How To Become A Social Media Content Manager: What It Is and Career Path

What is a social media content manager and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted expert

Brock Zehr

In today's world, social media marketing plays a critical role in almost every business. It helps businesses connect and engage with users while boosting interest in their products or services. Social media content managers help promote the company's online presence by using targeted techniques to drive engagement, build an audience, and increase web traffic.

Social media content managers are typically responsible for formulating social media market strategies for a particular business. They organize and publish content on social media platforms, such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Youtube, etc. They also develop brand identity and online reputation for the business by overseeing content management, implementing search engine optimization (SEO), and managing core activity on social media channels.

This role requires extensive knowledge of a variety of social media platforms and strong SEO skills. A Bachelor's degree in marketing, communications, public relations, business, or journalism can be particularly helpful for those choosing to pursue this career path. However, some employers put more weight on proven experience in social media engagement and management. Creating a portfolio of social media accounts to showcase your work may help you land a job in this field.

What general advice would you give to a social media content manager?

Brock Zehr

Associate Professor of Business & Economics and MBA Director, Huntington University

Social media content development, data analytics, and quality video content generation will all be in greater demand. Employers tell me that the "soft skills" of being a team player, excellent communication skills, integrity, and a strong work ethic are still valued skills.

ScoreSocial Media Content ManagerUS Average

Salary

4.2

Avg. Salary $54,354

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

7.5

Growth rate 10%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

3.1

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.23%

Asian 8.15%

Black or African American 3.04%

Hispanic or Latino 8.67%

Unknown 5.32%

White 74.58%

Gender

female 60.89%

male 39.11%

Age - 38

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 38

Stress level

7.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

9.0

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance

3.5

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a social media content manager

Explore social media content manager education requirements

Most common social media content manager degrees

Bachelor's

80.1 %

Master's

9.9 %

Associate

7.2 %

Start to develop specific social media content manager skills

Skills	Percentages
Social Media Marketing	10.24%
Digital Marketing	6.99%
Instagram	5.15%
Facebook	5.04%
Twitter	4.28%

Complete relevant social media content manager training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New social media content managers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a social media content manager based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real social media content manager resumes.

Research social media content manager duties and responsibilities

Manage social media campaigns that increase ROI, build brand advocates.
Achieve a following of over 10k on official Instagram profile within 3 months of management3.
Manage and build online social platforms (SoundCloud, YouTube, Spotify, etc . )
Perform administrative duties including ordering photography supplies, managing expenses bookkeeping, updating photography inventory and archives.

Prepare your social media content manager resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your social media content manager resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on a social media content manager resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose from 10+ customizable social media content manager resume templates

Build a professional social media content manager resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your social media content manager resume.

Apply for social media content manager jobs

Now it's time to start searching for a social media content manager job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

How do social media content managers rate their job?

-/5

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Social media content manager reviews

A zippia user wrote a review on May 2019

Pros

I love content and marketing overall. As a former journalist turned marketer, I love connecting with audiences and catering to what their interests may be, whether they know it or not yet. As a content director, I get involved in various departments like business development, finance, presidental level and others. Normally, most expect to only be involved in marketing efforts, but that simply isn't true.

Cons

I do think that depending on where you are employed some companies are not accustomed as to how involved a content department should be. Oftentimes it's either completely dead or pure chaos with workload. I think content director should be given larger authorities, teams and say regarding strategy. Oftentimes, they are overlooked due to old-school employees assuming they're glorified proofreaders or the grammar people.