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Assistant media planner vs publicist

The differences between assistant media planners and publicists 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 publicist. Additionally, a publicist has an average salary of $50,679, 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 publicist are press releases, press materials, and public relations campaigns.

Assistant media planner vs publicist overview

Assistant Media PlannerPublicist
Yearly salary$38,916$50,679
Hourly rate$18.71$24.36
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs26,9447,343
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 94%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
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 publicist do?

Public Relations Supervisors are responsible for implementing the media and public relations strategy of an organization. Their duties include developing public relations campaigns, organize public relations events, assist in emergency response planning, updating documentation, monitoring media, improve management of press office, and manage media databases. They are responsible for assisting with journalistic content writing, refine internal processes, and track public relations activity performance. They help prepare reports as well as undertake competitor and market research.

Assistant media planner vs publicist salary

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

Assistant Media PlannerPublicist
Average salary$38,916$50,679
Salary rangeBetween $31,000 And $48,000Between $30,000 And $83,000
Highest paying City-San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state-Washington
Best paying company-J. The Jewish News of Northern California
Best paying industry-Media

Differences between assistant media planner and publicist education

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

Assistant Media PlannerPublicist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 94%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common majorMarketingCommunication
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityStanford University

Assistant media planner vs publicist demographics

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

Assistant Media PlannerPublicist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 35.7% Female, 64.3%Male, 27.4% Female, 72.6%
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, 10.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between assistant media planner and publicist 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

Publicist example responsibilities.

  • Manage publicity plans for fiction and non-fiction trade paperback titles.
  • Manage and write copy for client social media platforms and ECPR's social media deliverable, which involve SEO streamlining.
  • Book non-fiction author media tours.
  • Photograph events for the instagram account.
  • Maintain appropriate media lists, clips and coverage reports.
  • Post on Facebook and other websites to promote events & products
  • Show more

Assistant media planner vs publicist skills

Common assistant media planner skills
  • PowerPoint, 11%
  • Media Planning, 9%
  • Insertion Orders, 7%
  • MRI, 5%
  • Target Audience, 4%
  • Digital Marketing, 4%
Common publicist skills
  • Press Releases, 30%
  • Press Materials, 7%
  • Public Relations Campaigns, 5%
  • Instagram, 5%
  • Twitter, 5%
  • Writing Press Releases, 4%

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