Why Australia’s most in-demand social media jobs are being sourced from overseas
With social media skills in high demand, why aren't Aussie candidates making the grade? Pippa McMahon looks at the skills spectrum required to secure the top jobs, in this guest post.
Having moved to beautiful Sydney from the UK, I see a lot of similarities within the digital recruitment spectrum – big corporates and small agencies looking for experienced digital talent who can work with them to grow their tech offering.
But one thing that is different is that the field is so much smaller – in terms of actual numbers, there are fewer companies and candidates in this space.
And this has a direct impact on what clients are looking for – in many instances they don’t have the resources to take on board a team of specialists but instead need someone with a broad spectrum of skills.
The area I’ve seen this in the most is in an emerging demand for candidates who demonstrate excellent social media and content skills and experience – as these two areas of expertise become interchangeable.
It’s no longer enough just to be able to schedule social media, you need to be able to create the content too.
I’m increasingly being approached by clients looking for a gun who can do everything from social media strategy, analytics, paid and content creation, experience of tools such as Final Cut Pro (video editing), Indesign and Photoshop.
They want people to be part of a ‘hub’ team, working across a broader range of work, so they can access this bank of knowledge and are not limited to one individual for each stream. When social media first entered the business world, it was about having a profile on LinkedIn, or dipping your toe into Facebook.
The recent Sensis Social Media Report found that 50% of social media users in Australia check social networks daily, with over 25% checking in more than five times per day.
Business participation on social media is growing with 48% of SMBs (31% last year) and 79% of large businesses (56% last year) having a presence on social.
It’s not going away – and businesses which remain ahead of the curve, exploiting the ways new technology can increase engagement with potential customers will be the ones that fight off the competition.
That is why it’s so important to recruit, retain and nurture the individuals who are able to cross multiple disciplines within the social media and content umbrellas. In the past, a content or copywriting agency would be appointed to develop engaging and authentic narratives to accompany a story.
But now, in fast-moving environments with pressured budgets, brands want to do this quickly, in-house, and that’s why those who can create content that maximises the customer journey and experience through multiple platforms whilst ensuring a consistent tone of voice are in high demand.
Those that can communicate the same brand message through web, social media, editorial and above the line advertising are going to be increasingly desirable.
Appointing a suite of agencies to manage media planning, PR, social media and other marketing disciplines, is no longer viable – even to large corporations, and that’s why those that have a broad range of skills here in Australia are setting themselves up for a bright future.
I’m anticipating an increase in ‘social manager’ as a job title, encompassing a plethora of these ‘new’ skills, and would encourage both candidates and clients to embrace this terminology.
That person who has had exposure to a range of systems including analytics tools, CMS systems, and creative software such as InDesign and Photoshop, as well as in turn having a strong understanding of the paid and digital media space and ability to write compelling copy is in a great position for future employment.
In addition, they need to demonstrate a creative leaning, a good head for numbers, top-notch account management skills, commercial savvy and an entrepreneurial outlook. Sounds too good to be true?
Well, I’d be lying if I said they are 10 a penny. The pool in Australia is pretty small, and unfortunately, in many instances we have to look further afield to sponsor international professionals with these skills.
Deloitte’s recent Digital Pulse Survey forecasted a highly ambitious recommendation of an additional 695,000 ICT workers in Australia by 2020 to meet demand within the digital and tech sectors.
A number of initiatives – such as plans for the National Centre for Vocational Education Research to create a comprehensive framework for addressing the digital gap for the wider economy – will help to plug this gap.
However, whilst the number of locals who meet the ‘social manager’ skills-set are few and far between, they do exist, and I’m noticing the landscape is beginning to change.
I’m anticipating that 2017 will be even more exciting, as more brands – not just in the creative world, but in the corporate sector – look to broaden their horizons and look for skilled social managers, rather than investing huge sums into numerous agencies.
Social commerce is expanding at a rapid rate, with retailers looking to capitalise through all the major platforms, and monetise their user-base.
Paid social advertising will increase and become more targeted – Facebook is still the most popular social site in Australia, and savvy brands are exploiting it, while the changes happening to Instagram are worth monitoring.
