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Assistant media planner vs media specialist

The differences between assistant media planners and media specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both an assistant media planner and a media specialist. Additionally, a media specialist has an average salary of $50,832, which is higher than the $38,916 average annual salary of an assistant media planner.

The top three skills for an assistant media planner include powerpoint, media planning and insertion orders. The most important skills for a media specialist are digital marketing, video production, and customer service.

Assistant media planner vs media specialist overview

Assistant Media PlannerMedia Specialist
Yearly salary$38,916$50,832
Hourly rate$18.71$24.44
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs26,94439,401
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 94%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does an assistant media planner do?

An assistant media planner is responsible for supporting the advertising and public relations team in developing media publications, social platform content, and press releases for campaign management. Assistant media planners maximize resources to boost the clients' brand image to different media platforms and ensure that the advertising efforts reach the target audience. They also analyze the feasibility of campaigns and develop marketing strategies within the clients' budget limitations and timetables. An assistant media planner must be very creative and communicative to recommend media plans and enhance brand recognition.

What does a media specialist do?

Media specialists are individuals who establish and administer content on various social media platforms. The job involves monitoring site metrics, overseeing creative design, and responding to reader comments. Specialists offer advice to administrators and teachers on the use of non-print social media. They work for huge enterprises with multimedia departments, new media departments, and in-house websites. The skills the job requires include trend awareness, social media ads, community management, strong visual aesthetic, and understanding SEO.

Assistant media planner vs media specialist salary

Assistant media planners and media specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Assistant Media PlannerMedia Specialist
Average salary$38,916$50,832
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $48,000Between $35,000 And $73,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-New Jersey
Best paying company-BP America Inc
Best paying industry-Professional

Differences between assistant media planner and media specialist education

There are a few differences between an assistant media planner and a media specialist in terms of educational background:

Assistant Media PlannerMedia Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 94%Bachelor's Degree, 70%
Most common majorMarketingCommunication
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityStanford University

Assistant media planner vs media specialist demographics

Here are the differences between assistant media planners' and media specialists' demographics:

Assistant Media PlannerMedia Specialist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 35.7% Female, 64.3%Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between assistant media planner and media specialist duties and responsibilities

Assistant media planner example responsibilities.

  • Manage display and paid search campaigns to specific KPIs.
  • Assist in managing media plans consisting of spot TV, local radio, trade magazines and outdoor.
  • Manage MRI research system generating specific demographic information for media recommendations.
  • Perform market research into media habits of target populations (GfK MRI, Simmons, Nielsen).
  • Present recommendations, POVs and select analyses to clients and account service teams.
  • Develop RFP documents and field vendor inquiries surrounding client campaigns and overarching objectives.
  • Show more

Media specialist example responsibilities.

  • Develop fresh leads to connect with by utilizing LinkedIn connections and resources.
  • Manage content for and development of the museum's Drupal website, cartermuseum.org.
  • Manage teams for film, video, animation, & multimedia creation of any kind.
  • Assign to work as a media associate at Starcom managing a portion of the Kellogg's account.
  • Develop and manage proprietary PPC support material.
  • Participate in brainstorming sessions, proofread and edit marketing materials, manage magazine inventory.
  • Show more

Assistant media planner vs media specialist skills

Common assistant media planner skills
  • PowerPoint, 11%
  • Media Planning, 9%
  • Insertion Orders, 7%
  • MRI, 5%
  • Target Audience, 4%
  • Digital Marketing, 4%
Common media specialist skills
  • Digital Marketing, 14%
  • Video Production, 7%
  • Customer Service, 5%
  • Web Content, 5%
  • Google Analytics, 4%
  • Google Adwords, 3%

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