You’re scrolling through Facebook, Instagram, Twitter or any other social media site. You keep seeing brands. You see interesting products and services you never knew you needed. You stop to think about it and notice you’re seeing more and more of them.
Everywhere.
Social media has become an important tool for companies over the past few years. Every organization is on social media platforms because, well, billions of people are.
Every day.
In fact, Statista reports that there will be an estimated 3.09 billion social media users in 2021. Up from 0.97 billion in 2010. With each internet user having an average of 8.5 social media accounts in 2018.
It’s perfect for companies to promote their brands, products, and services.
You wonder how all this content gets posted. You wonder who does it.
In steps Social media management.
This is an integral business function today. Organizations are looking for the best ways to reach the most people who will engage with them. So they hire people to do it for them.
Many people tend to think of jobs in this field as all about posting content. Or becoming famous ‘influencers’. But there’s so much more to working in social media management.
As its importance has grown, so has its variety and complexity of jobs. Organizations now have entire teams of experts. Each completing different tasks, with different responsibilities and skills.
The increased importance has also led to significant salaries. PayScale estimates that the average salary in social media management is $50,040 per year. This varies depending on specific roles, levels of work and organizations.
What you’re interested in now is learning all about the different jobs. Which ones suit you, which skills you need, how much you can earn, and how to get them.
After all, you like the idea of working from home and you spend lots of time on social media already. Why wouldn’t you want to make a living from your time and know-how?
Here are three interesting jobs for you to consider.
Manage Social Media Content
A content manager handles the content published on websites and social media pages. It’s their role to make sure that all the content remains informative and engaging. The organization’s pages must represent what it stands for.
They use tools like content management software (CMS) to create and manage content. They do this by researching, writing, editing and proofreading content before posting it.
A content manager’s general duties include:
- Overseeing all content on an organization’s website and social media
- Creating entertaining and appealing content
- Updating the information on the website and organization pages
- Coming up with a content strategy with the marketing team
- Planning a schedule for publishing content
- Ensuring content is search engine optimized (SEO) to generate organic traffic
- Remaining aware of the latest changes and trends in social media
Good content managers have:
- A degree in a related field (Communications, Journalism, Marketing, Public Relations)
- Excellent writing and communication skills
- A lot of creativity to grab the reader’s attention and keep it
- Knowledge of the industry the organization is in
- Knowledge and experience with social media platforms for eCommerce purposes
- Knowledge of SEO and CMSs
- Ability to multitask on different content
The average salary for a content manager in the U.S. is $47,876 according to PayScale.
At an entry-level, you won’t get hired to manage content for big organizations, making the big bucks. But you can start with smaller organizations and work your way up.
The best way to start is by creating content for an industry you know a lot about. One you can write about on a regular basis. Create a blog and social media pages. Use a CMS like WordPress.
This will allow you to build a portfolio of your work to showcase to organizations. Your online content can also captivate readers who turn out to be clients. Clients who would approach you to manage content for them.
Resolve Customer Issues
Customers who’ve interacted with a company’s product/service want to leave feedback. Or, in some cases, complaints.
This is where customer service representatives come in. They deal with customers through chat boxes and emails. They handle inquiries, comments, complaints, and assist customers.
Unlike content managers who ‘speak’, representatives are there to first ‘listen’.
They are vital to an organization’s continued success. If you can keep customers happy, they’ll likely keep using your products or services. They might even recommend them to their friends.
Customer service representatives are in a make-or-break position.
Have you ever had a complaint about a service and you let the company know through their pages? Was your complaint dealt with the wrong way or, even worse, not addressed at all?
Yeah, that’s terrible customer service. Most of us have experienced this at least once. And this is definitely not the kind of service you want to provide if you’re in this role.
No, a good customer service representative should:
- Communicate with customers in a professional and positive manner
- Provide the information customers need
- Resolve issues customers face
- Take orders or cancel them according to a customer’s wishes
- Link customers to the right organization department depending on the issue
- Handle billing, payments and deposits
- Help with product exchanges, refunds or billing adjustments
Though it’s an important role, the skills and qualifications needed aren’t too strict:
- At least a high school diploma
- Computer skills
- Excellent people skills when dealing with customers
- Ability to remain calm in stressful situations with complaining customers
- Problem-solving skills
- Positive energy
According to the Salary.com website, salaries for this job range between $31,259 and $40,605.
With no higher education and little to no experience needed, this job is accessible to many. You have to be great with people.
You can apply to companies and start in an entry-level position.
Manage Brands on Social Media
The specialist recruitment agency Robert Walters has a simple definition of brand management. It describes brand managers as “responsible for adapting a brand strategy.”
“Brand managers maintain brand integrity across all company marketing initiatives and communications and may manage a portfolio of products.” – Robert Walters
Brand managers know their client’s audience and market insights. They use their knowledge to make a client’s brand synonymous with quality standards.
They are crucial to the success of a business.
Brand managers achieve their goals by:
- Planning and developing marketing campaigns to improve brand performance
- Outperforming competitors
- Conducting market research
- Analyzing market data and the success of marketing campaigns
- Leading a client’s marketing team
- Communicating a brand’s personality both within an organization and to the public
Brand managers need:
- Great creativity, which can be the difference between great branding and bad branding
- Knowledge of the latest trends and industry changes
- Focus and conviction in their execution of strategies
- Accountability for the success or failure of a brand
- Research skills
- Analytical skills to study research results
- Brand awareness
- At least a degree in Advertising, Business, or a related field
According to PayScale, brand managers earn an average of $49,910 per year.
Again, the best initiative is to start with yourself. Work on your personal brand and get noticed. Show clients that you can maintain brand identity in all your social media activity.
You can also look for startups or small businesses and offer your services at entry-level.
Now that you know about some great jobs in the social media field, it’s important to know where to find them. There are many job boards to find remote entry-level jobs. You need to identify which one suits you.
Learn which one is best for you by reading this complete list of online job boards today.
Photo by freepik / CC BY
