While some might scoff at the notion, social media has, in fact, become a legitimate career. The term “social media” carries an unjustified negative connotation, which is a shame, because it is discouraging a lot of talent from entering a job market that is full of emerging opportunities.
Advertising
Social media might not be sustainable as a field itself, but it plays a huge role in a wide array of fields in today’s technological age, the most notable being advertising.
Advertising via social media is much more personal than traditional modes of advertisement. Today’s consumer takes television commercials with a grain of salt, but a company with a strong social media presence is able to reach out to their customers in a way that is not otherwise possible.
Customer Service
Speaking of reaching out, many companies have started to realize how effective social media can be for customer service. Communication is vital for every company, and customers want to feel like they are dealing with someone who cares. Automated responses and mass emails are not the way to go. Having a social media expert on hand is.
Date and Content
A company can use social media to harness valuable data about its customers and the market. Of course, all of this data needs to be taken into context, so it helps to have an expert who understands what the numbers mean on hand.
Similarly, as useful as social media can be for engaging customers, this only works if the company has someone who knows how to create engaging, useful, and personal content.
As with any other field, a successful career in social media is all about marketing yourself. It is an extremely useful skill set to have, but you may have to show your potential employers that social media is about much more than taking pictures of your meals and making fun of your friends.
Read more at Forbes.
