I just saw a company hiring for a Social Media Manager/ Marketing Specialist and here’s why I want to throw my computer out the window… A Social Media Manager has enough on their plate to fill 40+ hours a week (easily). A Marketing Specialist has enough on their plate to fill 40+ hours a week (easily). How?…Because they’re two completely different jobs. The Social Media Manager title is enough. The Marketing Specialist title is enough. Gone are the days where Social Media professionals are interns that you are throwing 30 other things at. It’s now a discipline. If you want the best results from your social media efforts and your other marketing efforts, it’s best to hire separate positions. But what if you’re a small company that can’t afford to hire both? My answer is to be honest. List something as a Marketing Specialist and include all of your social media responsibilities in the listing. Be up front and trustworthy and you’ll get the same in return. I feel sorry for the new Social Media Manager/Marketing Specialist. Good luck with your “40” hours a week…and Godspeed.
I’m so glad to see more of these kinds of posts to educate employers and get people talking about this! Companies have no idea the amount of time that goes into a social media role and then have the audacity to not pay fairly AND add on 2nd and sometimes 3rd job responsibilities. It’s ridiculous - every social media professional already essentially works around the clock and is “always on” so to be blatantly disrespected and taken advantage of is absolutely ridiculous. I was at a company doing 3 people’s roles - Senior Social Media Manager, Influencer Marketing Manager, AND Paid Ad Manager/Affiiliate and wasn’t even making six figures….cherry on top, when I actually spoke up to my manager (out of pure frustration and being overwhelmed), they let me go the next day. No discussion, not even a warning…keep in mind I drove significant bottom line via influencer campaigns as well and all I received was 3 months severance with the stipulation that I had to sign some kind of contract that seemingly helped me by neither of us being able to technically say I was fired, but then later found out was simply to protect them legally so I didn’t sue. There are VERY shady companies that act unethically and borderline illegally. Not ok…
Let’s be REALLY honest about this though … a basic social media specialist working on one brand / account doesnt even come close to 40 hours a week. This is why it makes more sense to hire a freelancer. I’ve done both.
Thank you David Loughney for bringing this up. It has been 2 years I have been trying to get a job in PPC and I get rejected since I do not have experience in SEO/ Email marketing/SMM/Graphic designs etc. After so many rejections one can easily start doubting there capabilities. I get so many suggestions to lie on my resume in order to land this job but it is unethical on so many levels. Companies should definitely look into this.
As a freelance social media manager, I couldn’t agree more! Social media management isn’t just posting-it’s graphics, engagement, analytics, and more. It’s already a full-time job on its own. Expecting one person to manage both social media and broader marketing is unrealistic. Companies that truly value social media as a discipline will always see better results. I feel for the new Social Media Manager/Marketing Specialist-that’s a lot to juggle.
Also the job descriptions that ask you for graphic design experience, social experience, content writing experience and seo experience like that isn't 4 different jobs.
Job market is crazy
Hopefully they clarify that in the interview process? I do think *some* grace can be given to small businesses/individuals because they are essentially doing it all at the beginning.
It saddens me that people think social media is just something an intern can do but what happens to your social media when your intern leaves
You have said it all. I hope the hiring managers and businesses learn from this.
SEO Content Strategist (Empower Businesses with Holistic Website Development, Optimization, and Advertising)
3dHonestly, it's not easy to handle social media and marketing in just one day, or even in a whole 40-hour week. You're basically spending 4 hours on social media and another 4 hours on marketing each day. Just researching for marketing can take up 1 to 2 hours, and then you have to create the content and optimize it, which takes up another half of that time or more. Now, if you stop halfway through the day and switch to social media tasks, you're going to lose some quality because you're just going to submit whatever marketing content you came up with 4 hours ago. It feels like you're rushing through it without being able to refine it as much as you'd like. Sure there's AI to help but it still defeat the purpose that you're spending half and half on each different skills and tasks. That's how you failed, wasted time creating content that are not that good with enough time to refine it for the best quality and lose money because of the wasted resources. Now who's to blame for all this? You know who.