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Community relations specialist vs publicist

The differences between community relations specialists 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 a community relations specialist and a publicist. Additionally, a publicist has an average salary of $50,679, which is higher than the $49,344 average annual salary of a community relations specialist.

The top three skills for a community relations specialist include press releases, event planning and community events. The most important skills for a publicist are press releases, press materials, and public relations campaigns.

Community relations specialist vs publicist overview

Community Relations SpecialistPublicist
Yearly salary$49,344$50,679
Hourly rate$23.72$24.36
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs28,5097,343
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does a community relations specialist do?

A community relations specialist is responsible for handling the organization's community engagements by facilitating fundraising events, volunteering acts, and charity programs and partnerships. Community relations specialists also write content for public and media promotions to promote brand awareness and the company's mission across the community. They should also be updated with the current events and situations to identify events and strategies that will help stabilize the society's condition. Since this type of job requires interacting with community people, a community relations specialist must have excellent communication skills to respond to their inquiries and concerns.

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.

Community relations specialist vs publicist salary

Community relations specialists and publicists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Community Relations SpecialistPublicist
Average salary$49,344$50,679
Salary rangeBetween $34,000 And $70,000Between $30,000 And $83,000
Highest paying CityAlexandria, VASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateVirginiaWashington
Best paying companyCity National BankJ. The Jewish News of Northern California
Best paying industryGovernmentMedia

Differences between community relations specialist and publicist education

There are a few differences between a community relations specialist and a publicist in terms of educational background:

Community Relations SpecialistPublicist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 71%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common majorBusinessCommunication
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Community relations specialist vs publicist demographics

Here are the differences between community relations specialists' and publicists' demographics:

Community Relations SpecialistPublicist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 25.3% Female, 74.7%Male, 27.4% Female, 72.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.7% 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 community relations specialist and publicist duties and responsibilities

Community relations specialist example responsibilities.

  • Own an aspect of social media content managing Facebook, Google+, and LinkedIn pages
  • Grow and manage existing relationships in assign territories with physicians, hospitals, skil nursing and rehabilitation facilities and assist livings.
  • Used marketing pieces to explain complex topics such as Medicaid and VA benefits.
  • Maintain effective communication with all local and county programs that service children from the Medicaid population.
  • Work with administrators, managers and department heads to add/edit/develop content as necessary, ensuring accuracy of content and utilizing SEO.
  • Research and contact digital influencers (YouTube).
  • 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

Community relations specialist vs publicist skills

Common community relations specialist skills
  • Press Releases, 8%
  • Event Planning, 8%
  • Community Events, 8%
  • PowerPoint, 7%
  • Public Speaking, 6%
  • Community Relations, 6%
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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