Social Media Strategist Salary: Your 2025 Guide

Written by Coursera Staff • Updated on Jan 24, 2025

Social media use is on the rise, as are careers in the field. Learn more about a career as a social media strategist and get details about the average social media strategist salary and how to become a social media professional.

[Featured Image] Two social media strategists meet in front of a stairway in their office building and look over a campaign on a tablet.

Two decades ago, before the creation of Facebook, Twitter, and other social media apps, the role of a social media strategist didn’t even exist. Due to the rise of social media in the 21st century, things have changed, and new job opportunities exist in the social media sphere. Today, more than five billion people around the world use some type of social media. That number will likely continue rising over the next few years, making the role of a social media strategist more prevalent than ever and a good career option [1].

With social media numbers growing, it makes sense for companies and organizations to implement a social media strategy into their advertising and marketing plans so they can reach as many people as possible. Companies of all sizes may hire social media strategists to manage social media marketing campaigns. This prevalence indicates a positive job outlook for anyone who is creative, an analytical thinker, a good communicator, and familiar with social media.

Learn more about the job and discover the various factors that affect a social media strategist salary.

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Social Media Marketing

Manage Your Social Strategies. Expand your online audience and establish your social brand in five courses.

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Skills you'll build:

Digital Strategies, Social Media Marketing, Analytics, Social Commerce, ChatGPT, AI Driven Marketing, AI, Influencer Marketing, Digital Marketing, Digital Tactics, Social Marketing, Social Media, Writing, Marketing Strategy, Budget, Planning, A/B Testing, Social Network

A social media strategist manages a business or organization's social media accounts, develops and implements social media marketing strategies, and keeps up with social media engagement and analytics. Ultimately, your goals may include increasing brand awareness, generating sales, driving traffic to your organization's website, growing your brand's audience, or a combination of all of these.

As a social media strategist, your daily work will likely include:

Creating or acquiring social media content to post (photos, videos, and copy)

Building an online community around your brand

Determining which social media outlets best serve your company

Creating a schedule for social media posts

Helping create and support digital marketing strategies

Watching out for online trends and integrating them into your posts

Keeping up with market research

Using analytics to determine the success or failure of your company's social media strategies

Making suggestions to other marketing and advertising employees based on your experience and findings

Monitoring and analyzing the social media of competing brands

Social media strategists make an average annual salary between $62,339 and $75,202, according to various job listing websites [2, 3, 4, 5]. Take a look at this comparison:

Glassdoor	Zippia	Payscale	Indeed
$64,243	$62,339	$63,437	$75,202

Something to keep in mind when it comes to salary is that some social media strategists work full-time for one company or organization. Still, many are self-employed freelancers with multiple clients who set their own rates. It will likely play a role in how much you earn.

Several factors can impact how much you earn as a social media strategist. As with many jobs, your previous experience, education, certifications, and skill set might play a role in how much you make. Your location and the industry in which you work can also play a role.

Education

The company you work for may require you to have a bachelor's degree to become its social media strategist. According to Zippia, the following is a breakdown of the education level among social media strategists and their annual salaries [6].

Bachelor's (81%): $66,388
Master's (10%): $75,487.
Associate (6%): $53,849

Common majors for social media strategists include communication, marketing, and business.

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Certifications

Certifications may also help make you a more competitive employee and potentially earn a higher salary. For example, the Digital Marketing Institute, partnered with the American Marketing Association, offers the Professional Digital Marketing Course+ PCM, which can help you hone the technical and people skills needed for social media strategy. According to Payscale, people with a social media certification make an average of $58,000 per year [7]. A Google Analytics certification may help you earn an average base salary of $65,000 annually [8].

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Meta Social Media Marketing

Launch your career as a Social Media Marketer. Build job-ready skills – and must-have AI skills – for an in-demand career. Earn a credential from Meta 5 months or less. No degree or prior experience required.

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Social Media Marketing, Generative AI in Social Media Marketing, Brand Management, Content Marketing, Digital Marketing, Performance Advertising, Social Media Marketing Strategy, Marketing, Campaign Management, Ad Management, Meta advertising, Meta Ads Manager, Marketing Content Development, content management, Content Development, Communication, Marketing Strategy, Ads Manager, Marketing Optimization, Digital Analytics

Skills

Beyond your education, an employer will look at your specific skill set. The more related skills you have, the more likely you will earn a higher salary. Of course, familiarity with social media, including popular platforms like Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn, is paramount. Copywriting and graphic design can also be helpful in this field.

