What does a media director do?

A media director spearheads and oversees a company's entire media-related activities, including marketing and advertising campaigns. They are in charge of setting goals and guidelines, liaising and building positive relationships with external parties, conceptualizing plans for projects and campaigns, and developing strategies to optimize operations. It is also their duty to address issues and concerns, resolving them promptly and efficiently. Furthermore, as a media director, it is essential to monitor the progress of different teams, leading and encouraging them to reach goals while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Media director responsibilities
Here are examples of responsibilities from real media director resumes:
- Manage course creation process from media asset creation to LMS formatting.
- Manage a team performing mastering and short run duplication of 1000-1500 fully finish DVD products per day.
- Manage online advertising including multiple search engine sponsor link (PPC) campaigns and display campaigns with different traffic providers/networks.
- Utilize basic HTML, CSS and advance Photoshop techniques to maintain and update the website.
- Maintain $2600 pvr while keeping high CSI and SSI.
- Record video clips and post on YouTube and website.
- Utilize multiple forms of media and publish materials for the healthcare organization.
- Analyze consumer research for media usage trends: MRI, Nielsen, Arbitron.
- Deliver budget recaps, flowcharts, posts, POVs and various analyses as needed.
- Promote events through social media outlets including the USAC blog, website, and Facebook page.
- Develop concepts for, shoot and edit product promotional videos for customers, website, and YouTube.
- Overhaul website design, images, product copy, and meta-data for improve user experience and enhance SEO.
- Triple the number of Facebook fan page followers, fostering deeper engagement through communication with supporters along the way.
- Utilize all media software and data that is provided by the agency (MRI, Nielsen, and Simmons )
- Prepare POVs on innovations in new media including, social networking, gaming, mobile and the future of digital television
Media director skills and personality traits
We calculated that 10% of Media Directors are proficient in Digital Marketing, Video Production, and Media Planning. They’re also known for soft skills such as Leadership skills, Problem-solving skills, and Speaking skills.
We break down the percentage of Media Directors that have these skills listed on their resume here:
- Digital Marketing, 10%
Worked collaboratively with brand managers to administer a $150 million annual digital marketing budget.
- Video Production, 9%
Managed multimedia production department, developed corporate training programs, and managed off-site video productions.
- Media Planning, 6%
Implemented media planning buying for business segments of financial, consumer, medical, industrial, retail, insurance and automotive.
- Client Relationships, 5%
Developed and nurture C-suite/executive level client relationships with clients to expand agency business engagements.
- Facebook, 4%
Guided formation of social media push that led to Facebook growth from under 400 to 3,500 fans in two weeks.
- TV, 4%
Provided TV Broadcast Mobile Production Services for University, outside Civic Organizations and State/Local Businesses upon request.
Common skills that a media director uses to do their job include "digital marketing," "video production," and "media planning." You can find details on the most important media director responsibilities below.
Leadership skills. One of the key soft skills for a media director to have is leadership skills. You can see how this relates to what media directors do because "public relations and fundraising managers often lead large teams of specialists or fundraisers and must be able to guide their activities." Additionally, a media director resume shows how media directors use leadership skills: "selected contributions: promotions event planning photography, videography, post production editing leadership service"
Problem-solving skills. Another essential skill to perform media director duties is problem-solving skills. Media directors responsibilities require that "managers sometimes must explain how the company or client is handling sensitive issues." Media directors also use problem-solving skills in their role according to a real resume snippet: "managed diverse group of clients and led team of planners and supervisors to create revenue-building media planning solutions. "
Speaking skills. This is an important skill for media directors to perform their duties. For an example of how media director responsibilities depend on this skill, consider that "public relations and fundraising managers regularly speak on behalf of their organization." This excerpt from a resume also shows how vital it is to everyday roles and responsibilities of a media director: "trained and scheduled volunteers when necessary.key accomplishments:developed and presented media for sunday service, website and youtube. ".