Video is also set to explode – incorporating a video will increase email click-through rate by up to 300% (Forrester Research), so candidates that can utilise this are on to a winner.
I can’t wait to see the rise of the social manager, and for companies to understand the value of taking on board the person who demonstrates this suite of skills, and the direct impact they will have on the bottom line.
Pippa McMahon is a senior digital consultant at Digital Gurus (Sydney)
Thanks PIPPA for sharing this, I really appreciate every point in this article. And this is true the demands of social media jobs in Australia is very high. In the past year, I receive 60% of my business clients for social media management from Australia.
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Really good write up Pippa… I know one of these people you’re on about. Laura Magnano. She runs FWRD Agency!!
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Thanks for the read Pippa, however, I will disagree with your point -“Appointing a suite of agencies to manage media planning, PR, social media and other marketing disciplines, is no longer viable.” As a Social Media Agency owner, i see a major disconnect between people being employed in-house and a brand’s social media results. And the problem is often blamed on the social platforms when in fact it is the people in charge of the social strategy and content.
Creating engaging native content across platforms requires skill and talent. Often i read social media job ads that leave out the three key requirements a social media manager “must” have, which explains why the same jobs are advertised on LinkedIn every 6 to 12 months.
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What a great article, I couldn’t agree more. Well done Pippa.
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You’ve literally just described what a full service social agency offers…there’s plenty around. You don’t need to search for this holy grail of a candidate.
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I agree, Pippa, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to place people with enough experience to perform the roles on offer! I deal a 3000-strong network of Australian community management and social media managers as well as brands and organisations looking to recruit to these roles. The market is becoming flooded, however folks either don’t have enough commercial experience (working mostly for small businesses and friends or as a small part of a bigger role) or the diverse array of skills a lot of organisations think one person should be able to do isn’t feasible. I think organisations need to get smarter about the roles they create – it’s not feasible to have one ‘social media manager’ that is everything to everyone. It’s also not going to continue to be feasible to ask one, in-house social media or community manager to work a 40 hour week in the office and conduct endless checks for risk on their own time. Rather than asking people to diversify their experience, why not select those that excel in an area and split a position into various roles. This is how it works for marketing roles. It’s also important to invest in training the good people you do find as well as offering them flexible working conditions if you’re expecting flexibility in return – no job engaging with consumers can be done 9-5 weekdays only. Especially if the remit falls to one person. Once you’ve found a great recruit, you need to ensure you can retain them. It only makes sense that if the market isn’t great for hirers, it *is* great for candidates who can be selective about their next role.
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Any reasonable corporate thinking it’s a one person gig is deluded.
Lack of understanding and effectiveness expectations result in insufficient investment. They need to audit the performance and also their understanding of the space, I would suggest.
The 1% counts to make social scale and work into business objectives. Anything else is scrambled eggs, merely plugging holes with fingers.
It’s unfair on the employee.
Significant level talent is not readily available in Australia. Until there is more resource support and dollars to make things work, Sponsor away and hold the intl talent while you can.
An agency likely has attracted the best people because of the level of resource and knowledge and the team workflow allowing more sophisticated programs to happen.
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Hi Pippa,
There’s no need to look overseas. I just wanted to let you know that Miami Ad School here in Sydney teaches all those social management skills you describe, and more:
‘analytics tools, CMS systems, and creative software such as InDesign and Photoshop.. a strong understanding of the paid and digital media space and ability to write compelling copy…’
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Great article. But so many SME companies still regard Social Media as a simple one-step upload plus a competition or two and a quote on Instagram.Yet the skill set demand is high and the pay is breathtakingly low in Australia. The casual requests are mind bending – eg “Can you do a logo with that? What about a bit of videography?”
“Certainly. Here’s my price for an across-the-board Social Media design concept, using my Design Degree for effective monetary response. And my years of strategic content writing.”
“Oh. Your unpaid project intern is good at that stuff … can do a bit of design? And knocks up a bit of a video?” Expect to hear more “outsourcing to Asia etc” because they can do it for less. But don’t call me to lift your mess of a strategy, response fail,and spellcheck. Pay up or count your likes in single figures.
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Not in Australia but also in the rest of the world the SMM jobs is now a day at peak. I am also working as a social media strategist for world banks.
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