How to create a social media portfolio: Tips + free template

A social media portfolio is, first and foremost, an opportunity to brag to potential future employers about your experience. Managers hiring people to run their social media want to know about all the successful campaigns, rockstar analytics results, and stunning design work you’ve accomplished—so why not show them?

Read on to learn all the best components for making a portfolio that pops (and helps you get your next job), a free social media template, and examples to inspire you.

Plus, we turned to Rebekah Ho, Canada Wide Media’s Digital Marketing Manager, for expert insight. With her breadth of experience working for graphic design firm Glasfurd & Walker and media company Hypebae, Ho shares her top tips for turning out a social media portfolio that sets you apart from the competition.

What is a social media portfolio?

A social media portfolio is a collection of past work that showcases a social media manager’s experience and expertise.

A portfolio usually has examples of past social media campaigns, including content, copywriting, and design work across multiple platforms, as well as meaningful analytics that prove a social media professional’s success.

Social media manager portfolios are used to help land freelance work or full-time jobs in the industry. Potential clients and hiring managers will look at your social media portfolio to determine if you are the right fit for the job.

TL;DR: An awesome portfolio can be the difference between landing a new gig and getting tossed in the “probably not” pile of resumes.

Why do you need a social media portfolio?

Showcase your expertise

Your social media portfolio is a chance to showcase all of your best work in one impressive package.

A portfolio is concrete evidence of your expertise, skill, and success on social, so potential employers know that you can really walk the walk.

Share your personality

While resumes and cover letters are great for explaining your past experience, there’s limits to how unique and personal they can be.

A social media portfolio shows not just your skills, but your personality–your taste, your design sensibility, your voice—and can help a hiring manager get to know you.

Stand out amongst the competition

Often, hiring managers will have more job applicants than they know what to do with.

Anything that sets you apart from the crowd will increase your likelihood of scoring an interview—especially in an industry as creative as social media.

A great portfolio will help you get noticed and be remembered, and in competitive positions, that’s half the battle.

Make it easy on future hiring managers

Psst: Sometimes, potential employers don’t spend much time looking at your resume and cover letter.

In Ho’s experience, folks hiring freelancers rarely ask for them at all. “They’re not calling your references or asking for a cover letter in a freelance situation,” she says. “So your work has to speak for itself.”

Managers will appreciate you making their job easier (after all, that’s ultimately what you’ll be doing when you start working).

Review your past experiences and achievements

“It’s just good practice to step back and take a look at your work,” says Ho. “ Working in social media means you’re probably spending a lot of your time focussing on singular posts, analyzing micro-trends, and having your head down in Canva, but it’s important to look at the big picture once in a while.”

Making a portfolio isn’t just helpful for potential employers; it’s a good exercise for you to see what you’re excelling at and what you need to work on.

What to include in a social media portfolio

Professional imagery

Because visuals are such an important component of social media, it’s important that your portfolio showcases great hi-res imagery. Potential employers will assume that your portfolio represents the caliber of work they can expect from you—so make sure the imagery is top-notch.

Source: Kristine Gumera

Clean copy

Similar to the above, any of the writing included in your portfolio is a chance for you to show off your skills: grammar, spelling, and overall tone should be edited carefully.

Ho notes that “not paying attention to the details” is the biggest mistake you can make when building your portfolio. “If there are spelling mistakes, low-res images, or broken links in your portfolio, that’s definitely going to reflect badly on you,” she shares.

Your resume

Employers may ask for both your resume and portfolio, but there’s no reason not to link one to the other.

Your portfolio should contain everything that the hiring manager needs to know about you, so be sure to include your resume (through a downloadable PDF, a hyperlink, or in the form of copy within your portfolio).

Contact information

Don’t sabotage yourself by making it difficult for people to get in contact with you. Clear contact info is essential.

Double-check that any hyperlinks lead to the proper channels and that there are no errors in your email address or phone number.

Relevant social media experience

Here’s the exciting stuff: this is your opportunity to showcase your strategy in action. Always include analytic results whenever you can (PS: Hootsuite can provide that for you).

Source: BM Social

Case studies, special projects, and campaigns

Pick diverse projects that display a variety of different skills, and include analytics from your examples as evidence of your past success.

Copywriting

Your writing proficiency should also be evident—choose copywriting examples that prove you can nail a brand voice and communicate clearly and efficiently.

Social media profiles managed

Link to past social media profiles you’ve managed, and provide examples of specific content you created or contributed to.

