I’m a team of one researching how best to pitch asking for additional resources. Will be looking out for others’ replies on this thread. 

Following this thread. I’d love for others to chime in on their org’s team structure for the social team. We are a team of 2 (3 including my manager), with the goal of expanding in the future, but would be interested to hear how tasks, assignments and such are assigned if you have multiple team members at different levels. 

Hi there! I wanted to call out this Sprout guide, which walks through a few different social team structures from companies like VMware and Kaplan - https://sproutsocial.com/insights/guides/social-media-org-charts/

One of the toughest things in social is clear career progression. It caps out at the head of the team role typically, which is why I diversify what my team does and stretch our roles to give them and myself more growth opportunities upwards. 

When I first got at my current company I had 4 community engagement people and 2 social media managers with some other resources throughout and we had a producer and limited design. Fast forward a year and a half later and I have changed everyone’s role to be more hybrid in a way that fits their interests and potential for growth and challenges. 

• My role went from head of social and community → head of content + engagement which encompasses social, content, creator, engagement, and a large role in integrated campaign planning. 
• My two social media managers → social / creator marketing roles so they are now both hybrid and we leverage creators for many types of content needs 
• Community engagement lead  → community + ambassador program 
• Then there are three community engagement associates → they all are hybrid now and do community engagement plus another lane of interest (design, creator and product)

It’s not about more work, it’s about being smart and strategic with the talent your team has and helping them build a future path that they’re excited about. This also allows you to start growing outside of a social silo into larger marketing/brand roles at the company or a future company. 

Thanks @Nycole! This is really helpful, and I think it’s so smart to diversify your team’s responsibilities. Does your direct reports usually stay in social or do they tend to explore other career paths? 

Also, does influencer fall into your team’s responsibilities? 

Great questions @Kalee.Williams! 

Does your direct reports usually stay in social or do they tend to explore other career paths?  It’s a mix. I’ve seen people continue down a hybrid path of social/influencer and then I’ve seen some people either move towards more social or more creator. They’re armed to know what they like most but are well rounded to know how it all should work together which is the best part! I’ve seen some go into more project management or content too. 

Also, does influencer fall into your team’s responsibilities? Yes! That’s what I meant by “creator”, I use those pretty interchangeably. There are three major influencer programs that we run and my two core social people each own one and one of my community engagement stars rose her hand to take on the third and is killing it. It’s been so awesome. 

I personally am a fully “hybrid” person with a million hats in my experience bucket and I value that so much as I work to build a career into the c-suite someday. The more versatile you are the more tables you’re at and conversations you’re in, which only help you continue to expand your knowledge and depth.

Loving all the insights here. @Heather, @carrie.russell - curious to hear your takes here, knowing y’all are part of large teams yourselves! 

Glad I found this discussion as I’ve been wondering how other teams are set up. I’m in the B2B world for a firm of nearly 8,000 and am a social team of one. Thankfully I have awesome graphic designers and .com writers to lean on, but strategy, publishing, community management, reporting, and our advocacy are all on my plate. 

I’ve worked for a variety of organizations large, medium and small. Here are the structures I have experienced:

Large: 

Director, content planners, community managers and platform specific experts, paid managers. Content is provided through brand and creative teams. Dedicated creative writer, art director and social manager for real time opportunities. Up to 15 people on the team. Customer service integration for product support and social media cases.

Medium: Social lead, social manager and community specialist. Content production team of graphic designer, writer and producer to help with asset management, cropping and planning.

Small: Social media manager and intern to help produce content plans including monthly social posts, emails and manage community.