The global expenditure on social media advertising is expected to reach $255.8 billion by 2028, with an estimated three-quarters of this spending projected to occur by the end of 2024. This growth is attributable to more than half of the global population using social media platforms. The integration of artificial intelligence has facilitated new avenues for companies to enhance their brand presence and effectively market their products.
The increasing interest and financial investment in social media advertising offer opportunities for individuals seeking flexible work or additional income, as well as those looking to challenge and develop their skill set. You don't have to be an influencer to tap into this trend. Here are five lucrative side hustle ideas that leverage the booming advertising industry, each with potential earnings outlined from various salary comparison sites. However, actual rates may vary based on market factors and individual expertise.
1. Social Media Advertising Consultant
As a social media advertising consultant, you would be advising businesses on how to craft effective and engaging content to promote their brand presence, products, and services, and you would consult on the best social media campaign strategy for their business you would usually be working as an extension of the team, but you have the freedom of being a freelancer.
Average you can expect to earn: $95,000 per annum
2. Social Media Manager
Fancy managing the social media profiles of businesses or individuals seeking to establish their personal brand? Social media managers take the social media strategy a step further and are focused on its execution, through content writing and creation, managing and scheduling content calendars in line with trends, and community management (engaging with followers and responding to DMs for example), across multiple platforms.
Average you can expect to earn: $60,918 per annum
3. YouTube Channel Manager
YouTube channel managers are responsible for editing, uploading, and generally managing the content upload and broadcast schedule of YouTube channels for companies or personalities. In this freelance side hustle, you might also be involved with responding to comments, and you'll be ensuring video titles and other related data are fully optimized to drive high traffic from Google and YouTube itself.
The average you can expect to earn: $109,000 per annum
4. PPC Campaign Manager
PPC (pay-per-click) is a form of advertising in which an advertising business pays a fee to promote their services or product, every time an ad is clicked on the host site (in this case, on social media platforms such as Facebook).
As a PPC campaign manager, you would advise and help businesses by crafting effective ad campaigns that will drive high results and yield more clicks, in turn leading to more clients and warm leads. You might also decide to specialize in Google Ads to expand your expertise and earning potential.
Average you can expect to earn: $156,000
5. LinkedIn Profile/Content Writer
There are many individuals at the brink of their careers or at an intersection of career paths, who could use a makeover for their LinkedIn profile. Giving their profiles a lift means that you would be optimizing each section and ensuring it is targeted to attract the right professionals on LinkedIn's platform—whether the client is seeking new employment, transitioning careers, or using their profile for business and sales.
You can also take it a step further and design and edit company profiles on LinkedIn as part of your service offering, and continue managing their LinkedIn presence and writing content to drive traction to their page on LinkedIn.
The average you can expect to earn: $96,000
As you can see, there's more to making money in the social media advertising space, than what initially meets the eye. Through utilizing your skills in content writing, social media analytics and trends tools, and creative, out-of-the-box thinking, you can earn just as much—or even more—than you make at your 9-5 job.