Successful social strategy

Share your social media strategy and explain why it works and how it has worked for brands you’ve managed in the past.

Work as a social media manager

Any work that you’ve done as a social media manager fits into this category, even if it’s volunteer or for a personal account.

As long as it’s professional and representative of your experience, it counts.

Testimonials from clients

If you have them, any rave reviews from past clients go a long way in a portfolio. Kind words to back up your data will build a more well-rounded picture of you as an employee.

Source: Volume One Studios

“About You” information

An “About You” section is your chance to introduce yourself and set the tone for your portfolio.

Ho shares, “I would include a brief summary of your work experience, key brands you’ve worked with, and a few highlights of your skillset.” Adding, “include a brief line or two about what you’re passionate about when it comes to social media.”

Source: Alisson Rojas

This is your opportunity to highlight not only your skills, but your interests—what do you want to do?

“There are a lot of roles you can take in social media, and it’s important to specify what you want to spend most of your time working on, especially if you’re applying for a job within a bigger digital team,” says Ho.

A photo of yourself

This isn’t mandatory, but it is recommended. “It’s almost a requirement these days to be comfortable in front of the camera if you plan to work in social media,” says Ho.

4 social media portfolio formats

Decide which format of social media portfolio best suits your needs from these four options.

1. Document or PDF

PDFs have the benefit of being easy to read and share. They can be tailored to individual clients or potential employers. Plus, you can attach them to emails or text messages for maximum convenience.

The downside of a document or PDF is that, depending on how your clients view your document, there may be a loss of resolution when incorporating images and videos. Additionally, some PDF readers may not support videos or more interactive elements.

Here are a few tips to keep in mind when creating a document or PDF portfolio:

• Include a “Table of Contents” page with page numbers for easy navigation.
• Incorporate links to landing pages or other relevant web pages, if applicable.
• Save and back up a copy of your social media portfolio.

2. Simple slide deck

Slide decks are very readable and visually pleasing. There are plenty of options for customizing and editing slides for different opportunities, and slide decks can also be attached to emails.

The downside is that slide decks aren’t available publicly, which means a customer would need to contact you directly to see examples of your work. You can avoid this issue by hosting your deck live through Google Slides, Canva, or other hosting platforms.

If you do decide to create a slide deck, keep these tips in mind:

• Be careful not to overload your slides with too much information.
• Keep multiple copies of your deck (a live link, PDF, and PowerPoint is a good start).
• Use links in the deck to direct readers to relevant social media presence, profiles, and websites.

3. Social media portfolio website

A website is a great way to create a public-facing and searchable portfolio of your social media work. It’s also the most versatile option, as you can customize it to look exactly how you want and include a range of pages, media, and easy-to-use contact forms.

The downside of a portfolio site is that they are more complex to create. Luckily, there are many user-friendly website builders to get you started, such as Wix and Squarespace.

Here are a few website portfolio tips:

• Choose an eye-catching template that matches the tone of your work.
• Optimize the website for mobile devices.
• Follow SEO best practices.
• Prioritize accessibility and inclusive design practices.

4. Social media profile

Social media platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram allow you to create interactive profiles that give potential employers an overview of your experience and skill set. It’s the most literal example of what you can do!

Using a social media profile as your portfolio allows potential clients to see exactly how you lay out a page, post consistently, curate, and create content. It even shows how you interact with your audience.

The downside: not every client is on every social media channel. So, you either need to be active everywhere or choose the most appropriate platform for your target audience.

Here are some tips to keep in mind when creating a social media profile portfolio:

• Use a unique visual style on every platform.
• Post consistently, but prioritize quality over quantity.
• Regularly interact with your audience.

Free social media portfolio template

When you’re on the job hunt, any headstart is a good one—allow us to give you that first little boost.

Hootsuite’s free social media portfolio template is easy to customize and tailor to your own experience. We’ve built this template in a Google Slides document, but you can easily copy this template into Canva, PowerPoint, or even a PDF.

This template includes all the elements you need to create a comprehensive social media portfolio, including a skills section, campaign portfolio, customer testimonials, service page, and more.

All you need to do is tap into your design skills and customize the template with your own content and images.

How to create a social media marketing portfolio: Step-by-step guide

1. Decide on a portfolio template/format

First, choose which portfolio format is best for you according to the options above.

If you’re building this portfolio for a specific potential employer, check to see if they request portfolios in a specific format. Then, choose a template that suits your style—next, it’s customization station.

