The research team analysed more than 21,000 social media job listings across all industry sectors over the last five years.

Their central conclusion was that just 59 of Fortune Global 100 firms have invested in recruiting staff specifically assigned to core social media duties that include customer outreach, PR and marketing support and internal communications. And, while demand for social media positions has increased more than five-fold in the last five years social media salaries lag behind the equivalent positions in the traditional fields of PR, marketing and publishing.

Among their findings:

•    The social media “laggard” sectors include: financial services & insurance; petroleum & energy and utilities.
•    The social media “active” sectors include: healthcare, telecommunications, retail and automotive.
•    The number of social media job postings has increased by more than 600 percent to over 21,000 in the past five years.
•    On average, social media salaries come in $5,000-10,000 lower than their traditional counterparts.
•    Social media salaries are on the rise and could close the gap within the next year.

You can download the full report from Social Media Influence.

We’ll be providing regular updates on the way companies are integrating social media throughout their organisations and we’ll be offering some thoughts on the developing world of social content.

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