r/SocialMediaMarketing

I am parking my engineering degree and building my own business.

I am out of work, only one contract from my past skills (software development) with part time income.

I have deadline and before March 2027 (9 months from now) my agency should produce more than 5K MRR.

Now I want to hear from people ahead of me, what is the expected timeline considering full efforts, GPT told me that I should consider consulting (custom AI integration, automation in workflows) where I can charge for setup and small retainers. If I target selling services only then it takes a while to get momentum.

I see many tools available to run an agency, we juggle between many tools, being software engineer and AI expertise, I built tools to run an agency. My sole purpose is to keep my building passion ongoing, saving in subscriptions, and fully customization flexibility.

Focusing on my today’s question: I already spent two months where I got success in building tools but unable to finalize my offer yet.

I am not looking for direct answer, what I should do, all I want to hear from you folks what was the real experience when you started, any tips or suggestions, lessons and estimated normal timeline before you reached 5K MRR.

One more thing, should I focus on social media for leads (it will take time to build audience as I am starting fresh, long term definitely beneficial) or email marketing (I want to focus on fast results/testing) to acquire clients.

Looking for insights and lessons from you to see if my target is achievable or not?

I’m running socials for a creative platform that connects emerging talent with larger commercial projects, without needing a huge folio/showreel.

I'm shifting strategy to push this side of the business more heavily, since it really sits at the core of what the platform is about: opportunity.

One idea I’ve been developing is an interview series with people who’ve already landed work through the platform. The problem I’m running into is how to make it feel genuinely engaging and high-retention, without it coming across like an advert or shameless plug.

The concept so far is to shoot it in slightly “off” / unexpected locations to create a pattern interrupt - think like car washes, pool halls, libraries, etc. A bit in the spirit of those “subway takes” style videos.

Format-wise, I’m imagining something quite casual and unstructured: almost like the camera isn’t really there. Maybe a split screen of us eating together, or playing a game, while I casually ask them about the job they got through [brand]. More like a hangout that happens to include questions, rather than a formal interview.

Where I’m getting stuck is the hook and the questions. I feel like it needs a strong opening that allows for a surprising or provocative answer within the first 3 seconds - something open-ended enough that it pulls people in immediately, like those “subway takes” clips where the prompt leads to unexpected opinions or stories.

At the moment it feels close, but I’m not sure how to shape the questions so it doesn’t drift into “corporate testimonial” territory and actually feels watchable.

I was asked by a restaurant to take on their social media, but they want like 2 reels per day + 5 stories and they seemed hesitant when I told them that this might be too much. The store doesn’t have any identity (various colours, different fonts, random aesthetics) so I want to start by building that, but the employees only thought is more and more followers more and more reels. Am I in the wrong for wanting to establish the brand and just be consistent and not overload the feed?

I'm new to Tik Tok and the first like 10 videos were doing pretty decently. I managed to get over 300 views on one of them with a good like ratio and some positive comments. Then one fateful day right after uploading a video I realized i didn't set the thumbnail right so I deleted it immediately and uploaded the same file again. This apparently triggered Tik Tok to think I'm spamming or something since every video after that including that one got literally 0 views. So my question is: Did I permanently f my account now just cause of one single mistake and if not how long do I have to wait before Tik Tok decides I'm trustworthy again? Should I just start a new account and reupload all the videos slightly edited or is that going to make me look spammy again? Thanks in advance!

For the past few years, my LinkedIn QR code has been enough.

But over the last two weeks I've collected more than a dozen business cards from people I've met at events.

Now I'm wondering... maybe I need one too?

Or was this just an outlier?

Do you still carry business cards?
How often do you actually hand them out?

One thing I've noticed while speaking with creators is that getting the first collaboration is difficult, but sustaining consistent partnerships seems even harder.

Some creators struggle with pricing.

Some struggle with finding the right brands.

Others struggle with building long-term relationships.

If you've worked with brands before, what was the biggest challenge after your first paid collaboration?

Curious to hear experiences from creators, agencies, and brands.

I’ve built some experience with my own personal brand and I’ve had a couple of restaurants give me free food in exchange for videos.

Does it happen when businesses reach out to me? What are your suggestions?

I am a recent bcom graduate but have no experience or practical skills yet. But I am interested in marketing and want to self learn digital marketing and later pivot towards marketing analyst. I wanted to know if it’s possible? And if yes how do I showcase my skills/projects to employers and where to approach them for internships or jobs?

