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Media buyer vs media coordinator

The differences between media buyers and media coordinators can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become a media buyer, becoming a media coordinator takes usually requires 2-4 years. Additionally, a media buyer has an average salary of $74,390, which is higher than the $47,471 average annual salary of a media coordinator.

The top three skills for a media buyer include digital marketing, campaign performance and media buying. The most important skills for a media coordinator are facebook, instagram, and twitter.

Media buyer vs media coordinator overview

Media BuyerMedia Coordinator
Yearly salary$74,390$47,471
Hourly rate$35.76$22.82
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs20,88435,285
Job satisfaction4-
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 87%Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Average age4842
Years of experience64

What does a media buyer do?

Media Buyers are marketing professionals who manage the company's advertisements. They create the company's media plan to determine the advertising needs of the company. They negotiate with external providers to get the best advertisement placement values. To do this, Media Buyers are expected to conduct thorough research on the different advertising companies, networks, media, size of placement, and length of advertisement. Their research must consider the target market and determine the best media to reach their target market. Media Buyers should have good negotiation skills and must be able to maintain good working relationships with providers.

What does a media coordinator do?

A media coordinator acts as a communications professional in charge of developing and implementing target communications and advertising for various media platforms. Media coordinators plan, implement, and monitor the social media strategy of an organization. They discern the most successful media outreach and establish advertising partnerships and business deals. They aim to increase their respective companies' brand awareness, strengthen their advertising campaigns, improve their marketing strategies, and increase their sales.

Media buyer vs media coordinator salary

Media buyers and media coordinators have different pay scales, as shown below.

Media BuyerMedia Coordinator
Average salary$74,390$47,471
Salary rangeBetween $56,000 And $98,000Between $34,000 And $64,000
Highest paying CityBurlington, VTUrban Honolulu, HI
Highest paying stateVermontHawaii
Best paying companyBloombergThe Joffrey Ballet
Best paying industryProfessionalManufacturing

Differences between media buyer and media coordinator education

There are a few differences between a media buyer and a media coordinator in terms of educational background:

Media BuyerMedia Coordinator
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 87%Bachelor's Degree, 82%
Most common majorCommunicationCommunication
Most common collegeUniversity of PennsylvaniaNorthwestern University

Media buyer vs media coordinator demographics

Here are the differences between media buyers' and media coordinators' demographics:

Media BuyerMedia Coordinator
Average age4842
Gender ratioMale, 30.1% Female, 69.9%Male, 36.6% Female, 63.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 8.9% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 7.7% White, 66.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.8%Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage7%12%

Differences between media buyer and media coordinator duties and responsibilities

Media buyer example responsibilities.

  • Manage both PPC and display buys across a network of clients.
  • Manage day to day performance expectation of SEO, SEM, and outside vendors.
  • Manage the client's Youtube page and report monthly on all social media platforms.
  • Manage the @ RCIHelp twitter account and provide RCI consumers with direct responses and posts.
  • Implement, alter and write algorithms using SQL in order to increase efficiency within the portfolios manage.
  • Negotiate, develop, monitor and manage delivery of book campaigns on CPA, CPC and CPM models.
  • Show more

Media coordinator example responsibilities.

  • Manage social media assets using HootSuite, TweetDeck, and mobile apps.
  • Track generate leads in CRM to better understand trending of events and campaigns.
  • Manage budget for promotional items (CDs, key chains, t-shirts, etc . )
  • Manage and optimize clients' pay-per-click (PPC) campaigns, SEO campaigns and affiliate marketing accounts.
  • Manage and distribute inventory of DVDs, CDs, and VHS for educational use by professors and students
  • Manage Facebook and twitter accounts - manage friends, approve and find new connections, network and post relevant blogs.
  • Show more

Media buyer vs media coordinator skills

Common media buyer skills
  • Digital Marketing, 18%
  • Campaign Performance, 9%
  • Media Buying, 8%
  • Facebook, 7%
  • Google Analytics, 6%
  • Media Planning, 5%
Common media coordinator skills
  • Facebook, 11%
  • Instagram, 10%
  • Twitter, 9%
  • Digital Marketing, 5%
  • Social Media Marketing, 5%
  • Social Platforms, 4%

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