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Media consultant vs social media specialist

The differences between media consultants and social media specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a media consultant and a social media specialist. Additionally, a media consultant has an average salary of $53,443, which is higher than the $51,584 average annual salary of a social media specialist.

The top three skills for a media consultant include website development, facebook and twitter. The most important skills for a social media specialist are social media marketing, instagram, and digital marketing.

Media consultant vs social media specialist overview

Media ConsultantSocial Media Specialist
Yearly salary$53,443$51,584
Hourly rate$25.69$24.80
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs28,76847,228
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does a media consultant do?

A media consultant is responsible for coordinating with different people and groups to boost brand awareness and promote the brand image to the public through media communication. Media consultants work closely with the marketing or public relations team to conduct press releases, develop media campaigns, and advise executives with their speech during interviews and other related public appearances. They may also handle social media platforms, analyzing the current trends to meet the public's demands and interests.

What does a social media specialist do?

A social media specialist is an individual who is responsible for creating and administering content on all social media platforms to build an audience and ensure customer engagement. By using platforms such as Facebook and Twitter, social media specialists must create content that resonates with the interests of the intended audience. They are required to understand social media metrics so that they can use the information to ensure success in their social media strategy. Social media specialists must also work with industry professionals and influencers via social media to create a strong network.

Media consultant vs social media specialist salary

Media consultants and social media specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Media ConsultantSocial Media Specialist
Average salary$53,443$51,584
Salary rangeBetween $32,000 And $89,000Between $38,000 And $68,000
Highest paying CityWashington, DCWashington, DC
Highest paying stateWashingtonHawaii
Best paying companyiHeartMediaMcKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industry-Professional

Differences between media consultant and social media specialist education

There are a few differences between a media consultant and a social media specialist in terms of educational background:

Media ConsultantSocial Media Specialist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 77%Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common majorCommunicationCommunication
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University

Media consultant vs social media specialist demographics

Here are the differences between media consultants' and social media specialists' demographics:

Media ConsultantSocial Media Specialist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 50.3% Female, 49.7%Male, 38.6% Female, 61.4%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.0% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 5.3% White, 67.2% 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, 67.1% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage12%12%

Differences between media consultant and social media specialist duties and responsibilities

Media consultant example responsibilities.

  • Manage accounts by proactive CRM to ensure performance of marketing plans, and annual account renewals.
  • Manage accurate sales forecasting utilizing SalesForce./CRM.
  • Design and manage clients' business Facebook page, develop online advertisement campaigns and execute direct mail campaigns.
  • Used SEO tactics to produce content that rank high in search engine results, growing traffic to clients' websites.
  • Create landing pages for PPC campaigns performance.
  • Improve SEO for hundreds of websites by double, triple and quadruple percentage points.
  • Show more

Social media specialist example responsibilities.

  • Develop and manage blogger outreach program and KPIs.
  • Assist in managing the social network pages (Facebook/Twitter) as well as editing the site.
  • Create, curate, and manage all publish content (images, video and written).
  • Develop and help manage online links and search engine optimization (SEO) efforts to drive traffic to sites
  • Manage social media properties (Facebook, YouTube), including daily monitoring, posting, and content development.
  • Manage $15- $75K monthly PPC budget for 90 interactive agencies, totaling $24M annual ad spend.
  • Show more

Media consultant vs social media specialist skills

Common media consultant skills
  • Website Development, 16%
  • Facebook, 10%
  • Twitter, 8%
  • Digital Products, 7%
  • Search Engine Optimization, 5%
  • Instagram, 5%
Common social media specialist skills
  • Social Media Marketing, 8%
  • Instagram, 8%
  • Digital Marketing, 7%
  • Facebook, 7%
  • Twitter, 6%
  • Social Media Management, 5%

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