Social media marketers are stuck in a burnout trap. Here’s how to break free (opens in new tab)

It’s almost midnight when the phone buzzes—a client text, a comment that needs a reply, a trend that will be stale by morning. For the people who run brand accounts on social media, the workday never really ends. We’re marketing researchers who study and teach the students who go on to fill these jobs. In , we interviewed social media marketers in the United States, Ireland, India, Germany, and Australia and saw a profession quietly running on empty: passionate, creative people who are mental...