Grow your career as a Social Media Manager
Fifteen or so years ago, who would have thought that social media marketing would be valuable to businesses across all industries? Or that entire careers would revolve around social media?
Social media management is thriving as a career choice, and the growth opportunities are seemingly limitless. With the growing importance of organic and paid marketing on social channels like Facebook and Instagram, careers like social media management will be sticking around for a while.
Curious to learn what working as a social media manager is like, and what the growth opportunities are in the industry? Keep reading.
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What Are the Career Opportunities in Social Media Management?
Social media careers are booming. As mentioned, brands and businesses in all industries are using social media channels, including Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram, to connect with their audience and to build strong communities and connections. Brands that aren’t using social media outlets are missing out massively.
As a result, the opportunities surrounding social media are growing and expanding at an impressive rate. Whether you’d like to work in the fashion industry or architecture, there are social media roles available for all kinds of business.
So, what exactly does a social media manager do?
Social media managers handle a brand’s social accounts. They manage everything from scheduling posts, running online campaigns, and monitoring reports. A social media manager is often given to someone working for a company internally, but many agencies handle various client accounts.
Photo credit: Austin Distel
What Do Social Media Managers Earn?
Social media managers will be in demand, no matter what the economic landscape is. Social media manager roles can come with excellent salaries to entice qualified applicants to the industry.
Salaries depend on various factors. For example:
.
- The specific position
- Location
- Industry
- Experience
If you’re at the top of your team as a social media manager working for a major company, or you run a successful social media agency, of course, you’ll naturally be making more than an entry-level social media manager.
No matter where you are in your social media management journey, the salary is a good one. The average social media manager’s salary is $50,952. Generally, social media manager salaries range from $35,000 to $78,000, depending on the factors listed above.
This is a wide range, but there is plenty of growth potential to increase your salary from a social media manager role.
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Growth Opportunities in Social Media Management
If you’re searching for jobs, entering the phase ‘social media manager’ will display plenty of listings that match your skillset. As social media marketing roles vary, there’s often a large pool of jobs to apply to.
You’ll notice some more specific roles crop up again and again, though. These are the roles that may need more specialized skills but will allow you to grow in your career and earn more money. You may notice that many of these positions have a large overlap of skillsets and tasks. However, the distinctions are subtle, and many businesses using the terms may be seeking similar qualities, skills, and responsibilities depending on their needs.
Let’s go through some of the roles you can grow into.
Social Media Strategist (Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram)
Companies looking for a social media strategist seek someone who can help develop and implement innovative strategies and campaigns to boost or maintain their social media channels.
Social media strategists may be responsible for suggesting ideas like branded hashtags or a story campaign to generate awareness and interest. Depending on the brand, strategists may head their department, but usually, they report to someone else.
Community Manager
Community managers are often hired to establish and grow a community. These communities can be online and offline.
A community manager for a local swimming pool, for example, might come up with ideas to welcome more customers. On social media, they may foster groups on social media outlets like Facebook by providing relevant advice and tips on swimming and health.
Social Media Consultant (Facebook, Linkedin, Instagram)
Social media consultants are usually freelancers or employees of marketing agencies. Often, they offer consultations around social media marketing and strategy.
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Social media consultants may or may not be hired by brands on an on-going basis. They’ll spend a lot of time pitching and working with clients who are brand new to social media marketing, or those who want to boost their strategy.
Brand Manager
Brand managers often have responsibilities inside and outside of social media marketing. They often work with other marketers to define or improve a brand. Brand managing may include website management, email campaigns, and, of course, social media marketing. Brand managers usually play a heavy hand in strategy, but the main focus is on creating and maintaining a brand that people love.
Digital Marketing Specialist
A digital marketing specialist can include many responsibilities, including social media marketing. Digital marketing specialists often plan and implement various campaigns at once, including across PPC, email, website, social media, and content.
Chief Marketing Officer
For the big bucks, a social media manager can rise to become a chief marketing officer. These roles are highly regarded and can be challenging to reach. You’ll often need lots of experience in the industry.
In most chief marketing officer roles, you won’t just be overseeing social media work. You’ll have to direct how the whole puzzle works together, organizing SEO, PPC, email marketing, content marketing, and more. For large brands, you may oversee teams within each realm of marketing.
Social media will remain an essential aspect of the role, but you’ll likely be giving social media work and duties to other people in the team.
Photo credit: Austin Distel
