SOCIAL MEDIA JOB TITLES
& ROLES EXPLAINED
every role in the social media profession · from coordinator to chief social officer · 14 roles defined
The social media profession has evolved from a single "person who does the tweets" to a sophisticated, multi-disciplinary career track spanning strategy, analytics, content, paid media, and community. This page defines every standard role in the profession as established by SocialDay. Use this page to understand where you are in your career, where you're heading, and what each level truly involves.
Each level maps to the SocialDay Career Ladder, our framework for understanding how skills, responsibilities, and ownership evolve as you progress through the profession.
The SocialDay Career Ladder
Map your progression from entry-level to director and beyond
Entry Level Roles
Entry-level professionals are learning the craft, developing execution skills, and building platform fluency under close supervision.
Social Media Coordinator
Social Media Assistant, Junior Social Media Manager
The Social Media Coordinator is the entry point into the profession. This role is primarily executional, supporting day-to-day publishing, scheduling, and community management tasks under the direction of a more senior team member.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Scheduling and publishing content across platforms
- ■Community management: responding to comments and messages
- ■Basic reporting and analytics compilation
- ■Sourcing and resizing visual assets
- ■Competitor and trend monitoring
- ■Maintaining content calendars
Key Skills
Content Creator (Social)
Social Media Content Producer, Digital Content Creator
The Social Content Creator focuses primarily on the production of content assets, including video, photography, graphics, and written copy for social media channels. Unlike a Coordinator, the Content Creator's primary skill set is creative and production-based.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Creating short-form video content (Reels, TikToks, YouTube Shorts)
- ■Writing captions and scripts
- ■Photography and image editing
- ■Graphic design for social formats
- ■Collaborating on content calendars
Key Skills
Mid Level Roles
Mid-level professionals own strategy for specific channels or functions, begin managing junior team members, and take greater accountability for results.
Social Media Manager
The most common title in the profession
The Social Media Manager is the most prevalent role in the profession. A Social Media Manager owns the day-to-day strategy and execution for a brand's social channels, balancing content creation, community management, reporting, and increasingly paid social oversight.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Developing and executing social media strategy
- ■Content planning, creation, and publishing
- ■Community management and brand reputation
- ■Analytics reporting and performance optimisation
- ■Managing relationships with agencies and creators
- ■Collaborating with marketing, PR, and design teams
- ■Managing or mentoring coordinators
Key Skills
Social Media Copywriter
Social Copywriter, Digital Copywriter (Social)
The Social Media Copywriter specialises in writing for social channels, crafting captions, scripts, ad copy, community responses, and campaign messaging. This is a specialist creative role at the intersection of brand strategy and creative writing.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Writing captions, headlines, and CTAs for all platforms
- ■Scripting video and podcast content
- ■Developing ad copy for paid social campaigns
- ■Maintaining brand voice consistency
- ■A/B testing copy variations
Key Skills
Community Manager
The Community Manager is the human voice of a brand on social media, responsible for building, engaging, and moderating online communities. This role is distinct from a Social Media Manager: the focus is on relationships and conversation rather than content strategy or publishing.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Responding to comments, DMs, and reviews
- ■Proactive community engagement and outreach
- ■Moderating discussions and handling escalations
- ■Identifying and nurturing brand advocates
- ■Reporting on community sentiment and themes
Key Skills
Senior Level Roles
Senior professionals own significant strategic responsibilities, manage teams, advise stakeholders, and are accountable for measurable business outcomes.
Senior Social Media Manager
The Senior Social Media Manager takes on broader strategic ownership and team leadership responsibilities. They are typically responsible for multi-channel strategy, cross-functional collaboration, more complex reporting and attribution, and mentoring junior professionals.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Owning multi-channel social media strategy
- ■Managing a team of managers and coordinators
- ■Leading cross-functional campaigns
- ■Advanced analytics, attribution, and ROI reporting
- ■Budget management and agency oversight
- ■Stakeholder presentations and senior communications
Key Skills
Social Media Strategist
The Social Media Strategist is a senior specialist role focused primarily on strategy development and audience insight, rather than day-to-day execution. Strategists design the frameworks, channel plans, and measurement approaches that others execute against.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Developing comprehensive social media strategies
- ■Audience research and persona development
- ■Competitive benchmarking and landscape analysis
- ■Channel selection and investment recommendation
- ■Measurement framework design
- ■Presenting strategy to senior stakeholders
Key Skills
Paid Social Manager / Specialist
Paid Social Lead, Social Advertising Manager
The Paid Social Manager is a specialist role focused entirely on paid social media advertising, including campaign planning, audience targeting, budget management, creative testing, and performance optimisation across Meta, LinkedIn, TikTok, Pinterest, and other paid channels.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Paid social campaign planning and execution
- ■Audience targeting and segmentation strategy
- ■Budget allocation and ROAS optimisation
- ■Creative briefing and A/B testing
- ■Attribution and performance reporting
- ■Platform-specific best practice management
Key Skills
Social Media Analyst
The Social Media Analyst specialises in data collection, measurement, and insight generation. This role translates raw social media data into actionable recommendations for strategy and creative teams.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Social listening and monitoring
- ■Performance reporting and dashboard management
- ■Competitor and sentiment analysis
- ■Trend identification and insight generation
- ■Attribution modelling and ROI analysis
Key Skills
Leadership Roles
Leaders own the full social media function, manage significant teams and budgets, and are directly accountable to senior marketing leadership or the board.
Social Media Director
Director of Social Media, Head of Social Media
The Social Media Director holds strategic and operational ownership of the entire social media function. They set the vision, define the strategy, manage large teams, control significant budgets, and are responsible for demonstrating the commercial value of social media to the business.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Setting social media vision, strategy, and standards
- ■Leading and developing the social media team
- ■Managing significant budgets and commercial relationships
- ■Executive stakeholder management and board reporting
- ■Crisis leadership and brand protection
- ■Representing the brand at industry level
Key Skills
Influencer Marketing Manager
Creator Partnerships Manager, Influencer Lead
The Influencer Marketing Manager owns the brand's influencer and creator partnership strategy. This role manages the identification, contracting, briefing, and performance measurement of influencer campaigns across all tiers, from mega-influencers to nano-creators.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Influencer strategy and tier selection
- ■Talent identification and relationship management
- ■Commercial negotiation and contract management
- ■Campaign briefing, execution, and compliance
- ■ROI measurement and reporting
Key Skills
Executive Roles
The most senior social media leadership roles. These professionals shape how organisations use social media at the highest strategic level.
VP of Social Media
Vice President of Social, Head of Global Social
The VP of Social Media operates at an executive leadership level, typically within large global organisations. They are responsible for social media strategy across multiple markets, brands, or business units.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Global or enterprise-level social media strategy
- ■Building and leading large, multi-disciplinary teams
- ■Executive board reporting and commercial accountability
- ■Defining social media technology and tooling strategy
- ■Industry representation and thought leadership
Key Skills
Chief Social Officer (CSO)
An emerging executive title recognising social media as a boardroom function
The Chief Social Officer is an emerging C-suite title that recognises social media's strategic importance at the highest level of an organisation. A CSO has responsibility not just for marketing social media, but for the organisation's social media presence as a whole, including employee advocacy, executive profiling, social commerce, community strategy, and crisis management.
Core Responsibilities
- ■Board-level social media governance and strategy
- ■Social media as a business-wide function (not just marketing)
- ■Executive and employee advocacy strategy
- ■Social commerce and revenue strategy
- ■Organisational crisis and reputation leadership
Key Skills
Specialist & Consultant Roles
Specialist roles exist at multiple career levels and focus on a specific discipline within the broader profession.
Social Media Consultant
A Social Media Consultant provides strategic advice, audits, training, and/or execution support to organisations on a freelance or contract basis. Consultants typically bring deep expertise in a specific area, including strategy, paid social, influencer marketing, or crisis management, and work across multiple clients simultaneously.
Where are you on the ladder?
use the socialday career ladder to map your progression path and discover what skills you need for the next step
Explore the Career Ladder