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Social media editor vs content writer

The differences between social media editors and content writers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 2-4 years to become a social media editor, becoming a content writer takes usually requires 1-2 years. Additionally, a content writer has an average salary of $58,918, which is higher than the $53,943 average annual salary of a social media editor.

The top three skills for a social media editor include instagram, facebook and twitter. The most important skills for a content writer are digital marketing, wordpress, and web content.

Social media editor vs content writer overview

Social Media EditorContent Writer
Yearly salary$53,943$58,918
Hourly rate$25.93$28.33
Growth rate-5%4%
Number of jobs37,76919,621
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age4442
Years of experience42

What does a social media editor do?

A social media editor is in charge of handling and maintaining the social media platforms of a company or brand, ensuring to produce and develop engaging content for a target audience. Their responsibilities often revolve around editing relevant content for posting, engaging with clients professionally and promptly, and addressing issues and concerns, resolving them according to a set of given responses. One must also coordinate with graphic designers and other writers, devise strategies to identify marketing opportunities, develop online campaigns, and keep abreast of the latest trends.

What does a content writer do?

The job of content writers is to create the best possible written or visual content ranging from blog posts to press releases. They produce the content for various types of websites, including social networks, news aggregators, and e-commerce sites. The job of content writers is not limited to writing, but also ensuring that the content connects or is relevant to the website pages. They are expected to set the tone of the website and revise the content upon customers' or clients' requests. They are also responsible for assisting in the creation of style guides.

Social media editor vs content writer salary

Social media editors and content writers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Social Media EditorContent Writer
Average salary$53,943$58,918
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $72,000Between $40,000 And $84,000
Highest paying CityStamford, CTSan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateHawaiiCalifornia
Best paying companyRE/MAX Realty OneCisco
Best paying industryTechnologyFinance

Differences between social media editor and content writer education

There are a few differences between a social media editor and a content writer in terms of educational background:

Social Media EditorContent Writer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common majorCommunicationEnglish
Most common collegeStanford UniversityMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Social media editor vs content writer demographics

Here are the differences between social media editors' and content writers' demographics:

Social Media EditorContent Writer
Average age4442
Gender ratioMale, 41.2% Female, 58.8%Male, 39.8% Female, 60.2%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 3.5% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 7.0% White, 76.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3%Black or African American, 6.0% Unknown, 5.6% Hispanic or Latino, 7.8% Asian, 5.0% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage12%16%

Differences between social media editor and content writer duties and responsibilities

Social media editor example responsibilities.

  • Manage editorial department by editing and publishing daily content for website and daily e-newsletter.
  • Improve the aesthetic look of the organization's twitter profile.
  • Involve proofreading, basic HTML coding and working on tight deadlines.
  • Take photos of dishes and post them on the restaurant's Instagram account.
  • Provide reports and metrics for social media, including SEO impact and consumer growth.
  • Advise other departments on how to improve the SEO and social sharing for their content.
  • Show more

Content writer example responsibilities.

  • Implement and manage Salesforce and Marketo for client to establish lead nurturing campaigns.
  • Maintain guest blogging strategy and policies to achieve a consistently diverse authorship and to grow readership.
  • Manage the editorial production of the pamphlets, brochures and graphic material to target worldwide audiences including china.
  • Manage proposal process from RFP (request for proposal) receipt to writing and editing various contributions to final RFP submission.
  • Collaborate with overseas team and manage documents using SharePoint to conceptualize and generate new marketing content.
  • Produce a wide array of literature ranging from poetry to short stories.
  • Show more

Social media editor vs content writer skills

Common social media editor skills
  • Instagram, 12%
  • Facebook, 11%
  • Twitter, 10%
  • Social Platforms, 8%
  • Social Content, 4%
  • Video Content, 4%
Common content writer skills
  • Digital Marketing, 10%
  • WordPress, 9%
  • Web Content, 6%
  • Blog Posts, 6%
  • Digital Content, 3%
  • Content Marketing, 3%

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