Signing up for a career in social media

Social media experts and consultants abound online.  Some say there are more people in the field than companies to hire them, but the reality is self-publishing and blogging make it seem like there are too many experts out there.  Since new companies are starting to embrace and employ a new type of digital marketing, the need for social media workers is bigger than ever.  So if you’re interested in signing up for a career in social media and are serious about it, then go for it.

Although a PHD isn’t required, a career in social media goes well beyond getting paid to play on Facebook all day, avidly tweeting and giving inspirational presentations around the world.  Down the bottom of the chain is a community manager.  This role involves spam management on company blogs and forums, writing SEO online content and selling ads.  A little further up is a social media strategist who develops engaging social media strategies for clients of the agency you work in-house with.  Their role is based around building a company’s online presence and building a larger audience of followers.

Social media consultants, managers and directors are also lucrative jobs which have emerged.  The roles suit people who are very social media savvy, competent at evaluating options and can efficiently customise and manage social media plans for individual businesses.

Social media jobs are often filled by recent university graduates.  That doesn’t mean they’re not accessible if you’ve already established yourself in the workforce.  Having a background in copywriting or journalism, marketing and computer technology will make it much easier to score a career in a web 2.0 job.  And the pay is great, too.  According to Simply Hired, the average salary for a social media job is $55,000.