2. Introduce yourself and experience

It’s time to make a great first impression! Introduce yourself, your strengths, skills, and past work experience. It’s a good idea to also state what kind of work you’re looking for.

3. Include stunning imagery

Hi-resolution imagery will showcase your skills with visuals, but it will also make your portfolio more engaging and easier to read for potential employers. Use photos and screenshots from past campaigns to show your audience what you’re capable of.

4. Showcase your best content

Pick content from different accounts you’ve managed and from multiple platforms to best showcase your diverse skills. “Show off the work samples you’re the most proud of,” says Ho.

When possible, try to pick content that is more recent, as well—you don’t want all of your examples to be several years old. Choosing well-performing, relatively recent content is the best way to show hiring managers what you can do, now.

5. Back up your work with data

Show, don’t tell when it comes to your success in social media. Provide stats about engagement, audience, and reach.

“Make sure to showcase why they’re important and how you got there,” says Ho. “I think it’s tempting to throw a bunch of flashy numbers out, but you don’t want to overpromise or get stumped if the question comes up of how growth happened.”

6. Include client testimonials

There’s nothing quite like client love to attract new business opportunities. Be sure that you have the client’s permission to share their words before including it in your portfolio.

7. Don’t forget contact information

Wouldn’t it suck if an employer loved your portfolio but couldn’t find a way to reach you? It’s not a bad idea to include a footer of contact info on every page of your portfolio, just in case.

5 great social media portfolio examples to inspire your own

1. Kayla McFadden

Freelance Social Media Manager Kayla McFadden’s public portfolio contains beautiful imagery, consistent branding, and personal touches, like this testimonial from a past client.

Source: Kayla McFadden

2. Simply Multimedia

Marketing agency Longhouse Media devotes a page of their website to a portfolio of work. Each example begins with a concise tagline explaining exactly what they achieved during each campaign.

Source: Simply Multimedia

3. Curated by Preeti

This Social Media Manager uses her Instagram highlights and pinned posts as part of her portfolio page: client testimonials, successful campaigns, and services offered are all easy to find.

Source: Curated by Preeti

4. The Shelf

The Shelf’s online portfolio includes a snapshot of case studies from brands that they’ve worked with. Their case studies outline important analytics and active language describing the work done to achieve those results.

Source: The Shelf

5. Milou Pietersz

This Social Media Marketing Strategist uses Instagram as a portfolio, sharing her success stories as well as free resources for others in the industry.

Source: Milou Pietersz

5 tips to make the most out of your social media marketing portfolio

1. Tailor to your audience

Just like it’s best practice to tailor your resume and cover letter to each job you apply to, the same should be done for your portfolio.

This might mean having several versions of your slide deck or updating your website portfolio regularly. “You don’t need to include every single project you’ve ever worked on,” says Ho. “This should serve as a highlight reel of your work. Only include the best of the best.”

2. Make it as easy as can be

Ideally, making your social media portfolio isn’t grueling work. Use the free tools and resources available to you to give yourself a boost.

“While I think I have a great eye for aesthetics, my design skills aren’t expert-level, so anything that gives me a good template gets an A+ in my book,” says Ho.

Another option is to find a free template you love or hire a designer to create one. “They’re usually inexpensive and worth it because you’ll stand out,” Ho says.

3. Don’t count out beginners

Even if you’ve never worked professionally as a social media manager, odds are you have some experience that you can add to your portfolio.

Don’t dismiss your experience just because it’s not “corporate”—have you ever run the social media account for an after-school club or rec sport? Does your personal Instagram show off your social strategy? Does your dog’s? As long as you can prove your talent with analytics and explain how that will translate into a professional environment, you’re set.

4. Be transparent about your work

“When you’re showcasing projects, make sure to highlight exactly what you worked on,” warns Ho. She notes that social media is collaborative, and many SMMs work with photographers, graphic designers, and writers.

“It’s not cool to take all the credit for yourself, and it can also be confusing for the person looking at your portfolio to understand what you’re showcasing.” Be specific about what part of a campaign you worked on when including it in your portfolio.

5. Showcase work you enjoyed doing

It’s possible that your most successful campaign was a nightmare to execute—do you want to do it again? It’s important to also consider what you like and don’t like when you’re choosing content to be in your portfolio.

“Yes, include the posts with the big numbers, and the work that you received great feedback on, but you want to attract projects that you enjoy working on,” says Ho. “The way to do that is to highlight what was fulfilling and exciting for you.”

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