Social Media Growth Strategist (Education Startup) – Scale From 0 → 100k+ Followers

What I’m Looking For

I’m a founder building SmartSpec, an early-stage education startup, and I’m looking to work with a social media marketing strategist who genuinely understands growth, positioning, and demand generation. This is a strategy role, not an execution one. I’ll be creating and posting the content myself, but I want someone who can help me think clearly about what to post, why it works, and how to turn attention into real demand.

You should understand how to grow accounts from zero, not just optimise accounts that already have traction. I’m looking for someone who thinks in terms of attention → trust → demand, rather than chasing followers for the sake of it. You should be comfortable guiding a founder who’s in the trenches executing day-to-day, and be able to explain your thinking clearly so I can apply it properly.

A strong understanding of how TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook grow differently is important, as is the ability to analyse performance, test ideas, and refine strategy based on what the data is actually saying. Experience with startups, education, or product-led brands is a big plus. If you also have experience with email marketing — especially turning social traffic into email or waitlist sign-ups, structuring simple funnels, or supporting launches — that’s a huge bonus.

What You’ll Be Responsible For

You’ll be responsible for helping design and shape the overall social media marketing strategy for SmartSpec, with clear, platform-specific approaches for TikTok, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook. The focus is on building reach, trust, and credibility in a way that compounds over time and supports real demand.

You’ll advise on content themes, formats, hooks, messaging angles, and narratives, as well as posting cadence and growth loops. A key part of the role is helping me map a clear path from content to followers and ultimately to email or waitlist sign-ups, so social media isn’t just attention, but a real growth channel.

You’ll also help review performance and give honest guidance on what’s working, what isn’t, and where to double down or cut. If you have the experience, you may also support the email side of things, including lead capture from social, basic funnel structure, and launch or demand-building sequences.