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Writer's pictureTrinity Wagner

5 Career Paths for Social Media Marketers

Updated: Mar 21, 2022

Information in this blog post was obtained from the Sprout Blog, HubSpot Blog, and Hootsuite Blog.

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According to the Hootsuite Blog, LinkedIn in 2017 listed more than 90,000 social media job openings worldwide. Today, that number has increased to over 2 million positions. So if I did the math correctly, the number of jobs in social media has increased 22x from 2017 to 2022. It is no lie that careers in social media continue to grow as our world becomes more heavily reliant on the digital universe (Hootsuite Blog).


Have you considered a career in social media? Well, I have good news for you! Several different marketing roles involve managing a company's social media presence. I have simplified the number of job titles and highlighted five different career paths a social media marketer could pursue:


  1. Content Creator

  2. Creative Director

  3. Social Media Coordinator

  4. Digital Marketing Manager

  5. SEO Strategist


Marketing Positions and Their Duties


1. Content Creator

Becoming a content creator takes someone who can creatively educate the public through multiple channels. Projects could include content curation for articles, digital marketing, newsletters, social media posts, and more.


Responsibilities:

  • Write, edit, and publish materials for everything promotional, websites, blogs, and more

  • Work closely with different departments to produce content that aligns with the company's strategic goals

  • Maintain a content calendar to plan future content

  • Ability to organize daily, weekly, and monthly reports covering marketing analytics

  • Curate content for the different buyer personas and buyer life cycle


2. Creative Director

Do you have a passion for both sales and design? The creative director role may be the perfect fit for you. You will manage a creative team of professionals as well as serve as the liaison between the marketing and creative department. This position requires years of industry experience.


Responsibilities:

  • Oversee creative decisions including budget management, organizing team meetings, and team motivation

  • Developing new ideas for ad campaigns, messaging, and branding.

  • Integrate design and content to promote brand consistency across all marketing mediums


3. Social Media Coordinator

Be in charge of the online identity of a brand. Your primary duty is to manage a company's presence on all social media platforms. Responsibilities can range from content creation to engagement with the online community.


Responsibilities:

  • Manage and monitor social media accounts including but not limited to Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn

  • Assist in the creation of all forms of content: photography, video, or written

  • Interact with followers' messages, questions, and comments

  • Stay up to date with social media trends and incorporate those into the social media marketing strategy


4. Digital Marketing Manager

Digital marketing shifts its focus more onto the sales side and organic marketing. A digital marketer should have experience with paid ads on social media, search ads, display ads, SEO, and more.


Responsibilities:

  • Create lead generation ads to drive traffic to the website and gain potential new customers

  • Manage different marketing budgets for all departments on the paid ads

  • Coordinate copy and design of advertisements and receive approval from the department

  • Define marketing objective, track data and analytics, optimize, and report final results

5. SEO Strategist

One of the most important marketing roles is a search engine optimization expert. These marketing professionals know the ins and outs on how to get content to rank high on search engines like Google, Bing, and Yahoo!


Responsibilities:

  • Optimize copy and website pages for search engine optimization

  • Research and implement keyword research for organic SEO success

  • Develop strategies to improve page ranking factors utilizing SEO research programs

  • Experience with SEO tools (Google Analytics, Search Console, Brightedge, SEMrush, etc.)


You have now learned that there are several different avenues a marketing professional can choose for their career. Social media is a growing field and will continually grow in the next ten years. Online media consumption is at an all-time high and does not plan to stop.


male using iphone
Image Courtesy of WIX Images

Catch an employer's eyes by establishing your presence on social media (and be sure you are showcased in a professional, positive light). Next, take advantage of the free online social media courses offered by Hootsuite Academy or HubSpot Academy. Users can also achieve official certifications that can be added to their resumes from these courses.


Finally, I will leave you with this quote:


"The only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking."


- Steve Jobs


Resources

Becker, Braden. "15 Marketing Job Titles + The Roles That Leaders Plan To Invest In Next Year." HubSpot Blog, 27 Dec. 2021, https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/marketing-job-titles-and-skillsets.


Johnston, Alicia. "What's next? 8 career paths for social media managers." Sprout Blog, 14 Jan. 2020, https://sproutsocial.com/insights/social-media-careers/.


Newberry, Christina. "Land Your Dream Job in Social Media: Resume Template, Tips, Resources." Hootsuite Blog, 17 July, 2017, https://blog.hootsuite.com/how-to-get-a-job-in-social-media/.

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