Social media is proving to be a gold mine for professionals in the area of marketing and public relations. Marketing career data suggests that more demographic information is available through online means than ever before, and many applications allow information to be quickly analyzed for business purposes.
This growth in the amount of marketing work available has led to an explosion in salaries among social marketing professionals. Nationally, salaries for social media marketing jobs typically range from $40,000 to $90,000 per year, according to business news website HispanicBusiness.com.

As of April 2012, the news site reported that social media costs accounted for 7.4 percent of the marketing budgets of American companies. A survey released from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business indicated that social media costs were projected to rise to 19.5 percent of company marketing budgets within five years. This dramatic increase in funding for social media marketing among corporations signifies that entire careers can be based on the effective use of Facebook or Twitter for businesses.

This news supports claims of healthy financial gains in the technology sector, especially for social media companies. A May 2012 report from MSN Money compared valuations for social media companies as similar to stock prices for technology companies in 1999, before the dot com bubble burst. Strong showings for social media stock are being accompanied by similar returns for smartphone and data enablers, cheap web services known as “Uncle Scrooge facilitators” and bottleneck innovators who develop hardware technologies that improve speed and efficiency.

The technology sector has always been a great source of income for professionals, but even a decade ago it was difficult to break into without advanced computer science skills or a related degree. Now, with Web 2.0 principles improving access to information, data has become more standardized and easier to share among wide audiences. Students could use this marketing career data to prepare themselves for a career in social media by paying attention to successful social media campaigns.

Companies seeing the benefits of social media marketing are also using these sites to recruit future job candidates. A May 2012 report published by Forbes recounts efforts by Dow Chemical to reach out to students and attract them to science careers that need new candidates. “Chemistry is captivating and deeply rooted in meaningful change,” said Abby Klanecky, Dow Chemical’s director of social and digital marketing. “What people may not realize is that millennials want to feel they are making a difference in the world.”

All of this adds up to a bright future for the marketing professional with a keen interest in social media. With so much work to be had, the most difficult decision might be whether you should tweet or post status updates for a living.