In addition to your technical skills, you must be creative, especially if you create your own content. You'll also need good customer service skills. Many organizations field problems, complaints, and general customer issues via their social media accounts, and you may be responsible for handling them. General communication and critical thinking skills are also valuable.

If you're still in high school or college, consider taking communications, English, computers, art, graphic design, and journalism courses. These can help you learn and hone skills you'll need as a social media strategist.

According to Payscale, the following skills help increase a social media strategist's salary by six percent or more [4]:

Strategy development: 53 percent
People management: 52 percent
Strategy: 5 percent
Influencer marketing: 4 percent

Experience

As with many jobs, the more experience you have, the more likely you will earn a higher salary. If you have yet to gain work experience, consider applying for an internship before you apply for career-oriented jobs to help build your skill set and network. If an internship is not an option, but you want more experience, consider getting an entry-level position in marketing.

According to Glassdoor, social media strategists’ average US base salaries according to their number of years of experience include the following [2]:

0–1 year: $51,999
1–3 years: $56,594
4–6 years: $64,117
7–9 years: $70,534
10–14 years: $81,179
15 or more years: $88,160

Location

Where you live may also matter in terms of how much you can earn. For example, if you live in a city or state with a higher cost of living, you may make more than you would somewhere less expensive to live.

Highest-paying cities for social media strategists

According to Zippia, these cities have the highest annual average salary for social media strategists [3]:

San Francisco, California: $89,334
Salt Lake City, Utah: $81,303
Eugene, Oregon: $72,300
Phoenix, Arizona: $72,042
New York, New York: $70,781
Pontiac, Michigan: $69,419
Fargo, North Dakota: $67,606
Arlington, Virginia: $67,504
Dover, Delaware: $67,432
Providence, Rhode Island: $66,712

Industry

Your salary can also vary depending on the industry you work in. Explore the average annual salary for social media strategists in some of the higher-paying industries, as reported by Glassdoor [2].

Information technology: $89,152
Manufacturing: $82,163
Media and communication: $71,769
Management and consulting: $68,797
Human resources and staffing: $67,449

When pursuing a career as a social media strategist, start with your education. If you're in high school or college, take courses related to the field, such as English, communications, graphic design, and marketing. While a bachelor's degree is not always required, many companies prefer candidates who have one in concentrations like communications, marketing, or journalism.

A master's degree isn't typically necessary. However, it can make you a more appealing job candidate and potentially increase your salary. Earning certifications and continuing your education with online courses may also help.

In addition to your education, gain experience by seeking internships and entry-level jobs or gaining social media experience. Start and maintain your own accounts. Create content and develop a portfolio of your work to use when applying for jobs. Also, consider attending social media and digital marketing conferences, networking with other social media professionals, and working to build your brand. After all, some social media strategists rely on freelance work and self-employment with a variety of clients.

Social media jobs usually involve the digital marketing industry, so you may see ads for jobs with different yet similar titles. For example, a company might advertise a job for a digital marketer specializing in social media. In some cases, you may see different job titles that could be interchangeable with the role of a social media strategist. Other related job titles and their associated base salaries include the following:

Social media manager: $55,881
Social media marketer: $49,624
Social media community manager: $61,259
Social media analyst: $52,920
Associate media manager: $71,880
Social media director: $76,139
Social media marketing manager: $62,242

Some related job titles that don't deal directly with social media include:

Digital analyst: $74,385
Digital strategist: $82,378
Paid search manager: $79,224

*All annual base salary data sourced from Glassdoor as of January 2025; it does not include additional pay, such as commission and benefits.

Next steps

Your salary as a social media strategist may vary based on factors such as your education, location, or the industry you work in. To improve your annual earnings, consider internships, entry-level jobs, and completing relevant social media certifications that will make you stand out to prospective employers.

Take advantage of the educational opportunities on Coursera, such as courses from some of the top institutions in the world, including Northwestern University’s Social Media Marketing Specialization and the Meta Social Media Marketing Professional Certificate. Upon completing either program, you will gain a shareable certificate to include in your resume, CV, or LinkedIn profile.

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