Times have changed. A social media portfolio in today’s time is invaluable yet challenging to build. Making a traditional portfolio for a graphic designer and photographer is much easier than making one for a social media manager since it’s difficult to appropriately display graphics and images. You want to show off your work but don’t have any track record or portfolio to do it. The good thing is that with the right help, making one doesn’t seem impossible.
No matter how far along in your career you are, putting years of social media management together is scary. And the pressure doubles when you have to build a portfolio that converts. We know updating your portfolio sounds daunting but worry no more. This guide is all you need to create and update your social media portfolio.
But before we begin, make sure you’re connected to all your social platforms because your portfolio will include the latest updated data. Stay connected socially with AT&T internet plans to showcase your updated work no matter where you are.
With that said, let’s begin with the step-by-step guide to make an excellent social media portfolio.
- Step 1: Prepare
Prepare yourself mentally to present the information you’re going to include in the portfolio. The last thing you want to look for is unprepared for any opportunity that comes your way. It would help if you familiarized yourself with all the projects, goals, data, strategies, and tactics you’re going to include in the portfolio.
- Step 2: Get Permission
This is the second step because before you go ahead with gathering material, you need to make sure you have permission over every asset and information you include in your portfolio. Before including any results, websites, or information, check with your clients and boss to confirm you’re not violating any agreement by publicly sharing this information for business or personal gain.
Chances are your portfolio might be on a website, which is accessible to everyone, so it’s a good idea to get permission from clients or bosses before going ahead with anything.
If you’ve previously worked with clients and signed NDAs, you can exclusively ask their permission to share results without including their brand name, logo or website in your portfolio. Work with what you’ve got and we’re sure you’ll be allowed to share work you’ve worked so hard for. The last thing you want to be in is a sticky situation involving your clients, ex-employers, and NDAs, so asking for permission and getting it in writing will protect you legally.
- Step 3: Gather Material
This is the stage where you have to do some digging and find your treasure! Go through every project you’ve worked on, outline each of them, and keep copies of reports. Gather all screenshots you have of results or posts. Gather your work journal and any case studies you’ve created with the data you found. Just gather every valuable asset you believe should be included in a ‘social media portfolio’. To make it easier for you, we’ve listed down some important things to include:
- Graphics assets (screenshots of social media posts, social media feeds, public emails)
- Data analytics reports
- Campaign KPIs, goals, and results
- Marketing and sales data
- Client testimonials and feedback
- Writing samples
- Step 4: Design A Portfolio Format
When laying out your assets and materials, make sure to maintain an aesthetic appeal. You’re telling the story of every project, and you should deliver it in the most authentic way possible. There’s no limit to links or images in a portfolio. Be generous with your achievements and stay creative.
When talking about any case study, include these 4 sections to simplify the understanding of the project.
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- The Project: Talk about the duration of the project, your position, and the package offered
- Outline: Breakdown the goals of the campaigns when outlining the project
- Strategy/Tactics: What makes you different from others when it comes to techniques? Did you use any key strategies you made yourself during the project?
- Results: Include numbers to quantify your achievement. Numbers impress people. Show the difference your efforts and hard work have made for the brand, whether it’s an increase in likes, the number of followers, or increased data traffic. Include other numerical metrics to establish expertise.
There are many ways to showcase your assets for the portfolio.
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- Before and after: To showcase visual improvements
- Blog Post: Incorporate all your assets in a blog post by writing an article
- Video: Get creative with the video and showcase your graphical talent as well
- Presentation: Design a flawless presentation, link it to your LinkedIn, and share it on social media.
- Infographic: Create Infographic to showcase your assets. This takes time, but it’s worth it.
- Step 5: Define Your Marketing Content Format
When you’re sharing the story about your projects, follow a certain direction. There are some structures you can follow to keep the creative flow going.
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- Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle: Why, How and What
Why the company exists, how is it fulfilling its objectives (the Why), and what is it doing to fulfill its Why.
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- Dale Carnegie’s Magic Formula: Incident, Action, and Benefit
Share a personal incident, share the action done to solve a problem and share the benefits of the action.
- Step 6: Update Your portfolio regularly
Always update your portfolio regularly, even while you’re doing a campaign. Yes, it’s a struggle, but doing so every quarter will make it easier for you to follow up on your work in the future. Highlight the campaigns you’re working with and specify in the portfolio that you’re currently working on them. Keep updated visual posts and reports.
- Step 7: Share Your Portfolio
List down everyone who would be interested in seeing this and share it with them. From your clients to interested colleagues, narrow down the list. A little self-promotion never hurt anyone. Don’t let your efforts go to waste, and share it on your social platforms, specifically LinkedIn.
Baldwin Jackson is a successful digital marketer with expertise in search engine optimization and content marketing. The perfect balance of his analytical ability and creative thinking is what sets him apart from other practitioners in the digital marketing realm. He has helped a lot of small and medium-sized businesses in crafting their digital marketing strategies that are not only cost-effective but delivers results as well.
Baldwin is also a proud father of two kids and a Sports enthusiast. When he is not working, you will find him watching ESPN and NFL network. He has been able to get an amazing package on his favorite channels from Buytvinternetphone.com.