Writing skills. A big part of what media directors do relies on "writing skills." You can see how essential it is to media director responsibilities because "managers must be able to write well-organized and clear press releases and speeches." Here's an example of how this skill is used from a resume that represents typical media director tasks: "manage all media relations, writing press releases, and assuring media coverage. "
Communication skills. Another common skill required for media director responsibilities is "communication skills." This skill comes up in the duties of media directors all the time, as "managers deal with the public regularly; therefore, they must be friendly enough to build a rapport with, and receive cooperation from, their media contacts and donors." An excerpt from a real media director resume shows how this skill is central to what a media director does: "coordinated all media communications, including advertising and press releases"
Organizational skills. Another skill commonly found on media director job descriptions is "organizational skills." It can come up quite often in media director duties, since "public relations and fundraising managers are often in charge of running several events at the same time, requiring superior organizational skills." Here's an example from a resume of how this skill fits into day-to-day media director responsibilities: "reported roi on organizational and campaign level to senior executives. "
The three companies that hire the most media directors are:
- Pwc10 media directors jobs
- Phunware
9 media directors jobs
- Wpp Us Holdings Inc8 media directors jobs
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Media director vs. Communications lead
The global senior program manager acts as a coordinator for the organization's projects and performs various tasks including supervision, account management, daily staff assignments, budget planning, cost control, and tracking program expenses by collaborating with various global departments to enhance all global programs. He/she should have excellent analytical, decision-making, leadership, and organization skills and knowledge about project management to be able to oversee and organize activities to ensure its compliance with the organization's goals.
These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. The responsibilities of a media director are more likely to require skills like "video production," "client relationships," "tv," and "client facing." On the other hand, a job as a communications lead requires skills like "project management," "strategic communications," "hr," and "customer service." As you can see, what employees do in each career varies considerably.
Communications leads tend to make the most money working in the internet industry, where they earn an average salary of $125,151. In contrast, media directors make the biggest average salary, $117,485, in the professional industry.The education levels that communications leads earn slightly differ from media directors. In particular, communications leads are 4.3% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a media director. Additionally, they're 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Media director vs. Communications/senior communications manager
A communications/senior communications manager specializes in handling and overseeing internal and external communications within a workplace, ensuring accuracy and timeliness. Their responsibilities typically revolve around developing strategies for better workforce and public communications, crafting marketing materials such as press kits and newsletters, and coordinating with other departments to create new materials and opportunities for marketing. A communications/senior communications manager may also participate in managing social media operations and launching strategies for product launches and events. Furthermore, as a manager, it is essential to lead and encourage the team, all while implementing the company's policies and regulations.
Each career also uses different skills, according to real media director resumes. While media director responsibilities can utilize skills like "video production," "client relationships," "tv," and "client facing," communications/senior communications managers use skills like "strategic communications," "project management," "corporate communications," and "external communications."
Communications/senior communications managers earn a lower average salary than media directors. But communications/senior communications managers earn the highest pay in the health care industry, with an average salary of $107,621. Additionally, media directors earn the highest salaries in the professional with average pay of $117,485 annually.Average education levels between the two professions vary. Communications/senior communications managers tend to reach similar levels of education than media directors. In fact, they're 4.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.7% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Media director vs. Public relations manager
A public relations manager is responsible for monitoring the public relations department to boost its brand image and attract potential clients through press releases and media coverage. They work closely with the marketing team, developing marketing campaigns and promotional strategies for creating brand awareness. Public relations managers maintain the company's presence on various social media platforms, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the company's goods and services. A public relations manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability.
Some important key differences between the two careers include a few of the skills necessary to fulfill the responsibilities of each. Some examples from media director resumes include skills like "video production," "client relationships," "tv," and "client facing," whereas a public relations manager is more likely to list skills in "pr campaigns," "marketing campaigns," "fact sheets," and "external communications. "
Public relations managers earn the highest salary when working in the technology industry, where they receive an average salary of $114,540. Comparatively, media directors have the highest earning potential in the professional industry, with an average salary of $117,485.Most public relations managers achieve a similar degree level compared to media directors. For example, they're 2.2% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 0.4% more likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.Media director vs. Public information officer
The primary job of a public information officer involves the promotion of a positive public image on social media. Public information officers offer significant information during a crisis. They collect facts and distribute them to the media and organize special events like awards ceremonies. Typically, they work for large organizations and government agencies. They maintain their online presence that can be part of the duties of public information. Also, they can work for long hours on an irregular schedule, especially when the incidents or situations affect the organization.
Types of media director
Updated January 8, 2025