Hello everyone, i need detailed advice and tips from you guys. So basically, i have been hired as a social media manager basically not just an SMM like im working with my boss, i represent him and the beand we are building i will be handling everything as in pr, influencers, account management and everything. He will be handling the investment and the technical side of our brand. The thing is that i have no experience and he knows that im learning.
I thought it would be easy but its more complicated and i dont want to say that to him because he might think im not compatible, he says he sees the talent in me that’s why he’s working with me.
Okay now i will explain what im struggling with:

1. I get really nervous about having to post regularly like how will i create content or recreate trends because i don’t show my face and abit hesitant doing voiceovers ( he knows and is fine with faceless and said that once i deserve it we can hire somebody to help with face content because im a partner in the brand as well btw its a makeup brand but for now its just me )

2. About posts i dont want to post generic graphic posts i want to be creative about it but idk how to figure it all out

3. I gave him a marketing plan as well that just had lnfo regarding ugc, a few influencers for pr but it was sort of not very interesting. I want to come up with smth interesting and different to market our makeup brand.

4. Lastly, as it’s just me, him and a chemist on board im also worried about running out of content or having to create it myself like how will i do product photography because im usually home amd don’t have much aesthetic settings. How do i come up with new reels and most importantly how do i build that brand image or story telling when i dont show up on camera because i cant use the ugc content repeatedly.

Please help me out and guide me, my dms are open as well.

Hey Everyone,

I've been in media sales/strategy for the last decade, and I want to switch to brand marketing.

I'm starting by offering free services to small business to work on their instagram brand and growth strategy, so I can create a client portfolio and work with meta ads.

I created an intake form and I want to get your feedback on everything.

I’m looking for a remote social media marketer to help grow an early-stage online platform. This would suit someone looking to build experience, take on a side project, or work with a startup that has room to grow.
If you’re reliable, creative, and know how to grow engagement across social platforms, please comment below or send me a DM with a short introduction, your rates, and any examples of your work.
Remote applicants from anywhere are welcome.

When GummySearch announced it was shutting down, I remember that a lot of people were asking similar questions. Mainly

“What’s the best alternative?”

It actually made me realise something recently. I think we’ve accidentally built Reddit research around tools instead of around a process.

The value isn’t so much in the tool but rather in the UNDERSTANDING of what customers were actually saying.

Hear me out here.

My current thinking looks something like this:

Layer 1: Collect the conversations
Native Reddit search
Reddinbox
Google
Perplexity
Manual research

Layer 2: Find the patterns
recurring complaints
buying questions
feature requests
competitor comparisons
language customers naturally use

Layer 3: Turn it into decisions
What content should we create?
What messaging should change?
What should Product prioritise?
Which objections keep appearing?
Which opportunities are competitors missing?

That’s the part I think most companies skip.

I think it’s clear that collecting Reddit conversations is becoming easier every year. But interpreting them is where the competitive advantage is.

Curious how everyone else has adapted since GummySearch announced its shutdown.

Have you replaced it with another tool, or has your research process changed entirely?

Been doing this for a while now and i remember the early days of just posting and hoping something would land. no real strategy, no clear idea of what was working or why.

the shift happened when i stopped measuring vanity metrics and started paying attention to what was actually driving real outcomes, conversations, inquiries traffic that converted.

for social media marketers here, was there as specific moment where things clicked and you felt like you actually knew wheat you were doing? or is it more of a gradual thing where you just slowly stop making the same mistakes

Would be good to hear what actually changed th4e way you approach it because it feel like a alot of advice out there is still pretty surface level

I am a content creator like meme do anyone know where to get clients or brands so I can promote them through my insta page and can get paid

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for some career advice because I feel a bit lost about what to learn next.
About two years ago I was hired by a footwear brand as a product photographer. Over time my role completely changed, and now I basically handle almost everything related to social media.

My responsibilities include:
product photography
filming and editing videos
creating graphics
writing captions
replying to customers
planning content
trying to grow our Instagram account

Because I’m mostly self-taught, I’ve been learning by watching YouTube videos, following marketing creators on Instagram, and trying to apply what I learn. But honestly, I often feel lost. There are endless videos about algorithms, hooks, trends, and “how to go viral,” and everyone seems to have a different opinion.

I’m also often the person in front of the camera. I model the shoes, film myself, and create Reels featuring me. At first I didn’t mind, but now it’s becoming exhausting. I don’t really want to be the face of the brand.

The funny thing is that I actually enjoy creating content. I love photography, I enjoy coming up with creative concepts, and I like filming when I have a good idea. What I don’t enjoy is feeling like I constantly have to perform on camera or make “fake funny” videos just because the algorithm seems to reward them.

