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The differences between marketing communications specialists and marketing leads can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a marketing communications specialist, becoming a marketing lead takes usually requires 8-10 years. Additionally, a marketing lead has an average salary of $104,664, which is higher than the $53,993 average annual salary of a marketing communications specialist.
The top three skills for a marketing communications specialist include digital marketing, project management and graphic design. The most important skills for a marketing lead are digital marketing, marketing campaigns, and project management.
| Marketing Communications Specialist | Marketing Lead | |
| Yearly salary | $53,993 | $104,664 |
| Hourly rate | $25.96 | $50.32 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 10% |
| Number of jobs | 95,444 | 92,987 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 10 |
A marketing communications specialist is an individual who is responsible for creating all the marketing materials that are distributed to customers to increase brand awareness for the company's products or services. To create these materials, marketing communications specialists must collaborate with graphic design teams. They are required to track their marketing performance so that they can identify ways to improve their marketing strategies. Marketing communications specialists must also set up interviews and press conferences as part of their marketing campaign.
A marketing lead is an individual who is responsible for overseeing a team of marketing specialists to help a company achieve its marketing goals. Marketing leads are required to create and manage marketing plans so that they can deliver marketing campaigns on time and escalate issues that may prevent prompt delivery. They can incorporate a mix of different strategies in campaigns such as digital publishing, templates, and training. Marketing leads must work closely with account managers and sales engineers so that they can empower them to effectively position the company's products differently from their competitors.
Marketing communications specialists and marketing leads have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Marketing Communications Specialist | Marketing Lead | |
| Average salary | $53,993 | $104,664 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $80,000 | Between $74,000 And $146,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Delaware | California |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a marketing communications specialist and a marketing lead in terms of educational background:
| Marketing Communications Specialist | Marketing Lead | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 79% | Bachelor's Degree, 72% |
| Most common major | Communication | Business |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between marketing communications specialists' and marketing leads' demographics:
| Marketing Communications Specialist | Marketing Lead | |
| Average age | 37 | 39 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 28.0% Female, 72.0% | Male, 50.8% Female, 49.2% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.3% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.6% Asian, 9.6% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 3.0% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 8.7% Asian, 8.2% White, 74.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |