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    Social Media Consultant vs Social Media Strategist: what is the difference?

    Social Media Strategist is the more senior of the two. Social Media Consultant typically expects Varies, typically 5+ years of experience and reports to Self-employed or agency-based, while Social Media Strategist expects 4-8 years and reports to Director or Head of Marketing.

    Social Media Consultant

    Specialist Roles

    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.

    Experience
    Varies, typically 5+ years
    Reports to
    Self-employed or agency-based
    Owns
    • Auditing existing social media activity and making recommendations
    • Building social media strategies for client organisations
    • Training and upskilling in-house marketing teams
    • Advising on channel mix, tooling and measurement frameworks
    • Project-based campaign or crisis support across multiple clients
    Core skills
    Strategic advisorySocial media auditingTraining and facilitationClient managementMeasurement and reporting

    Social Media Strategist

    Senior Level

    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.

    Experience
    4-8 years
    Reports to
    Director or Head of Marketing
    Owns
    • Developing comprehensive social media strategies
    • Audience research and persona development
    • Competitive benchmarking and landscape analysis
    • Channel selection and investment recommendation
    • Measurement framework design
    Core skills
    Strategic thinkingAudience researchData analysisCompetitive intelligencePresentation skillsBusiness acumen

    Which title should the job ad use?

    • Use Social Media Consultant when the work centres on auditing existing social media activity and making recommendations and the hire will report to Self-employed or agency-based.
    • Use Social Media Strategist when the work centres on developing comprehensive social media strategies and the hire will report to Director or Head of Marketing.
    • If the remit covers both, split the role or advertise at the more senior band and pay accordingly. Benchmarks are in the Salary Report.

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