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Digital communication specialist vs public relations

The differences between digital communication specialists and public relations can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a digital communication specialist and a public relations. Additionally, a digital communication specialist has an average salary of $59,208, which is higher than the $48,383 average annual salary of a public relations.

The top three skills for a digital communication specialist include digital communications, digital marketing and wordpress. The most important skills for a public relations are press releases, web content, and facebook.

Digital communication specialist vs public relations overview

Digital Communication SpecialistPublic Relations
Yearly salary$59,208$48,383
Hourly rate$28.47$23.26
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs29,19722,721
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does a digital communication specialist do?

A digital communication specialist is responsible for managing and analyzing the effectiveness of media campaigns and digital presence. Digital communication specialists create engaging content to publish on various media outlets that would highlight the company's services and other requirements. They may also connect with the existing and potential customers by responding to their inquiries and requests and acknowledging their concerns. A digital communication specialist must have excellent communication and technical skills, especially in utilizing software tools and programs to design attractive content that would engage the target audience.

What does a public relations do?

Public relations is a strategic way of developing and maintaining a client's or company's public image through media coverage, appearances, and press releases by designing and developing events to raise funds or to spread awareness to the public regarding products, brands, or individuals. It involves research and evaluation of programs including financial, marketing, employee, or government relations using topics of public interest and news items. Due to our present technological innovations, public relations now use webinars, blogs, and downloadable resources under one convenient website.

Digital communication specialist vs public relations salary

Digital communication specialists and public relations have different pay scales, as shown below.

Digital Communication SpecialistPublic Relations
Average salary$59,208$48,383
Salary rangeBetween $45,000 And $77,000Between $32,000 And $72,000
Highest paying CityTrenton, NJRichmond, VA
Highest paying stateNew JerseyVirginia
Best paying companyMcKinsey & Company IncEdelman Financial Engines
Best paying industryHealth CareProfessional

Differences between digital communication specialist and public relations education

There are a few differences between a digital communication specialist and a public relations in terms of educational background:

Digital Communication SpecialistPublic Relations
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 79%Bachelor's Degree, 75%
Most common majorCommunicationCommunication
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityStanford University

Digital communication specialist vs public relations demographics

Here are the differences between digital communication specialists' and public relations' demographics:

Digital Communication SpecialistPublic Relations
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 48.1% Female, 51.9%Male, 36.1% Female, 63.9%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.5% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 12.3% Asian, 5.4% White, 66.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 5.3% White, 67.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between digital communication specialist and public relations duties and responsibilities

Digital communication specialist example responsibilities.

  • Manage the company facebook page.
  • Maintain distribution lists and manage and update HTML templates.
  • Manage websites and blogs using Wordpress, MODX, and others.
  • Manage copywriting for social media, website, blogs and print reports.
  • Manage organizational website using content management and HTML.
  • Develop and post product demos on YouTube, providing quick understanding of functionality to differentiate solutions and generate leads.
  • Show more

Public relations example responsibilities.

  • Manage LinkedIn profile updates and new leads.
  • Manage all copywriting elements for live broadcasts and promotional commercials.
  • Create an official office page on instagram to facilitate interaction with students.
  • Track and analyze local talent and trends on social networking sites (MySpace, YouTube).
  • Coordinate multiple marketing campaigns (SEO, CPA, CPM) and optimization of organic search traffic.
  • Edit and create YouTube videos for clientele, creating proper titles and tags to increase viewership ;.
  • Show more

Digital communication specialist vs public relations skills

Common digital communication specialist skills
  • Digital Communications, 12%
  • Digital Marketing, 5%
  • WordPress, 5%
  • Facebook, 4%
  • Graphic Design, 4%
  • Twitter, 4%
Common public relations skills
  • Press Releases, 22%
  • Web Content, 12%
  • Facebook, 5%
  • Event Planning, 4%
  • Blog Posts, 4%
  • Twitter, 4%

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