Originally posted on Digital Gurus blog and featured on WeRSM.

While it took some time for Social Media to become a career that’s taken seriously by businesses, it is now well and truly established. In fact, the social media job market is fast becoming very competitive. From Community Managers and Bloggers, to Social Media Managers, Strategists and Social Analysts, the amount ofsocial media roles is on the rise but so is the number of candidates.

So how do you make yourself stand out from the crowd? Here are our 6 top tips!

1. Stay on top of trends

Social Media is one of the fastest moving digital landscapes. Established social networks like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter are regularly updated with new features, while newer platforms like Vine and Ello pop up with great potential for marketers. As a candidate in social media, you need to be aware and on top of the constant changes and new marketing opportunities.

2. Think and act quickly

Things move fast on social media. Whether you’re representing a brand or a celebrity, you need to be able to react to a crisis as soon as possible. News spread quickly on social, so you need to have an action plan to reach out to your audience if something goes wrong. Social media never sleeps so you need to be prepared to be available – and think quickly – even on weekends and holidays. Social listening is important for positive commentary of your brand as well. If you promote a piece of content that goes viral, you need to be there to monitor what people are saying and understand the reason for your success.

3. Know your analytics

Depending on your role, analytics may be more or less important. However, showing ROI of social media is significantly simpler if you are on top of the analytics of the posts you create. The good news is that a lot of the analytics are free. Twitter,Facebook, LinkedIn and Pinterest all provide free analytics for their networks that will give you insights into your audience and their engagement. On top of that, Google Analytics gives a vast amount of insights about website traffic acquired by social media. Plus, there are many other social media analytics tools available for free.

4. Learn to write for social media

Writing quality content is an important part of a social media professional’s job, whether it’s blog posts, tweets, or Facebook updates. Being able to adjust your tone of voice to a particular brand is a very necessary skill of working in social media. In the digital age of 140 characters and 6 second Vines, another sought-after skill is the ability to write engaging quality content that’s short, sweet, and to the point. Getting an audience excited is difficult enough without the character limitations so practice is key.

5. Make a social media portfolio

Having a social media portfolio isn’t obligatory but it’s a great way to show off your skills and accomplishments in a more visual way. Find out what to include in your social portfolio here.

6. Walk the walk

It’s common knowledge that companies and recruiters check out social media profiles of potential employees. In most cases, this is simply a quick glance to find out more about the personality of a candidate. When it comes to social media professionals however, this can be a more thorough search to see how you use social media on a personal level. It’s therefore even more important to know the Dos and Don’ts of what to post on social media.