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The differences between account strategists and account directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an account strategist, becoming an account director takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, an account director has an average salary of $114,728, which is higher than the $95,655 average annual salary of an account strategist.
The top three skills for an account strategist include digital marketing, client facing and account management. The most important skills for an account director are account management, project management, and work ethic.
| Account Strategist | Account Director | |
| Yearly salary | $95,655 | $114,728 |
| Hourly rate | $45.99 | $55.16 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 5% |
| Number of jobs | 69,217 | 132,260 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Average age | 37 | 46 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 8 |
An account strategist helps client accounts achieve their short and long-term goals by establishing business strategies and guidelines. They typically gather and analyze data, review feedback from clients, conduct risk assessments, perform research and analysis to identify the weaknesses and strengths of existing procedures, develop reports and presentations, and implement solutions against problem areas while working together with account managers and analysts. Moreover, an account strategist may also help address client concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently to ensure client satisfaction.
An account director is responsible for managing client accounts, monitoring budgets, and sales forecasting. Their goal is to maintain stable account management strategies, meet clients' demands, develop healthy professional partnerships that would generate revenues, increase profitability, and achieve the organization's long-term goals objectives. Account directors supervise the account management staff, ensuring the project's successful completion with the highest efficiency and accuracy. An account director also plans training programs to maximize their performance and productivity, especially when dealing with deadlines and clients' requests.
Account strategists and account directors have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Account Strategist | Account Director | |
| Average salary | $95,655 | $114,728 |
| Salary range | Between $66,000 And $137,000 | Between $82,000 And $158,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | New Jersey |
| Best paying company | BuzzFeed | |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between an account strategist and an account director in terms of educational background:
| Account Strategist | Account Director | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 80% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Southern California |
Here are the differences between account strategists' and account directors' demographics:
| Account Strategist | Account Director | |
| Average age | 37 | 46 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 39.9% Female, 60.1% | Male, 50.9% Female, 49.1% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 12.1% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 7% |