What if you could get paid for all that time you spend on your favorite social media sites? Liking, pinning, tweeting, blogging, endorsing and those seemingly endless other platforms for connecting online are venues for companies to reach their consumers and they’re hiring people to help them do it.
But it’s not as simple as knowing how the platforms work and spending tons of time online, says Mark Renn, CEO of The CS Team, a Denver career management firm.
“They really need to understand social media inside and out,” he said. “They also need to understand what the business is. For example, restaurants are going to have a totally different approach than would a construction contractor. They need to understand what the true needs would be of the business and what they need to do to help them accomplish their objectives.”
Because it’s an emerging career field, there are a lot of social media management companies popping up promising big returns to clients, Renn said. If this is a career path you want to follow, make sure you get started with a reputable organization, he said.
“It’s hard to differentiate the good and the bad companies,” he said. “There are a bunch of companies running around trying to sell social media maximization. You have to be very careful about which ones you go to.”
Renn says he gets about five emails a day from companies – mostly from out of state – promising unrealistic growth or accomplishments with social media reach. Those companies come and go, and they can damage your reputation and career progress, he said.
“[Individuals considering this career] really need to make sure they do their homework and don’t get caught in a bad situation,” Renn said. “Not all these companies are what they’re saying they are. The ones that are the most legitimate specialize in it and work in a local market.”
Just as the needs of a client vary by industry, geographic location also affects how a company connects with its clientele, Renn said.
“That gets into really knowing what the audience is and where it is,” he said. “I don't think most of these companies have done the kind of research they need to do to understand the market well.”
Renn considers social media management to be a PR position, which requires strong writing, excellent grammar and marketing skills. Pay varies; according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the median annual wage of public relations specialists is $52,090 with the lowest 10 percent of professionals earning less than $30,560, and the top 10 percent earned more than $95,200.
Social media manager jobs often require a wide range of skills: manage the website, manage all social media accounts, stay abreast of emerging platforms and present a brand or image that fits with the company at large, Renn said.
With new platforms emerging almost daily, you also need to be a quick study of new trends, Renn said.
And managing social media can feel like a round the clock gig. Twitter doesn’t shut down at 5 p.m. on Friday.
