Tue, Oct 01, 2019 page2

• Brands, celebrities hiring social media managers

  JOB OPPORTUNITY: Social media pages of celebrities are swamped with comments, and need supervision to function well, an advertisement manager said

  • By Yang Ya-min and William Hetherington / Staff reporter, with staff writer
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  A growing number of brands and celebrities are outsourcing the management of their social media accounts, making social media management one of the fastest-growing industries, according to people in the advertisement industry.

  Many businesses and celebrities in Taiwan, like elsewhere, are increasingly turning to Facebook, Instagram, Line and other platforms to connect with fans, and they are increasingly turning to other firms to help them with the full-time job of managing their accounts, said an advertisement manager, who chose to remain anonymous.

  Particularly in the case of politicians the work is quite involved, as social media managers must follow the politician everywhere they go, take pictures and post on their accounts throughout the day, they said.

  A key component of the process is interacting with the public, so account managers must respond to posts and messages from users, they said, adding that often a dedicated Facebook account manager is needed to keep up with the innumerable comments that celebrities and politicians normally receive.

  Job banks have been offering a growing number of social media account management jobs over the past few years, which typically pay NT$25,000 to NT$30,000 per month as a starting salary, but some involving greater complexity in their responsibilities pay up to NT$50,000 per month, they said.

  Many companies use their Facebook pages to advertise new products, so they turn to their advertising company to help them manage their Facebook accounts, they said.

  Many companies only require an account manager to repost product information from their official Web site on their Facebook page, but some require their social media manager to do other things, such as hold contests and record videos for posting, they said.

  Pages with more responsibilities are typically handled by three account managers working together, they added.

  “As Facebook fan pages emphasize positive interaction with the public, you cannot have the page go too long without any posts. Otherwise Facebook’s algorithm will stop showing your posts in fans’ newsfeeds,” they said, adding that an account manager should aim for a minimum of five or six posts per week.

  Social media differs from traditional media, as Internet users are likely to spend only three seconds on a post on average, so a social media manager must be adept at using popular “netspeak,” they said.

  While most companies opt to keep the identities of their social media managers private, motorcycle manufacturer Kymco has put its Facebook account manager in the foreground to make the public feel more connected with them, and it has resulted in the account manager becoming a minor Internet celebrity, they said.

  Durex Taiwan’s Facebook account manager, who uses humor while avoiding being vulgar, has also become a minor celebrity, and often interacts with fans of the company’s products, they said.
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