Social media copywriting for students: Skills you need and sectors to work in

You are social media savvy and know your way with words. But do you know this combination is priceless in social media for building, crafting and enhancing brands? Using these skills you can take up social media copywriting, the best part of which is the opportunity to freelance from home when you are not busy studying.

What is Social Media copywriting

Social media copywriting is the process of churning out promotional content in a written form to elicit a response from a brand’s target audience.

Advertisement and public relations are two areas where this promotional strategy is mostly used. Companies, celebrities, politicians and internet personalities use social media to establish direct contact with their audience. A social media copywriter’s primary role is to write posts on behalf of their clients.

Skills you need to become a social media copywriter

• You need a good grip on the language and must know how different social media platforms work. You would only need a flair for languages and no other educational qualifications to become a social media copywriter. However, a BA degree in English literature or any other languages may increase your chance of getting hired.

• Being a fast reader helps as you’d be required to read up on brands and latest trends. A creative spark is also helpful as you would require to write posts that have the potential to go viral.

• It’s essential to know how each platform differs from others in terms of the form of delivery and communication. For instance, Twitter only allows a person to write 280 characters, while you can write up to 2,200 characters on Instagram and a whopping 63,206 on Facebook.

• As part of the content management team, you need to know the user base of different webpages.

How do you get started in social media copywriting

There are two ways to get into this fast-growing sector. You can work either as a freelancer or as a copywriter for marketing companies.

• Freelancing: It’s a great way to start your copywriting venture if you can’t commit to it full time. Social media copywriting can go well alongside your studies as it’s primarily a remote job. You can look for opportunities on several job portals like Naukri, LinkedIn and Monster. You can also visit the websites of different content companies to check if they are hiring copywriters. Working as a freelancer will help you get acquainted with the industry and give you the chance to hone your skills for future projects.

• Marketing: Companies are always on the hunt for young talent who can think out of the box and present their ideas through words. All you have to do is keep checking on different job portals if there’s any opening for such jobs.

Sectors that employ social media copywriter:

• Entertainment: Production houses always require a hand with social media to manage a massive amount of promotional content. They employ copywriters to stay connected with social media to help promote the release of movies and albums.

• Retail: Every product in a retail store has a brand presence on social media. Retailers employ social media copywriters to add more value to the brand. They create content to build and maintain loyal customers as well as to gain the trust of a set of new customers.

• Education: Educational institutions require social media copywriters to add and improve content on their web pages where they showcase campus activities and facilities. Most of these copywriters are employed on a freelance basis before alumni meets and new admission seasons.

• Sports: Sports channels and clubs employ social media copywriters as they continuously post fresh updates and polls on upcoming matches. Sportpersons also need copywriters as they need people to post from their accounts on various sports-related topics.

• Healthcare: Social media copywriters are often hired by healthcare professionals to raise awareness about public safety concerns. Such copywriters also write daily health tips and actively take part in public outreach campaigns by writing target-relevant posts.