Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between product marketing associates and product specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 8-10 years to become a product marketing associate, becoming a product specialist takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a product specialist has an average salary of $85,932, which is higher than the $81,820 average annual salary of a product marketing associate.
The top three skills for a product marketing associate include digital marketing, market research and product management. The most important skills for a product specialist are customer service, product knowledge, and sales floor.
| Product Marketing Associate | Product Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $81,820 | $85,932 |
| Hourly rate | $39.34 | $41.31 |
| Growth rate | 10% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 148,705 | 103,863 |
| Job satisfaction | - | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 39 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 10 | 6 |
A product marketing associate is responsible for supporting the operations of the marketing department of an organization, ensuring the efficient deliveries of marketing techniques to promote brand image and increase media presence to reach the target audience. Product marketing associates coordinate with the clients to respond to their inquiries and concerns, provide them progress updates, and inform them of marketing solutions that the team developed. They also analyze the current market trends to identify potential business opportunities that would generate more resources for revenues, implement new services, and attract potential clients and business partnerships.
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.
Product marketing associates and product specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Product Marketing Associate | Product Specialist | |
| Average salary | $81,820 | $85,932 |
| Salary range | Between $55,000 And $120,000 | Between $56,000 And $130,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Bruno, CA |
| Highest paying state | Massachusetts | California |
| Best paying company | Meta | ByteDance |
| Best paying industry | Start-up | Technology |
There are a few differences between a product marketing associate and a product specialist in terms of educational background:
| Product Marketing Associate | Product Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 73% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Business | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between product marketing associates' and product specialists' demographics:
| Product Marketing Associate | Product Specialist | |
| Average age | 39 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 52.9% Female, 47.1% | Male, 59.8% Female, 40.2% |
| Race ratio | 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% | 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% |