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What is a social media representative and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025
3 min read
Quoted experts
Carolyn Dekker,
Dr. Tom Hallaq

Social media is a powerful marketing tool, which is why companies hire social media representatives to ensure that they do it right. A social media representative may either pose as themselves online or may work under the brand persona anonymously. Either way, their main job goals are to increase growth, maintain a good online reputation for the company, and produce valuable content.

The specific duties of a social media representative generally include creating content, scheduling posts, interacting with audiences, monitoring social media activity, and developing marketing strategies for social media. If they represent the company as themselves, they may also be responsible for creating content like vlogs, pictures, and articles.

There are no strict educational requirements to become a social media representative, but most employers prefer candidates that have a degree in marketing or communications. Experience with social media management is also a huge plus, and so is a big following on personal social media pages. The average salary for a social media representative is around $42,000 per year, with top earners taking home as much as $63,000 or more.

What general advice would you give to a social media representative?

Carolyn Dekker

Assistant Professor, English, Finlandia University

The Coronavirus pandemic is changing workplaces and job searches. Since many workplaces continue to operate remotely, students who wish to work in writing and communication roles while remaining in this small, rural community may find unique opportunities, thanks to the unhinging of work from geography.

Many of our recent English graduates want to become teachers. As school re-opening plans reveal themselves to be unsafe (mainly for teachers in at-risk age and health demographics), schools are anticipating a wave of teacher retirements and an elevated need for substitute teachers. Recent graduates may want to sit for teaching certification exams. Many states, including Michigan, have an alternate-route teaching certificate path that will issue a temporary certificate so that you can work as a teacher while pursuing a Master's in Education part-time.
ScoreSocial Media RepresentativeUS Average
Salary
4.1

Avg. Salary $52,252

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level
7.3

Growth rate 8%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity
6.6
Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.59%

Asian 5.30%

Black or African American 10.06%

Hispanic or Latino 11.95%

Unknown 5.09%

White 67.02%

Gender

female 60.58%

male 39.42%

Age - 40
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 - 40
Stress level
7.3

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level
8.8

Complexity level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work life balance
3.8

Work life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

Social media representative career paths

Key steps to become a social media representative

  1. Explore social media representative education requirements

    Most common social media representative degrees

    Bachelor's

    74.0 %

    Associate

    10.6 %

    High School Diploma

    6.5 %
  2. Start to develop specific social media representative skills

    SkillsPercentages
    Facebook19.97%
    Instagram18.39%
    Twitter17.90%
    Social Media Management7.22%
    Media Management7.09%
  3. Complete relevant social media representative training and internships

    Accountants spend an average of 1-3 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New social media representatives 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 representative based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real social media representative resumes.
  4. Research social media representative duties and responsibilities

    • Help manage the Concrete2Green official blog and create multimedia PowerPoint presentations for promotional purposes
    • Become familiar with the Facebook algorithm.
    • Provide local SEO, content marketing, and marketing consultations
    • Represent the LocalVox SEO, website design, and PPC products to the market.
  5. Prepare your social media representative resume

    When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your social media representative 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 representative 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 representative resume templates

    Build a professional social media representative 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 representative resume.
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
    Social Media Representative Resume
  6. Apply for social media representative jobs

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

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

How did you land your first social media representative job

Zippi

Are you a social media representative?

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Average social media representative salary

The average social media representative salary in the United States is $52,252 per year or $25 per hour. Social media representative salaries range between $34,000 and $78,000 per year.

Average social media representative salary
$52,252 Yearly
$25.12 hourly

What am I worth?

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How do social media representatives rate their job?

1/5

Based on 1 ratings

5 stars

4 stars

3 stars

2 stars

1 star

Social media representative reviews

profile
1.0
A zippia user wrote a review on Oct 2019
Pros

Content management.

Cons

I love my work. I don't love who I work for. They do not understand the steps involved in social media. And keep asking for analytics. I send them in a thoughtfully presented report. And they just don't get it. Sales thinks I jack around all day on social media. That is my job. Then there's the fact that I have to be paid to monitor the work and campaigns I shoot down the feeds. Ugh. Run for your life unless you work for a corporation.


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Updated January 8, 2025

Zippia Research Team
Zippia Team

Editorial Staff

The Zippia Research Team has spent countless hours reviewing resumes, job postings, and government data to determine what goes into getting a job in each phase of life. Professional writers and data scientists comprise the Zippia Research Team.

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