Social media a lot of work

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Type "social media" in the keyword box on mostjob-search websites, and dozens of help-wanted postings appear. Thatwasn't the case just a few years ago.

A growing number of businesses and organizations of all sizes aresearching for ways to tap the power of social media, such asFacebook and Twitter, which millions of people now use to stayconnected online.

Experts say companies' need for social-media expertise hasincreased dramatically this year and will continue to grow as morepeople come to understand and recognize its value. And that means anexplosion of job opportunities throughout the country.

"This has been the year where every organization has come torealize the importance of social media, rather than just a handfulof organizations," said Augie Ray, a Forrester Research analyst whospecializes in social computing.

It's unclear exactly how many social-media-related jobs exist,but companies want their messages to get to where the people are.

Facebook, created in 2004 and now the Internet's most popularsocial network, has more than 500 million users throughout theworld. And it's not just young people who are drawn to it: Thenumber of Internet users ages 55 to 64 on Facebook has grown 88percent in the past year, according to a study by the Pew Center'sInternet and American Life Project.

Some major brands, such as Dell Computers, have helped set thestage for other companies by showing early success with social-media marketing. Last year, for example, Dell said it generated $3million in sales with links from its various Twitter accounts.

"It wasn't until 2009 came around, and initiatives on Facebook,Twitter and other social channels were producing soft and hard ROI(returns on investment) by major brands, that the hiring reallystarted," said Mark Krupinski, social-media director for MindComet,an Altamonte Springs, Fla.-based interactive-marketing agency.

But the social-media field is still in its early stages. Raywarned that some companies are far more advanced than others abouttheir social media plans.

"Social media is a little all over the map right now," he said."It reminds me a great deal of the late 1990s with where we were inrespect to the Web. At that time, companies realized they needed anew set of skills that they historically had not valued or needed.... They went out seeking those skills, but at the time, many didn'tknow what they didn't know."

Shawn Vincent, digital-marketing director for Brand Advance, anOrlando, Fla., interactive-marketing agency, said the influx of jobsin social media is a double-edged sword.

"For the most part, a lot of companies still don't know reallywhat they are doing with a digital-media plan. ... They are notquite sure who they are looking for most of the time," he said.

Many job descriptions appear too broad or unclear, or theidentified skills being sought don't fit what the company actuallyneeds. Job titles, which range from "digital community manager" to"social media strategist," don't help.

"Right now, some companies are not necessarily mature in (the)way they view or use social media -- but they recognize they needit," Ray said.

Using social media is different than other types of marketing. Ina conventional campaign, the staff may spend months planning theproject, Ray said. They would then launch it and move on.

With social media, the real work begins after the launch, hesaid, because someone has to keep track of how people react to thecampaign, then respond to their comments and switch gears if needed.

That could require hiring someone capable of creating an overalldigital strategy and employing a variety of online tools, expertssay, or simply adding someone who could monitor and respond topublic comments on Facebook, Twitter and other social-mediawebsites.

Amy Jantzer, an Orlando-based social-media consultant, said sheoften gets calls from businesses unsure about what they need orwant.

"I'll get the phone call, 'So-and-so told me you were the personto call about social media, and I guess I need to get this up andrunning,' " she said.

"They rarely have a plan."