Social media has become a necessity for everyday life, and a necessity for brands to utilize – or at least understand.
Brands are always looking for new ways to engage with customers, and social content is as engaging as it gets. From “liking” a photo to leaving a comment on a video, social platforms encourage users to literally engage with content.
Your parents already joke that you’re on social enough for it to be a full-time job, so why not make it a viable career? Social media is more than just choosing selfie-enhancing filters and using searchable hashtags. It involves strategy, analytics, creative output and some serious PR skills. Make all the jokes you want, mom, but it’s a serious (and seriously fun) career.
Here are some social-centric positions you’ll find in agencies and in-house departments:
Content Manager
It’s in the name. A content manager oversees the content (pictures, videos, etc.) that are uploaded on social media channels and sometimes cross-posted on websites and blogs. A content manager is not usually responsible for creating content, but instead is in charge of uploading content and ensuring the profiles they manage are fresh, on brand, relevant and up to date.
Community and Media Manager
Community managers represent the brand through their social channels. They are responsible for engaging and responding to comments and messages their managed accounts receive. This can be a fun and fulfilling job when making connections with fans and consumers, but also requires a great deal of patience (and creativity!) to deal with trolls and negative comments. Brands like Wendy’s and Popeyes have turned community management into an art form.
Social Media Analyst
A social media analyst examines user engagement (‘likes’ and comments), identifies user habits and suggests ways to reach a broader audience. Their analysis of most engaging posts helps content creators ideate posts that are likely to perform well, based on past results. Understanding SEO, keyword research and Google analytics helps the social media analyst best report on engagement.
Social Copywriter
Writing copy for social media requires an understanding of brand-tone and platform-tone. Brand-tone is how the brand communicates across all media – is your brand a funny candy company or a serious, emergency hospital? Platform-tone is the tone of posts expected on that social media platform – Twitter lends itself to pithy one-liners, but it’s not unusual for Instagram posts to feel more aspirational.
Social Designer
A designer who specializes in social media is an essential part of the social team. Social media designers have to know what formats and sizes work best across social media platforms. There are also specific design rules around each media such as Facebook’s rules about the amount of text allowed on a promoted image.