The first question is: what is social media? According to Google, social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and/or exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. Overtime, social media has indeed made communication simpler because I could remember my dad always telling tales of when I was born and his brother (my uncle) had to travel down from Ogun State to Ondo State to break the news.

Imagine that kind of stress. Thanks to social media that has given space for people to simply connect with their loved ones even from afar. This is called Life made easy via technology and advancement. It is flabbergasting to see that in today’s century, social media has become a way of life.

As for me, I don’t know of anybody else. I sleep and wake on social media. and I’m 70 percent sure that many people do so too. It has become a lifestyle. And the funny thing is; our interests vary. Some are addicted to Twitter, while some Facebook, while some Instagram.

The question now is: How do you manage your addiction? Do you want social media to make or break you? I’m standing on a rigid protocol to ascertain that some people are making over 1 million naira monthly via social media. While some people’s downfall came from this same social media.

Fake news: Lately, social media has become a space for false news. Gone are those days of prints, radio, and television media. All these platforms scrutinize their news before it’s been published. This has in a way given room for checks and balances on the stories being published.

But social media on the other hand is practically contrary to the norms. Here, everybody is a journalist. Anybody can take to his or her space to break false news without being checked. This has given room for fake news.

Impersonation: Social media has made scams easy. I’m sure we all know what “yahoo yahoo” is and the effect on the reputation of Nigeria.

Fake life: I postulated something a while ago that we were all happy before we started comparing our lives to others. Social media unfortunately is a platform where people showcase fortunes and extravagant lifestyles, thereby making other people feel God is not doing well for them.

Many people have committed suicide as a result of their glances on social media. And some people have exhausted their financial strength on fake life. That’s why it’s advisable to keep children out of social media for now.

Back to the most interesting part. Which is how people make money via social media (the legit way). There is no magic to it. It is simply via advertisement. These days, everybody wants to advertise, though for different reasons. And they are confident that social media is the simplest and most profitable platform.

The two major reasons for social media adverts is either to build a profile or to sell a product.

Profile: Might be a politician, actor, Artiste, MC, DJ etcetera. All these people are not using social media for anything order than to build and expose their personalities to the public. Brands like NGOs, Social-cultural groups like KCI also fall under this category. They just want people to hear about them and know them.

Products: Gold sellers, cars sellers, collections, fashion designers etc. want social media for the purpose of advertising their products. They prefer to use social media as their preferred platform because social media currently is the biggest communication community. Take it or leave it. This is where Digital Marketing/Marketers come in.
However, Digital marketing, also called online marketing, is the promotion of brands to connect with potential customers using the internet and other forms of digital communication.
Therefore, if as an individual, you can help brands connect with their potential customers, then you can be referred to as a Digital/social media Marketer. Going forward, to be a successful social media marker does not require you to study at Cambridge or Harvard. All you need do is have the required audience those brands need.
However, the following are required of you to become a successful social media marketer: Unique content, smartphone, passion and devotion.

Unique content: You must have something that interests people. First, check your ability. Are you funny, are you a foodie, are you a traveler, do you like cooking, are you a counselor, are you a creative writer, etcetera?
You must be good at something (Niche). The uniqueness must be there.
This is what people will see that will convince them to follow you.

Smartphone: Your phone must be smart. The phone is what will project the unique content.

Passion: If you have passion for something, you won’t back off and whatever you spend (be it physical, financial, etc.) will not mean a big deal to you. You will be more than glad to spend/invest. That’s passion.

Devotion: It may be tough to gather followers but you must be devoted. As in, ignoring many other things to focus on social media. Social media must be like a career to you.