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Social Media Management MBA + Online Options

April 25, 2021 12:57 am0 commentsViews: 221

Social media is incredibly important today for companies to be as profitable and influential as possible. In fact, almost 50% of all new capital investment in the United States is in information technology and indirectly, social media. Further, the information sector, of which social media is a growing part, accounts for a solid ⅓ of the GDP of the US.

A very effective way to take advantage of the power of social media in your career is to earn your MBA in Social Media Management.

An online MBA in social media management will teach you how to leverage your current and much more developed social media skills to drive business and value in your organization. An MBA in social media management will teach you how to do the following:

  • Create and implement effective social media campaigns on Twitter, Facebook, Reddit, Instagram and others
  • Learn how to integrate new social media tools with established marketing strategies for print, radio and television
  • Learn how to properly identify and target social media campaigns to highly targeted audiences
  • Develop new skills so that you can manage and nurture online communities of current and potential customers
  • Analyze and measure the behavior of your audience

What Is a Social Media Management MBA?

A social media management MBA is a two year business graduate degree that is designed for the social media professional who wants to gain advancement social media business management skills. After completing this advanced degree, you will have the skills that you need to increase the marketability and profitability of your company by leveraging all of the latest social media tools effectively.

A social media management MBA will hone your skills in Twitter, Facebook, Linkedin, and others so that you can grow your business more effectively online for years to come.

A social media management MBA is normally based strongly upon business theory, and has advanced technology classes that will give you a new array of powerful social media tools that will increase your marketability in this Internet-driven economy.

Most MBA programs in social media management will use an effective combination of case study analysis, lecture, projects, and simulations to have you develop a high level of expertise in social media and campaign management.

Some of what you will learn in a social media management MBA program includes:

  • Discover how to explore the management side of social media marketing using advanced strategical tools
  • Boost your knowledge and skills in the management of social media campaigns, which leads to a much higher level of expertise and results in your marketing efforts
  • Learn about the newest digital marketing channels, which will allow you to be a more effective social media manager
  • Learn how to manage your marketing efforts and personnel more effectively, as you also learn how to read and measure your audience responses more precisely

After you complete your MBA program, you will have mastered major social media communication platforms and principles of communication. Also, you will be able to apply your social media managerial theoretical skills to real world projects, and be able to create and fully manage a detailed social media campaign – front to back.

Experts in social media also note that social networks have matured to a point that they are some of the most highly targeted advertising channels in the world. So, there will be a bigger spotlight on justifying what is spend. Advertisers will want to see robust data that justifies what is being spent on social media advertising.

It is believed that this will be a driving force for social media expenditures in the near future. Social networks will be working to deliver comparable metrics to desktop web and broadcast TV, so this will be something that you should be aware of as you are going through your MBA program.

Types of Courses to Expect

In addition to your regular MBA classes in finance, accounting, project management, statistics, law, and ethics, you can expect to take many classes that will hone your social media campaign and management skills. For example, Georgetown University offers a certificate program in social media management that requires these courses:

  • Using Social Media Tools Effectively
  • Writing for Social Media Required
  • Social Media Strategies & Tactics
  • Measuring & Calculating ROI
  • Strategic Communication Planning
  • Policies & Procedures to Manage Risk
  • Capstone Course in Social Media

New York University-Stern also offers an MBA with a specialization in digital marketing, which will cover a great deal of the social media management space. Typical classes that are required include:

  • Advertising management
  • Brand strategy
  • Digital marketing
  • New media and marketing
  • Search and the new economy
  • Social media managing
  • Social media and brand management
  • Market research for managers

Career Path and Salary

A common career path for MBA in social media management graduates is to become a digital advertising, promotions and marketing manager, as is described in the Bureau of Labor Statistics. While BLS does not yet provide an occupation class for digital media managers, and social media managers, there is a large degree of overlap with this field.

Advertising, promotions and marketing managers do most of what a social media manager would do, including:

  • Work with heads of departments and staff to work on social media budgets and campaigns, as well as contracts and budgeting for ongoing advertising and marketing efforts.
  • Plan social media campaigns with other staff, which can include contests, giveaways and coupons that are distributed on social media
  • Plan traditional advertising campaigns, including radio, TV, print, online media, and billboards. As you will have learned in your MBA classes, your advertising campaigns will be far more effective if all of the marketing efforts are closely coordinated.
  • Develop new pricing strategies for any products or services that you want to promote in your online media campaigns

In BLS, the role of promotions manager most closely aligns with the roles that a social media manager would likely have. The promotions manager is working constantly with various forms of advertising to increase sales. Promotional campaigns on social media can be highly effective to drive sales if they are done efficiently.

The job of advertising and promotions manager will grow by 6% by 2029, which is about average compared to other occupations. However, that number includes the number of related positions for print media. Therefore, it could be that there will be a higher demand for digital and social media managers with an MBA.

The pay for all of these types of marketing and promotional managers was $141,490 in 2020, with the top 10% earning more than $208,000 per year. Many social media and digital managers are paid a base salary and a bonus depending upon the sales success of the organization.

May 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics salary and job growth figures for Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers represents national data, not school-specific information. Conditions in your area may vary. Data Accessed May 2021.