Social media marketers are already at max capacity

“I can’t keep up with it all—research, planning, content creation, analytics, and more. I’m burnt out,” shared one social media manager. These words likely resonate with many in the industry. Full-time social marketers report spending an average of 40 hours a week solely on social media management tasks, with some logging over 60 hours. This doesn’t even include admin duties, meetings, and additional responsibilities, which add several more hours to their weekly workload.

How does this affect social media career longevity? A Q2 2023 Sprout Pulse Survey reveals that 42% of social marketers plan to leave their roles within the next two years, and 20% want to change careers within the next 12 months. Additionally, 63% report feeling burned out. The longevity of social media careers is declining, and continuing to overburden marketers will only exacerbate the issue—for both social teams and the brands they support.

These challenges are compounded by an unpredictable economy, with many teams facing stagnant or shrinking budgets. Social media professionals are expected to juggle an expanding list of critical tasks—from content creation to competitive analysis to customer care—with fewer resources and limited staff.

Section 01: The anatomy of a social media marketer’s day

Despite the emergence of more specialized roles, social media marketers are still expected to handle everything. With such a wide range of responsibilities, it’s inevitable that some tasks will occasionally fall through the cracks.

Social media marketers have jam-packed workdays, but what does their typical day entail? According to our data, they spend most of their weekly hours creating content and obtaining approvals. This focus, however, limits the time available for other essential tasks like data analysis, strategic planning, and customer engagement.

Nearly half (48%) of social media marketers feel they sometimes or rarely have enough time to complete their tasks. Many are struggling to find time to respond to customers—a crucial part of delivering a great customer experience. According to the latest Sprout Social Index™, audiences value brands that are responsive above all else, so missing DMs or mentions poses a significant opportunity cost.

Tasks social media marketers wish they had more time for:

• Responding to customers
• Strategic planning
• Content creation & approvals
• Data analysis & reporting
• Tracking network trends
• Audience research using social listening
• People management
• Competitive research
• Employee advocacy
• Collaborating with other teams
• Influencer management
• Meeting with leadership

With new technologies, increased influencer management, and heightened customer care demands, how can social teams balance all these priorities?

For social media marketers, manual tasks often hinder prioritizing impactful work and meeting team responsibilities. Nearly all the marketers surveyed reported facing some degree of inefficiency, with manual work being the most common obstacle to achieving innovative and high-quality results.

The most time-consuming manual efforts include influencer management and employee advocacy. While these tasks are essential, they don’t need to be so tedious. Automating repetitive work with AI, bots, or automated rules would free up valuable time for more strategic activities.

These repetitive tasks take away hours that could be better spent engaging with the community, refining strategic plans, and creating standout content. Notably, 29% of social media marketers cite having inadequate tools—or using the wrong ones—as a key challenge. This number rises to 40% among marketers without a dedicated social media management platform. Insufficient resources not only hinder teams’ ability to deliver their best work but also leave them struggling to manage their increasing workloads.

Discover how leading marketers streamline their workflows, prioritize impactful work, and maximize productivity with the right strategies and tools. Download the full report to gain actionable insights, data-backed recommendations, and practical solutions to optimize your team’s efficiency and effectiveness.

Related guide: The Social Media Management Maturity Model | Brandwatch

• Social media marketers are already at max capacity
• Section 01: The anatomy of a social media marketer’s day
• Section 02: Making time for meaningful work
• Section 03: Technology is the missing link
• Section 04: Not all platforms are created equal
• What technology will help you manage social, smarter?
• About the data
• Sprout Social

Number of Pages:

• 12 pages

Pricing: 

• Free

Methodology

This research was conducted online in the US and UK by Cint on behalf of Sprout Social. Participants included 500 full-time social marketers involved in managing their brand’s social media strategy (i.e., performed the job themselves or managed someone who does) who were surveyed from a cross-section of US and UK businesses with at least 500 employees. The survey was conducted from December 14 to December 28, 2023.

Relationships between variables collected were analyzed using parametric statistics for statistical significance.