Social-media job listings on employment sites are growing at over 1,300 percent per annum.
Andres Kaplan and Michael Haenlein, authors of “Users of the world, unite! The challenges and opportunities of social media,” featured in Business Horizons, define social media as “a group of Internet-based applications that build on the ideological and technological foundations of Web 2.0 and that allow the creation and exchange of user-generated content.”
Shel Holtz of socialmediatoday.com said experts’ different approaches to social media suggest few have agreed on a single definition.
Danielle Galarneau, corporate marketing communications associate of Simply Hired, Inc., believes companies are embracing social media because they are seeing that these tools work, thus increasing the number of job listings.
“Companies are witnessing the high adoption rate of social media among users and even other companies,” Galarneau said. “These tools are not going away, so companies are realizing that they need to implement social media in their businesses. Leveraging social media for customer service, marketing, recruiting and other areas has proven to be highly effective.”
According to Simply Hired, Inc. social media jobs have an average salary of $93,000 and have increased by 627 percent since August 2008.
This salary estimate is calculated from jobs that contain salary data and match the term “social media.” Salaries are not based on employer survey data and may vary from the actual salary for a specific position.
To break into the social media job market it is important to have a background with social media jobs marketing, along with a degree in marketing, communications or English, strong writing skills, critical thinking and a know-how of analytics tools, Galarneau said.
“A passion for social media tools is a must,” Galarneau said. “Employers will look for someone who is always on top of the latest trends and dying to learn more.”
Galarneau said internships are a great way to get your foot in the door.
“Many of these social media jobs will be in marketing departments, so make sure you are searching for accurate titles,” Galarneau said. “Looking for a general internship or entry level job in a marketing department can also lead you into the direction of working more heavily with social media. Once you’re in the department, let everyone know how much you know and care about social media, and hopefully you’ll be given the opportunity to prove your talent.”
The Davis Downtown Business Association has over 1,800 fans on Facebook and a Twitter account.
Joy Cohan, director of the Davis Downtown Business Association, said social media is an integral part of the group’s marketing scheme.
“It’s difficult to gauge how these sites affect our business,” Cohan said. “But businesses have told us that they get feedback from customers saying they came to different events because they saw one of our status updates on Facebook.”
Some local organizations are just starting to utilize these social media sites to connect with the public.
Citizens Who Care, a Davis group that provides social support services to older adults and their family caregivers, currently uses VolunterMatch.org to coordinate volunteers. The group’s director of volunteers, Ellie Slaven, said the group is about to start utilizing Facebook.
“Younger people are using Facebook so much and a posting on the site can make you much more aware of events,” Slaven said. “We already have a system for finding volunteers, but expanding the number of online social networks we have will get people to come to fundraisers.”
ANGELA SWARTZ can be reached city@theaggie.org.
