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Search “social media manager” on LinkedIn’s job board and these are just some of the role responsibilities you’ll find:
Run all social accounts for organic and paid initiatives (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube) including creating, scheduling and publishing content to engage and delight our audience. Produce dynamic video and graphic content as well as writing engaging posts and curating YouTube channel content. Develop “in the moment” content (i.e. cover social live for special events, photo shoots, etc.) to complement pre-planned content. Devise, communicate and implement a comprehensive influencer and social marketing strategy, including KPIs, budget and calendar. Support digital marketing efforts by developing content for web, email, newsletters and other communications as needed.
Dig even deeper and you’ll find that many of these jobs (with a manager title, remember) require just two to three years of experience and come with salaries as low as $20 per hour.
Social media managers have been overworked and underpaid since the job came into being. Why are social media managers finally speaking up? Because the same industry that celebrates raw, honest, often unhinged social media content is the one that’s exploiting the employees in charge of that content.
A breaking point
I know what you’re thinking. Any industry has jobs that overwork, underpay and are targeted towards early-industry professionals looking to make their big break. So, why should social media managers be treated any differently?
Look to the NBA’s recent mishap of a previous employee’s post on the company’s Facebook page (with 40M followers) to understand why.
In the post, a previous employee took to the company’s platform to explain the unrealistic expectations and exhausting working conditions of being part of the social media team: working 14-hour shifts, having to wait 90 days to get health insurance coverage and dealing with negative mental health side effects. To anyone who’s worked in social media, this story isn’t shocking at all. However, the actions taken by the individual sent shockwaves across industries.
What’s even overlooked in the NBA ex-SMM’s rogue post is that the multibillion dollar organization has a team of social media professionals. In many rooms, social media management is simply another task added to the list of a marketing coordinator’s responsibilities. Consider yourself “lucky” if your job is only social media and influencer management.
