What I Learned From Being the PRSSA Social Media Director
My interest in Social Media Director
At the first Grand Valley Public Relations Student Society of America (GVPRSSA) meeting I attended sophomore year, the President, Amberly presented the new committees created by last year’s executive board. One in particular caught my attention…the promotions committee. The promotions committee was responsible for assisting the Social Media Director in creating content and campaigns. During my time on the promotions committee, I found that I really enjoy creating graphics and showing my creativity. Because of this realization, and the encouragement from peers already in leadership positions, I wanted to apply for GVPRSSA’s Social Media Director!
Preparing for SMD
After a successful first semester on the promotions committee, I was promoted to the Promotions Committee Chair. I would communicate with the Vice President of Public Relations and relay information to the promotions committee. I hosted virtual meetings with the promotions committee to discuss social media or poster graphics and led the team’s research and creation of GVPRSSA. The promotions committee gave me a year’s worth of graphic design experience that I could show on my portfolio and my application for GVPRSSA’s Social Media Director position!
Lessons Learned
The most important skill I have learned from being the Social Media Director this past year is organization! This position will not work if you cannot be organized. Creating a content calendar far in advance is the best thing you can do for yourself. I looked at the calendar that GVPRSSA had events scheduled to go out at least one week before. I also looked at any holidays or events that related to public relations or GVPRSSA members and created a post for those. After deciding what days to post, I created graphics related to the post's topic on Canva. I then received help from the promotions committee on graphics! Once the graphics were finished, I created a Google document with the post date, the graphic, the caption, and whether I had already scheduled the post.
Besides Canva, the most helpful tool I discovered as the Social Media Director was getting familiar with Meta Business Suite, a spot to manage your posts on Facebook and Instagram. I frequently used the schedule ahead feature. I found this tool extremely useful and helpful, especially on days when I create various posts and can schedule them weeks in advance. This helped save me time during the week and reduced stress because remembering to post can be exhausting.
The last thing I learned about being the social media director is burnout. There is a lot to balance as a full-time college student, working 20 hours a week, being involved in student organizations, and still having a social life. Many times, I would receive requests to post something ASAP while I was at work or out of town without access to my computer. Here are some quick tips I learned that reduce burnout:
Plan as far ahead as possible
Create a request form
Ask for help – thank you promotion committee!!
USE A CALENDAR!!! I <3 Google Calendar
Overall, I am grateful that I had this opportunity to practice content creation and be able to work with the GVPRSSA executive board. I learned so much about design, copywriting, and teamwork during my position this year.
Abby is a junior studying advertising and public relations. She is from Darien Illinois and plans to return home after college to work in social media for the sports or entertainment industry. Abby is involved with PRSSA in many ways. She holds the title of creative director for GrandPR, is the current Social Media Director, and has served on the promotions committee both as a member and as the chair of the committee, and will be the Chief Communications Officer next school year. Abby is also the Community Relations Intern at Lake Michigan Credit Union.