Ideally, I’d rather work with models or UGC creators and focus on directing, shooting, editing, and developing creative ideas instead of always being the person in the videos myself. It feels like many brands are moving toward working with UGC creators anyway.

The creative side still excites me, and I’d say I’m quite technical and enjoy learning new tools. What I’m realizing is that I’d like to move away from being the person constantly creating social media content and instead learn more about the systems behind marketing.

The problem is that I don’t know where to start.
Should I learn Meta Ads? Email marketing? Marketing automation? Analytics? SEO? CRM? Something else?

If you were in my position, what skills would you invest in over the next 1–3 years that would open more career opportunities and rely less on constantly chasing Instagram trends?
I’d really appreciate hearing from people who made a similar transition.
Thanks!

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Hi,

I am still pretty new with creating organic content for my apps on Instagram and TikTok.

You read everywhere that you should try many variations of the same video until you find the right combination.

But that can be a lot, different text, difference music, different cuts. Before you switch to whole a different video.

My question is do you keep the previous versions alive or do you kill them if they don't perform, and if so after what time do you kill them on each platform?

I recently joined a luxury car dealership in Dubai as their social media manager and I’m currently auditing the account before creating a new strategy.

A few things I’ve noticed:
-Follower growth and organic engagement have been slow over the past 9 months.
-Most content is inventory showcases (luxury cars) with limited educational or lifestyle content.
-We have a limited budget, so most content is shot inside the showroom.

Our target audience is luxury buyers in the UAE, but insights show a surprisingly large audience from India, which I’m trying to understand. I think they bought followers before.

My initial plan is to focus on content pillars (Educate, Showcase, Connect), differentiate content for Instagram vs. TikTok/Snapchat, and create more recurring content series instead of just posting inventory.

If you inherited this account, what would you prioritize first? Would you focus on fixing the audience quality, changing the content strategy, or something else?
I’d love to hear how you’d approach this.

For about a year, Opus Clip was basically my whole repurposing workflow. Drop in a podcast episode, let it find the moments worth cutting, trust the virality score to tell me which clips were worth posting and which to quietly ignore. And credit where it's due, that scoring genuinely saved me time triaging — it's the one part of the tool I never really doubted. But somewhere around the point where I went from posting a couple times a week to trying to post daily, the seams started showing. Some weeks the auto-cuts were almost eerily good. Other weeks I'd get a batch back and end up re-editing half of it by hand anyway, which kind of defeats the purpose of paying for automation in the first place. And naturally, right as my output needed to scale up, the bill started scaling up with it too. That combination is what actually sent me looking around.

The thing I didn't expect to find was that I didn't have to give up the clipping workflow at all to move on from Opus. Vidpal's AI Clips feature does the exact same core job — feed it a long video or podcast and it auto-cuts captioned clips, scoring each one for virality, the same mechanic Opus built its whole reputation on. What's different is everything built around that. On the days there's no source footage sitting around to repurpose, it can generate a video from nothing instead — script, voiceover, b-roll, animated word-level captions, even on-screen infographics like stat callouts that snap into your own brand colors and fonts — and whatever comes out, clipped or built from scratch, gets scheduled and posted on its own across Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube. It's less a different way to clip and more the same clipping tool with everything Opus never attempted bolted on top. There's a free tier, and paid plans start around $19 a month.

If a straight swap is all you're after, Klap is about as close to Opus as it gets — same long-video-in, captioned-clips-out idea, just a different price tag and a slightly cleaner interface in my experience, without really solving anything Opus doesn't. CapCut is the free route, genuinely capable, but you're assembling every clip by hand, which starts to hurt once daily posting becomes the actual goal. And Submagic isn't a repurposing tool at all — it's built for footage you've already filmed yourself, with some of the best-looking caption presets around, worth keeping in the stack if you still do talking-head content on the side.

If the virality score is genuinely steering your editing decisions and you don't mind paying for that signal, there's no shame in staying — it's a real capability. But most people I've talked to end up spreading the job across the right tools instead, and the question worth sitting with isn't which one cuts better, it's whether you're chasing one perfect clip or a steady stream you don't have to babysit.

I’ve been seeing the Empire State Building trend everywhere lately.

Every time a trend like this takes off, it feels like a lot of businesses ask, “Should we jump on this?”
But maybe the better question is, “Can we use this in a way that actually makes sense for our brand?”

Curious how others look at this.