About half the people I talk to think social media is a dream job. Others openly express they’d rather spend their days scrubbing toilets.
Regardless of which camp you fall into, these six misconceptions about social media professionals often dominate career-related conversations:
1. We spend all day tweeting.
I can’t count how many times I’ve been asked, “How long can it take to write 140 characters?” The answer is not long—once you have your strategy down. Social media professionals spend a small portion of their time—probably less than 10 percent—writing posts for different channels.
The majority of our time is spent on strategy and keeping abreast of a landscape that’s continually changing.
We communicate with our teams to improve new initiatives for social platforms, audit our channels to see what our audience talks about and responds to (and then respond to them), watch our peers, competitors and their audiences, scour our organizations (and the Internet) for any form of appropriate media, read about the latest digital trends and plan how to shift our strategy accordingly.
Let’s not forget about analytics, metrics and numbers—lots of numbers. That’s just the beginning.
2. We live and die with Facebook and Twitter.
Facebook and Twitter aren't going anywhere any time soon, but even if they were to phase out, it doesn’t mean social media professionals are out of a job.
Facebook and Twitter are social media channels, but social media as a profession refers to the broader use of digital media to connect and engage. It’s not channel-specific. Social media is evolving, and our jobs will evolve with it—not in spite of it.
[RELATED: Get your employees involved and active online with this guide to building a successful social media plan.]
3. We’re either numbers people or creative people.
We have to be both. We have to be good with numbers to analyze what is and isn’t working, and why. Then we have to switch on our creativity to improve in an environment that rewards the cutting edge.
We have to always be one step ahead. It’s exhausting—and wonderful.
4. We have the best jobs because we get paid to be on Facebook all day.
It’s true, we love our jobs. A social media professional who isn’t passionate about social media will burn out quickly (it gets pretty intense). However, being on Facebook for work isn’t the same as being on Facebook personally.
Here’s what a thought stream might look like for a nonprofessional who’s scrolling through Facebook for fun:
Oh look, Michael got a new puppy. Sally and Drew finally got engaged! Megan posted another video about cross-species friendships. She always has the funniest videos. I’m going to watch it. Oh, first I have to message my brother. Did I ever get back to him about next weekend?
Here’s what it looks like for us:
Why was the engagement rate higher on this post than the one I posted yesterday? Was it the content or the timing? Maybe tomorrow I should post in the morning instead. Was it that the imagery was more compelling today? That reminds me, I need to get with Sally about the new photos. Oh look, my competitor just posted this news story. That’s an interesting take. I wonder how the others are framing it? I’m going to check.
We experience the first scenario, but it’s like two worlds for us because we’re in two separate mind-sets. It’s like a high school cafeteria. During the day it’s a standard, no-frills place to eat. At night it may harbor a homecoming dance.
5. We’re automatically tech-savvy.
Though we’re probably more tech-savvy than the average Joe by necessity alone, it’s not like we can fix your computer just because we know how to retarget a Twitter ad.
We’re not your IT department, and we rely on them just as much as you do (maybe more, since we also tend to break things more often out of natural curiosity).
6. We’re better at online communications than offline.
Just because we’re good at communicating online doesn’t mean we devalue in-person communications.
We don’t like social media because we’re otherwise socially inept. It’s an additional way to communicate, not a replacement for actual socialization.
What misconceptions about social media professionals have you come across, PR Daily readers?
Kiera Stein is a social media and digital marketing consultant. A version of this story originally appeared on Dog-Eared Social.
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