In TikTok’s early days of largely dance challenges and lip-syncing exchanges, Shola West, a Gen Z profession advocate, speaker and educator, noticed a spot.
“I made a decision I wished to return on the platform to share suggestions and methods from my profession working within the media business,” she says.
Now affectionately often known as the “Huge Sis to Younger Creatives” — with accolades together with Forbes 30 Beneath 30 — West is constructing a digital model round offering profession recommendation to rising professionals.
“I didn’t go into it pondering it will be a social media enterprise per se,” says West. “It was about including worth.”
Now, it’s her full-time enterprise.
The social media entrepreneur makes her cash from model partnerships, workshops, and different aligned collaborations.
Need to study extra? You’re in luck. I chatted with among the finest in social media entrepreneurship and I’m diving into traits, suggestions, and extra beneath.
Desk of Contents
What’s social media entrepreneurship?
Social media entrepreneurship entails constructing a enterprise utilizing social media because the predominant technique of driving gross sales and advertising and marketing.
The idea goes hand-in-hand with a surging “creator financial system” — the time period used to explain influencers or content material creators who leverage their digital platforms to supply, distribute, and monetize their content material, usually producing income from model partnerships, paid commercials, and affiliate hyperlinks.
Different types of social media entrepreneurs might need companies in sectors resembling ecommerce, consulting, and past.
Why is social media entrepreneurship so common?
It’s uncommon to come across a enterprise that’s not tapping into social media in a roundabout way. Within the U.S. alone, 77% of small companies use social media for important capabilities like gross sales, advertising and marketing, and customer support.
It’s no marvel, as these similar on-line platforms are the looking grounds for consumers: One in 4 shoppers choose looking for manufacturers on social media platforms over search engines like google and yahoo. And relating to how shoppers worth particular person creators, 49% make day by day, weekly, or month-to-month purchases primarily based on influencer posts.
I feel it’s protected to say social media is a profitable channel for entrepreneurs. It’s additionally a low-cost, high-reward enterprise software for individuals with artistic minds however tight budgets.
Prime Social Media Entrepreneurship Traits
1. Brief-form video is dominating.
Throughout the board, social media platforms are actually pushing and prioritizing video proper now. Brief-form video is the fastest-growing content material class on LinkedIn, and the platform lately began testing a vertical video feed (just like the codecs on Instagram and TikTok).
“I’ve been seeing an explosion of video podcast interviews,” says Gigi Robinson, founding father of Hosts of Affect. “It’s allowed for alternatives the place you may higher relate to a model, or a founding father of a model, which can make you a extra loyal buyer.
2. Individuals wish to see behind-the-scenes.
On an analogous observe, how-the-sausage-is-made content material is booming.
“Some manufacturers do that fairly properly,” says Emma Sneddon, a contract social media supervisor, referencing examples like REFY and Free Soul.
Within the Free Soul publish beneath, the model celebrated Worldwide Ladies’s Day with varied occasions — and a video that showcased not solely what the model is about however the individuals behind it.
“Fairly than purely saying, ‘Right here‘s our product, please purchase it,’ they’re displaying extra behind-the-scenes content material. They’re getting their workers concerned.”
3. There’s an increase in influencer advertising and marketing.
“We’re transferring in direction of extra authenticity over aesthetics,” Sneddon additionally shared with me. “Social media entrepreneurs are beginning to deal with uncooked, relatable, extra personality-related content material.”
As manufacturers catch on, many are turning to micro-influencers (creators with 10,000 to 99,999 followers) relatively than celebrities to showcase their services by unique content material.
Sixty-four p.c of entrepreneurs have labored with micro-influencers within the final yr, and 47% say this group generated probably the most advertising and marketing success.
“Again within the day, individuals felt such as you needed to have 1,000,000 followers to get partnerships, to land model offers, to get alternatives,” says West. “That’s not the case anymore. In case you have a powerful area of interest and a well-engaged neighborhood, even when you’ve got 5k followers, you are still in a position to acquire entry.”
Suggestions for Social Media Entrepreneurs
1. Don’t be afraid to carve out a distinct segment.
In a saturated business, presenting one thing recent by leaning into your distinctive expertise, experience, and pursuits is what’s going to set you aside. That’s what West did, and she or he tells me it’s working in her favor.
Equally, my publication, podcast, and neighborhood platform Stella is a community particularly connecting Black girls in media. That’s by design — and it really works: Area of interest communities can foster higher person engagement and loyalty. In addition they promote a stronger sense of belonging and relatability.
2. Be adaptable.
A part of mastering social media is experimenting throughout platforms.
“I feel platform diversification is vital,” says Robinson. Don’t be afraid so as to add and evolve — oftentimes, what’s ready are huge rewards and new clients. Don’t be afraid to pivot, both.”
For instance, Substack launched the Creator Accelerator Fund, which incentivized creators emigrate their subscriber communities to its platform, providing a number of instruments and providers.
3. Be constant however intentional.
Develop a social media posting schedule that most accurately fits your small business mannequin — and follow it. However don’t get slowed down by the notion that that you must publish at a sure cadence simply since you’re seeing it from one other individual or model.
“Consistency for everybody seems to be completely different,” Sneddon tells me. “I all the time say high quality over amount. You need your posts to be value-driven and to really add one thing to your viewers. You do not wish to be posting on daily basis simply to try to maintain constant.”
Whatever the frequency, social media upkeep can get tedious. Schedulers like Vista Social and Buffer are useful options to handbook posting, and I do know quite a lot of corporations and creators who’ve had nice outcomes with them.
Additionally, most social media platforms have built-in scheduling instruments you may faucet into.
And when you’re ever feeling burned out creatively, West has a tip: She says that AI, when used responsibly, could be a nice useful resource to assist generate new content material concepts.
For instance, HubSpot has an AI-powered weblog concept generator software that may enable you to brainstorm concepts once you’re caught or hone an concept into one thing you may work with.
Supply
4. Accumulate your personal information.
If there’s something we realized from TikTok’s non permanent U.S. ban, it’s that we will’t assume platforms — and the information that comes with it — will exist perpetually.
Create your personal e-mail advertising and marketing system to make sure you’re amassing emails and different pertinent info out of your on-line neighborhood.
5. Construct a neighborhood.
Profitable social media entrepreneurs, says Robinson, know the distinction between an viewers and a neighborhood. The most important differentiator lies in engagement.
“Your viewers is the individuals which can be usually supporting you, however your communities are the those that purchase into you. When you’ll be able to achieve success with social media, you‘re in a position to convert, and also you’re in a position to earn money as a result of individuals need entry to you.”
In different phrases, neighborhood is central to conversions.
Sneddon agrees. She says try to be continuously “partaking together with your viewers, asking them questions, and replying to feedback.”
She provides, “It will construct your neighborhood and have individuals coming again to your web page as a result of they know you are going to work together.”
Don’t be afraid to self-promote.
If I may share one primary takeaway from these conversations — and my very own experiences — it will be that it’s a must to drive your small business ahead your self. That is why probably the greatest methods for sustaining a profession as a social media entrepreneur is self-promotion.
“Closed mouths don’t get fed,” says Robinson. She’s locked in 15 gigs for the reason that begin of 2025 by sharing her previous work loudly throughout her social media channels. Work, in spite of everything, results in new work.