It’s hard to deny social media’s impact on our daily lives. From being a mere source of entertainment and socialization, Social media has evolved into an all-in-one twenty-first-century marketing tool.
Now more than ever, social media has become almost impossible to do without. For this reason, many businesses have dedicated a portion of their marketing budget to reach a wider audience while building a strong online presence on their social media platforms.
Though saturated, the social media world is vast, and many companies are willing to pay highly for jobs in that sector. However, to position yourself for high-paying social media jobs, you should first understand what they are and the qualifications and skills you need to bag them.
What is a Social Media Job?
A social media job is any job that involves using social media platforms to achieve a brand’s marketing goals. These goals could be anything from increasing brand presence, improving brand reputation, or even increasing website traffic.
With many people hopping on the professional side of social media, it’s a no-brainer that lots of jobs have sprung from it. However, one thing these social media jobs have in common is utilizing social media platforms to carry out set goals and objectives.
What Skills Do You Need To Get A Social Media Job?
Contrary to what many think, not everyone who ventures into the social media field succeeds. While you might be able to bag a social media job easily, your skill and level of experience will determine if you can keep it and for how long.
Although various social media jobs come with their own skills and requirements, certain skills are common to most of them. Some of these skills are:
- Excellent Communication
If we’re being honest, being able to communicate effectively is a highly coveted skill in the social media job market. This communication skill encompasses writing clear and engaging content, listening, relating with colleagues, and observing and replying to comments.
- Creativity
There’s only so much content you can put out to keep your audience actively engaged. However, what sets your brand apart from that of your competitors is your level of creativity.
Taking on a creative approach in curating content makes your brand more relatable and intimately fosters brand engagement.
- Flexibility
The social media industry is fast-paced, with new trends and developments emerging on a daily basis. To keep your content fresh and relevant, you must be able to adapt to changes as they occur, and this requires a certain level of flexibility.
- Social Media Expertise
It’s nearly impossible to land and ultimately keep a social media job without understanding how the platforms work. To effectively use the available social media platforms to achieve your brand goals, you must have some level of social media expertise.
- Content Creation
They say everything is content but creating the kind of content that will produce great results for a brand is a skill you should possess if you want to last in the industry.
The scope of content creation is broad, and it involves providing useful information to your audience in the form of written content, audio, texts, or infographics.
5 High-Paying Social Media Jobs
With the seamless connection of various aspects of social media, it can get confusing to tell these social media jobs apart.
However, to make it easier for you to understand, we’ve compiled a list of social media job titles, their descriptions, and their average salaries.
Let’s dive in.
- Social Media Manager
Average annual salary: $54,327
The role of a social media manager in establishing a brand’s online presence cannot be overemphasized. As a social media manager, you are responsible for promoting a brand online via images, videos, infographics, and even text posts on social media platforms.
Though the responsibilities of social media managers vary in different companies, these are the most common ones:
- Create engaging content across social media channels.
- Develop and implement social media strategies and campaigns.
- Keep up with social media trends.
- Create, maintain and grow social media accounts.
- Define key performance indicators (KPIs) and key results indicators (KRAs) for social media campaigns.
- Monitor campaigns and trends using web analytical tools.
- Engage with customers and followers.
- Community Manager
Average annual salary: $51, 566
The roles of a social media manager and a community manager are so similar that they often need clarification. While they are both tasked with promoting the brand online, a community manager is all about interacting with the digital community. Especially in the crypto and blockchain industry, community managers play an integral role in managing online communities and furthering crypto adoption. Many crypto jobs are remote, so community managers can work from anywhere in the world.
Essentially, community managers develop the online community through activities like replying, engaging current community members, and creating strategies for developing the community.
- Social Media Strategist
Average annual salary: $51,176
These sets of people are regarded as social media experts. To be a successful social media strategist, you must have extensive experience creating engaging posts that produce results and analyzing current online presence to determine an effective course of action.
Amongst other things, the responsibilities of a social media strategist include the following:
- Develop a consistent social media content strategy that spans multiple platforms.
- Create original, high-quality content across multiple social media platforms.
- Analyze and identify areas of improvement.
- Stay current on trends in order to develop effective strategies.
- Content Manager
Average annual salary: $85, 005
Becoming a content manager requires more than just being able to create content. In addition, you must be well-versed in the brand’s vision and mission, as you will be expected to brainstorm and work hand in hand with the team to develop new ideas and content strategies.
Asides from these, you’ll be responsible for the following:
- Supervising and managing the content team.
- Promoting the brand’s goals through engaging and innovative content
- Working together with the creative team, designers, and campaign managers.
- Planning, creating, and supervising the content creation of all sales and marketing materials.
- Creative Director
Average annual salary: $92, 919
The job of a creative director entails guiding, directing, and approving all creative projects for marketing, graphic design, advertising, and other firms. The core duty of a creative director is to work closely alongside the designers, writers, and marketing associates to develop visuals that align with the company brand and mission.
Though the forms of creative director vary, certain responsibilities are common to most of them, and they include the following;
- Outstanding leadership, mentoring, and communication skills.
- Excellent knowledge of software development and how it relates to clients’ marketing needs.
- A strong understanding of brand development and multichannel marketing concepts.
All of these jobs can easily be learned, especially if you are an avid social media user, but you can also try different courses to elevate your knowledge, such as Social Rebel.
In Conclusion
Starting out in the social media scene requires patience, time, and hard work. But let’s face it, nothing good comes easy, and you’ll be better off if you enter the social media job market prepared.
Believe it or not, not every successful person in the industry today had everything figured out from the start. Building an online community takes time, as does being good enough at what you do to command a high price for it.
So what’s the secret? With the right skills, education, experience, and understanding of social media and all it entails, you’re on your way to becoming a pro in the social media job market.