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The differences between public relations assistants and publicists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a public relations assistant and a publicist. Additionally, a publicist has an average salary of $50,679, which is higher than the $46,197 average annual salary of a public relations assistant.
The top three skills for a public relations assistant include press releases, facebook and twitter. The most important skills for a publicist are press releases, press materials, and public relations campaigns.
| Public Relations Assistant | Publicist | |
| Yearly salary | $46,197 | $50,679 |
| Hourly rate | $22.21 | $24.36 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 26,021 | 7,343 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 81% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 4 | 4 |
A public relations assistant is responsible for assisting the development of promotional campaigns based on clients' specifications to boost brand awareness and generate sales for the company. Public relations assistants support the organization's public relations department, such as handling press releases, monitoring social media platforms, scheduling media advertisements, and perform market research to identify close competitors and adjust campaign strategies as needed. They also perform administrative duties, responding to the client's inquiries and concerns, conducting customer surveys, and requesting supplies for marketing campaigns, requiring them to have excellent communication and customer service skills.
Public Relations Supervisors are responsible for implementing the media and public relations strategy of an organization. Their duties include developing public relations campaigns, organize public relations events, assist in emergency response planning, updating documentation, monitoring media, improve management of press office, and manage media databases. They are responsible for assisting with journalistic content writing, refine internal processes, and track public relations activity performance. They help prepare reports as well as undertake competitor and market research.
Public relations assistants and publicists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Public Relations Assistant | Publicist | |
| Average salary | $46,197 | $50,679 |
| Salary range | Between $34,000 And $61,000 | Between $30,000 And $83,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | Washington | Washington |
| Best paying company | California Institute of Technology | J. The Jewish News of Northern California |
| Best paying industry | Finance | Media |
There are a few differences between a public relations assistant and a publicist in terms of educational background:
| Public Relations Assistant | Publicist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 81% | Bachelor's Degree, 83% |
| Most common major | Communication | Communication |
| Most common college | Northwestern University | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between public relations assistants' and publicists' demographics:
| Public Relations Assistant | Publicist | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 24.5% Female, 75.5% | Male, 27.4% Female, 72.6% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 10.1% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.0% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 12% | 12% |