make it straightforward for them to search out all one of the best bits shortly so they arrive away with the whole image of you and your work.
The way you do that is dependent upon the platform you’ve used. If it’s a web site, embody a clearly labeled menu of web page hyperlinks and in-content hyperlinks. If it’s a PDF or Google Docs portfolio, add a desk of contents and an simply downloadable hyperlink (and keep in mind to share the hyperlink with the viewer!).
Let’s study why some distinctive SMM portfolios work so you possibly can replicate their success.
Maria Moore: Unbelievable spotlight reel
Supply: Maria Moore
- Sort: Freelancer
- Platform used: Web site
- Power: Properly-organized structure, concise copy, spotlight reel
Supply: Maria Moore
Maria’s portfolio web site options clearly outlined sections with tight copy, permitting you to scroll via and look at all the good things, shortly. Its standout characteristic, although, is a brief and high-energy spotlight reel that takes you thru a few of her most inventive visible work.
The Content material Savvy
Supply: The Content material Savvy
- Sort: Company
- Platform used: PDF
- Strengths: Complete, visually cohesive, case study-like examples
Supply: The Content material Savvy
This social media advertising and marketing company works in varied industries, and the desk of contents helps viewers navigate to every. The company’s portfolio does a terrific job of presenting a brief case research — full with a brief narrative—for every instance.
Jennifer Harriman: Artistic design
Supply: Jennifer Harriman
- Sort: Freelancer
- Platform used: Canva and PDF
- Strengths: Enjoyable and inventive graphic design components, each a Canva web site and a PDF of her finest work
Supply: Jennifer Harriman
Jennifer’s portfolio is enjoyable and inventive, which makes you need to scroll to see what’s subsequent, just like a terrific social media feed.
Contemporary Content material Society: Tons of social proof
Supply: Contemporary Content material Society
- Sort: Company
- Platform used: Web site
- Strengths: A number of sorts of social proof, well-written case research, and several types of content material creation are represented within the examples
Supply: Contemporary Content material Society
Contemporary Content material Society prominently options buyer opinions, business accolades, case research, and buyer logos all through its portfolio and web site. If you solely have a short while to persuade somebody you are able to do the job, that’s a good way to do it.
Julia Offenberger: Traditional, clickable portfolio
Supply: Julia Offenberger
- Sort: Freelancer
- Platform used: Web site
- Strengths: Skilled “About me” web page, clickable tiles for straightforward instance overview, and detailed technique examples
Supply: Julia Offenberger
It’s arduous to visualise the method, however Julie does this brilliantly by sometimes sharing a screenshot of her challenge administration app. The clickable tiles on her portfolio’s major web page assist guests shortly entry probably the most related examples.
Fagal shares her prime suggestions for making a standout social media supervisor portfolio.
1. Make your portfolio the digital model of you
The purpose of making a terrific social media portfolio is to face out in a crowd when it comes time to rent.
“Consider your portfolio like a digital model of you,” Fagel says. “To make it stand out, drown your portfolio in character! It shouldn’t look or really feel like one other resume with added visuals.”
In addition to the fundamentals, Fagel notes that she likes to weave in just a few behind-the-scenes particulars, too Attempt explaining your technique or writing course of. Or inform just a little about your workspace — one thing that positions you as a considerate skilled who’s equipped for the job.
2. Inform a narrative with the metrics
Outcomes are a very powerful a part of your SMM portfolio. They show that your creativity and experience can assist a consumer or firm develop.
To make these chilly, arduous numbers extra impactful, embody the context of how they got here to be. “What issues most is tying these numbers to a narrative,” Fagal shares.
“Clarify the story behind the piece, the technique, and why it carried out effectively to indicate that it wasn’t only a fortunate likelihood with the algorithm, however that you just put work and technique into what you created.”
Briefly, Fagal says to “Present them why it labored, not simply that it did.”
Supply: SHE Collective
3. Tailor it to the job/consumer you need
You don’t simply need any ol’ social media gig. Ideally, you’ll discover one which matches your strengths and pursuits. Fagal says the examples you select can assist you obtain that purpose.
“Select content material that not solely carried out effectively, but in addition displays the sort of work you need extra of,” she suggests.
And what should you’re a newbie and don’t have examples of the work you need to do? “Don’t wait round for somebody to provide the likelihood to show your self,” Fagal provides. “Create mockups for the work you need to do and present them why you’ve got what it takes!”
4. Preserve it on job
Your portfolio’s job is to get you the job. Assessment it with a essential eye and ensure all the pieces you embody serves that function.
“Preserve it value-packed and minimize out additional noise that doesn’t serve a function,” Fagal says. “You don’t have to showcase your entire work, simply one of the best of it. Individuals devour quick, and each second a viewer provides counts.”
And whereas your creativity ought to shine via, don’t let it distract folks from the message. “Anybody could make cute graphics,” Fagal notes. “Present that you just perceive the why behind the content material, and also you’ll stand out quick.”
Supply: Hunter Digital Advertising
Social media portfolio FAQs
Let’s cowl just a few of a very powerful questions on social media portfolios.
What’s a social media portfolio?
A social media portfolio is a curated assortment of knowledgeable’s finest work, showcasing their strategic expertise and profitable digital advertising and marketing campaigns. It serves as concrete proof of their capability to develop on-line communities, handle content material, and ship measurable outcomes for manufacturers.
What must be in a social media portfolio?
A robust social media portfolio ought to characteristic compelling case research that define marketing campaign targets, your strategic strategy, and quantifiable outcomes, like engagement charges or follower progress. It must also embody a curated assortment of content material examples you’ve created (e.g., graphics, movies, compelling copy), consumer testimonials, knowledgeable “about me” part, a listing of companies, and call data.
How do I make a social media portfolio with no expertise?
To construct a social media portfolio with no expertise, create your personal by managing hypothetical manufacturers or providing professional bono work to small companies. Doc your strategic strategy, the content material you created, and any outcomes you achieved, irrespective of how small. Then, set up all of it on a web site or in a PDF or Google Doc.
Ought to I make a social media portfolio as a scholar or freelancer?
Completely! As a scholar, your portfolio goes past your educational transcript to showcase sensible expertise and challenge examples. As a freelancer, a portfolio is important visible proof of your experience so potential employers know you possibly can ship tangible outcomes.
What’s one of the best format for a social media portfolio?
One of the best format for a social media portfolio is dependent upon the way you’ll use it and your consolation degree with every potential platform. An internet site is flexible and simple to share, whereas many job purposes require a PDF of your portfolio.
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