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Publicity assistant vs publicist

The differences between publicity 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 publicity assistant and a publicist. Additionally, a publicist has an average salary of $50,679, which is higher than the $39,387 average annual salary of a publicity assistant.

The top three skills for a publicity assistant include press releases, provide technical assistance and technical assistance. The most important skills for a publicist are press releases, press materials, and public relations campaigns.

Publicity assistant vs publicist overview

Publicity AssistantPublicist
Yearly salary$39,387$50,679
Hourly rate$18.94$24.36
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs8,1937,343
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does a publicity assistant do?

A publicity assistant aids and offers support to the publicity team at a public relations (PR) firm or related firms. Your duties may vary but typically include researching relevant trends and data for PR campaigns, assisting in the creation and selection of marketing materials, and developing and maintaining good client relationships. As a publicity assistant, you are responsible for promoting the organization and maintaining the public appearance, and managing and overseeing social media accounts. You are also responsible for maintaining accurate records of correspondence.

What does a publicist do?

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.

Publicity assistant vs publicist salary

Publicity assistants and publicists have different pay scales, as shown below.

Publicity AssistantPublicist
Average salary$39,387$50,679
Salary rangeBetween $27,000 And $56,000Between $30,000 And $83,000
Highest paying CityOlympia, WASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateWashingtonWashington
Best paying companyAppleJ. The Jewish News of Northern California
Best paying industryGovernmentMedia

Differences between publicity assistant and publicist education

There are a few differences between a publicity assistant and a publicist in terms of educational background:

Publicity AssistantPublicist
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 72%Bachelor's Degree, 83%
Most common majorBusinessCommunication
Most common collegeStanford UniversityStanford University

Publicity assistant vs publicist demographics

Here are the differences between publicity assistants' and publicists' demographics:

Publicity AssistantPublicist
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 33.7% Female, 66.3%Male, 27.4% Female, 72.6%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 10.3% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 5.3% White, 66.6% 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 Percentage12%12%

Differences between publicity assistant and publicist duties and responsibilities

Publicity assistant example responsibilities.

  • Manage publicity and advertisement for club and alumni events through social media
  • Garner extensive national media attention for non-fiction and commercial fiction authors.
  • Provide copywriting, proofreading and editing for marketing communications and sales collateral.
  • Used Instagram to showcase activities and involvement.
  • Work with military liaisons and DoD partners.
  • Provide on call mobile notary services for various clients.
  • Show more

Publicist example responsibilities.

  • Manage publicity plans for fiction and non-fiction trade paperback titles.
  • Manage and write copy for client social media platforms and ECPR's social media deliverable, which involve SEO streamlining.
  • Book non-fiction author media tours.
  • Photograph events for the instagram account.
  • Maintain appropriate media lists, clips and coverage reports.
  • Post on Facebook and other websites to promote events & products
  • Show more

Publicity assistant vs publicist skills

Common publicity assistant skills
  • Press Releases, 10%
  • Provide Technical Assistance, 9%
  • Technical Assistance, 8%
  • Worksheets, 7%
  • PowerPoint, 7%
  • FEMA, 5%
Common publicist skills
  • Press Releases, 30%
  • Press Materials, 7%
  • Public Relations Campaigns, 5%
  • Instagram, 5%
  • Twitter, 5%
  • Writing Press Releases, 4%

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