Social media managers are about average in terms of happiness.

At CareerExplorer, we conduct an ongoing survey with millions of people and ask them how satisfied they are with their careers. As it turns out, social media managers rate their career happiness 3.1 out of 5 stars which puts them in the bottom 42% of careers.

To put this into perspective, we compared how happy social media managers are to similar careers in the industry. Take a look at the results below:

Salaries and satisfaction ratings in similar careers

Career Satisfaction Avg Salary
Consultant
3.2
$87k
Distance learning coordinator
3.2
$79k
Desktop publisher
3.2
$44k
Online merchant
3.2
$44k
Search marketing strategist
3.2
$90k
Social media manager
3.1
$40k
Marketing manager
3.1
$66k
Advertising manager
3.1
$88k
Digital marketing specialist
3.1
$57k
Human resources manager
3.1
$65k

So what does it mean to be happy in your career? Let’s break it down into different dimensions:

  • Salary: Are social media managers happy with their salary?
  • Meaning: Do social media managers find their jobs meaningful?
  • Personality fit: How well suited are people’s personalities to their everyday tasks as social media managers?
  • Work environment: How enjoyable are social media manager’s work environments?
  • Skills utilization: Are social media managers making the best use of their abilities?

Are social media managers happy with their salary?

Social media managers rated their satisfaction with their salaries 2.8/5. Social media managers tend to be quite unhappy with their salary, with very few reporting satisfaction with their pay.

We asked social media managers how fairly compensated they are for their work.
Their response was:

2.8 out of 5 stars

2066 social media managers

5 Star
9%

9% of social media managers rated their compensation 5 stars

4 Star
20%

20% of social media managers rated their compensation 4 stars

3 Star
28%

28% of social media managers rated their compensation 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of social media managers rated their compensation 2 stars

1 Star
18%

18% of social media managers rated their compensation 1 stars

Do social media managers find their jobs meaningful?

On average, social media managers rate the meaningfulness of their work a 2.6/5. The majority of social media managers struggle to find any sort of meaning in their work, likely resulting in less satisfaction with the career overall.

We asked social media managers how meaningful they found their work.
Their response was:

2.6 out of 5 stars

2106 social media managers

5 Star
9%

9% of social media managers rated how meaningful they found their career 5 stars

4 Star
15%

15% of social media managers rated how meaningful they found their career 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of social media managers rated how meaningful they found their career 3 stars

2 Star
27%

27% of social media managers rated how meaningful they found their career 2 stars

1 Star
24%

24% of social media managers rated how meaningful they found their career 1 stars

How well are people’s personalities suited to everyday tasks as social media managers?

Social media managers rated their personality fit with their work an average of 3.7/5. The majority of social media managers find their personalities quite well suited to their work, with relatively few having complaints about their fit.

We asked social media managers how well their personalities fit into their careers.
Their response was:

3.7 out of 5 stars

2280 social media managers

5 Star
26%

26% of social media managers rated their career fit 5 stars

4 Star
37%

37% of social media managers rated their career fit 4 stars

3 Star
25%

25% of social media managers rated their career fit 3 stars

2 Star
9%

9% of social media managers rated their career fit 2 stars

1 Star
4%

4% of social media managers rated their career fit 1 stars

How enjoyable is a social media manager’s work environment?

As a whole, social media managers rated their enjoyment of their work environment 3.6/5. A solid majority of social media managers enjoy their work environment, probably contributing to overall higher satisfaction with working as a social media manager.

We asked social media managers how much they enjoyed their work environment.
Their response was:

3.6 out of 5 stars

2272 social media managers

5 Star
22%

22% of social media managers rated their work environment 5 stars

4 Star
35%

35% of social media managers rated their work environment 4 stars

3 Star
24%

24% of social media managers rated their work environment 3 stars

2 Star
12%

12% of social media managers rated their work environment 2 stars

1 Star
6%

6% of social media managers rated their work environment 1 stars

Are social media managers making the best use of their abilities?

Former social media managers on CareerExplorer have rated their skills utilization 3.0/5. Social media managers tend to feel that they don’t manage to use their abilities to their fullest, when compared to other careers.

We asked social media managers how well their abilities were used in their careers.
Their response was:

3.0 out of 5 stars

2285 social media managers

5 Star
12%

12% of social media managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 5 stars

4 Star
22%

22% of social media managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 4 stars

3 Star
29%

29% of social media managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 3 stars

2 Star
24%

24% of social media managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 2 stars

1 Star
13%

13% of social media managers rated their how well their skills were utilized in their career 1 stars