Salary Survey Extra is a series of periodic dispatches that give added insight into the findings of our most recent Salary Survey. These posts contain previously unpublished Salary Survey data.‍

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‍It's an interesting time to work in social media, and not just because one of the biggest social platforms on the planet is actively cratering after changing hands in a massive transaction that resulted from a business offer that may not have been entirely serious. Or even because a company that already controls two of the other largest social media spheres is rushing to fill the gap.

Social media is being condemned in many circles as being a cancer on society, while others see it as tool in the hands of nations attempting to undermine rival governments. Many businesses have gone from prioritizing social media above most other forms of marketing to letting feeds languish in a state of near-perpetual inactivity.

If you're bold enough to sail into the teeth of the storm, then the CIW Social Media Strategist credential, No. 66 on our most recent Salary Survey 75 list, could provide a compass for your career. Those who complete the credential, as noted at the CIW Social Media Strategist website, have proven knowledge of "how to build social media strategies and tactics, build and manage campaigns, develop social media content, and when and how to utilize each platform correctly."

Here’s what the salary picture looks like for CIW Social Media Strategist holders who responded to the Salary Survey:

All U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $83,180
Median Annual Salary: $66,250
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 19.3 percent
Very Satisfied: 42 percent
Satisfied: 26.1 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 8 percent
Not At All Satisfied: 4.6 percent

All Non-U.S. Respondents
Average Annual Salary: $105,840
Median Annual Salary: $97,500
How satisfied are you with your current salary?
Completely Satisfied: 20 percent
Very Satisfied: 52 percent
Satisfied: 20.2 percent
Not Very Satisfied: 7.8 percent
Not At All Satisfied: [No responses]

The CIW certification program has global reach, but the majority of CIW Social Media Strategist holders who participated in the survey, roughly 78 percent, are from the United States. We did hear from a number of credential holders outside the United States, scattered across 13 different nations: Afghanistan, Albania, Andorra, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Australia, Austria, Benin, Colombia, France, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and Uzbekistan.

A majority of those we heard from, as is typical of the IT realm, are men (61.6 percent), but we did hear from a striking number of CIW Social Media Strategist holders who are women: 31.3 percent. The rest are either transgender male (3.8 percent), transgender female (1.4 percent), gender variant/nonconforming (0.9 percent) or chose not to identify their gender (1 percent). In terms of age, our pool of respondents is deepest between the ages of 25 and 34, where 49.6 percent of those surveyed show up. Everyone else falls either between the ages of 19 and 24 (2.7 percent), between the ages of 35 and 44 (39.8 percent), between the ages of 45 and 54 (also 7.1 percent), or between the ages of 65 and 74 (0.8 percent).

More than 95 percent of the CIW Social Media Strategist holders who responded to the survey have an educational background that includes time spent at a college or university. The highest level of formal education completed by most CIW Social Media Strategist holders is either a bachelor’s degree (38.1 percent), master’s degree (37.2 percent), associate’s degree (8 percent), doctorate (8.8 percent), or professional degree (3.5 percent). The outliers are the 1.8 percent of those surveyed who exited the realm of formal education after completing some level of post-high school technical training, the 1.7 percent whose highest education attainment is a high school diploma, and 0.9 percent who are currently in school.

Slightly more than half of the CIW Social Media Strategist holders who participated in the survey are employed full-time (53.5 percent of respondents), with 22.7 percent holding part-time jobs. The rest of those we heard from are either taking a sabbatical (5.2 percent), out of work (13.3 percent), or are primarily students (5.3 percent). Among those who have full-time jobs, 24.8 percent are at work for the standard 40 hours per week, with 17.7 percent putting in between 41 and 50 hours per week. The remaining roughly 58 percent of those surveyed have a full-time work schedule of either more than 50 hours per week (5.3 percent), between 31 and 39 hours per week (24.7 percent), between 20 and 30 hours per week (20.4 percent), or fewer than 20 hours per week (7.1 percent).

In the COVID-19 era, tech jobs often come with a degree of flexibility to work from home, and many social media specialists in the modern landscape are freelancers. Among those who responded to the survey, however, 30.3 percent work from home fewer than 10 hours per week, and 33.9 percent work from home for between 10 and 20 hours per week. In the middle are 17.9 percent of respondents who work from home between 21 and 30 hours per week, and 9.8 percent who work from from home between 31 and 39 hours per week. That leaves just 8 percent of respondents who handle their entire weekly schedule in a pants-optional environment, putting in either 40 hours per week from home (6.3 percent) or more than 40 hours per week from home (1.8 percent).

In terms of workplace standing, the largest single group of CIW Social Media Strategist holders we heard from, 27.5 percent, are at the senior manager level. The rest, in descending order, are either managers (28.4 percent), executives (13.3 percent), directors (9.5 percent), senior specialists (8.1 percent), rank-and-file employees (6.2 percent), or specialists (4.7 percent).

Nearly half (44.1 percent) of the CIW Social Media Strategist holders who responded to the survey are relative newcomers, having worked in a role that directly utilizes one or more of their certified skills for between 3 and 5 years. The rest have been plying their certified skills for either between zero years (1 to 11 months) and 2 years (16.6 percent of those surveyed), between 6 and 8 years (31.7 percent), between 9 and 10 years (6.2 percent), or for more than a decade (1.4 percent).

Finally, here’s the view of CIW Social Media Strategist holders on key questions from the survey about how certification impacts job performance:

At my current job I use skills learned or enhanced through certification:
Several times a day: 12.3 percent
Several times a week: 49.8 percent
Several times a month: 27 percent
Occasionally: 5.7 percent
Rarely: 5.2 percent

Since becoming certified, I feel there is greater demand for my skills.
Strongly agree: 32.8 percent
Agree: 37.4 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 24.2 percent
Disagree: 2.8 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.8 percent

Becoming certified has increased my problem-solving skills.
Strongly agree: 34.6 percent
Agree: 37 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 12.8 percent
Disagree: 12.8 percent
Strongly Disagree: 2.8 percent

Becoming certified has increased my workplace productivity.
Strongly agree: 28.4 percent
Agree: 39.8 percent
Neither Agree nor Disagree: 19 percent
Disagree: 8.1 percent
Strongly Disagree: 4.7 percent

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