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The differences between direct marketing specialists and product specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a direct marketing specialist and a product specialist. Additionally, a product specialist has an average salary of $85,932, which is higher than the $59,907 average annual salary of a direct marketing specialist.
The top three skills for a direct marketing specialist include marketing campaigns, customer service and data entry. The most important skills for a product specialist are customer service, product knowledge, and sales floor.
| Direct Marketing Specialist | Product Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $59,907 | $85,932 |
| Hourly rate | $28.80 | $41.31 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 125,958 | 103,863 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A direct marketing specialist develops marketing strategies and promotes products or services directly to customers, aiming to secure sales and raise brand awareness. Their responsibilities usually include conducting market research and analyses, studying the consumer trends and competitors, identifying business and client opportunities, establishing objectives, and creating marketing materials for different programs and platforms. Moreover, there are times when a direct marketing specialist collaborates with external parties such as vendors and distributors, analyze client feedback, and assist clients by answering inquiries, processing sales, and solving issues and concerns.
A product specialist is required to have excellent knowledge about a product and work with a business unit to ensure excellent product delivery. Product specialists perform product demonstrations to customers and other stakeholders and assist in their promotions and product releases. To gain increased revenue, product specialists must be able to identify new market opportunities. They are required to conduct product and sales training for the marketing team. They must also provide reports about their product-related activities to the management.
Direct marketing specialists and product specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Direct Marketing Specialist | Product Specialist | |
| Average salary | $59,907 | $85,932 |
| Salary range | Between $44,000 And $80,000 | Between $56,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a direct marketing specialist and a product specialist in terms of educational background:
| Direct Marketing Specialist | Product Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between direct marketing specialists' and product specialists' demographics:
| Direct Marketing Specialist | Product Specialist | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1% | Male, 59.8% Female, 40.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.4% Asian, 9.6% White, 67.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.5% Asian, 10.6% White, 66.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |