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Social media director vs communications director

The differences between social media directors and communications directors can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a social media director and a communications director. Additionally, a communications director has an average salary of $107,700, which is higher than the $70,846 average annual salary of a social media director.

The top three skills for a social media director include facebook insights, instagram and twitter. The most important skills for a communications director are web content, press releases, and customer service.

Social media director vs communications director overview

Social Media DirectorCommunications Director
Yearly salary$70,846$107,700
Hourly rate$34.06$51.78
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs39,01627,939
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Average age4242
Years of experience44

What does a social media director do?

Social Media Directors are responsible for the promotion of an organization's brand, services, and products through social media platforms such as Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook. They are responsible for implementing a social media strategy, tracking social media presence, keeping abreast of social media trends, and adopting new social media channels. Other duties include measuring Twitter activity, analyzing traffic patterns, assessing Facebook comments, and inspecting reception levels of social media messages. They contribute to creating progress reports, providing feedback to management, and contributing to strategy improvements.

What does a communications director do?

A communications director is responsible for monitoring and supervising the overall media relations from internal to external communications. A communications director's duties include managing campaigns, providing organizational updates to the employees, supporting social media marketing, developing effective communication strategies to build the organization's reputation, and efficiently leading team members in handling events that represent the business. Communications directors must have strong leadership and communication skills to provide support for the company's daily operations and strategies.

Social media director vs communications director salary

Social media directors and communications directors have different pay scales, as shown below.

Social Media DirectorCommunications Director
Average salary$70,846$107,700
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $124,000Between $61,000 And $188,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateIdahoNevada
Best paying companyAccentureMcKinsey & Company Inc
Best paying industryInternetHealth Care

Differences between social media director and communications director education

There are a few differences between a social media director and a communications director in terms of educational background:

Social Media DirectorCommunications Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 76%
Most common majorCommunicationCommunication
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityStanford University

Social media director vs communications director demographics

Here are the differences between social media directors' and communications directors' demographics:

Social Media DirectorCommunications Director
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 42.8% Female, 57.2%Male, 40.2% Female, 59.8%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 5.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%Black or African American, 5.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 5.1% White, 75.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between social media director and communications director duties and responsibilities

Social media director example responsibilities.

  • Manage client Facebook accounts to increase their sales/promotions.
  • Perform administrative duties including ordering photography supplies, managing expenses bookkeeping, updating photography inventory and archives.
  • Determine KPIs and metrics for success across platforms and develop strategies to meet client ROI expectations.
  • Create addiction and recovery relate blog posts for fifteen hours each week through a WordPress account.
  • Negotiate SmartPlus, Arbitron and Nielsen contracts.
  • Engage and nurture social media communities using HootSuite.
  • Show more

Communications director example responsibilities.

  • Assist in managing the Facebook and Instagram pages.
  • Develop and manage c-level strategic client relationships to grow revenue base.
  • Create and manage corporate website, online demand gen through SEO and SEM.
  • Manage editorial content of the organization website, build and upload web pages via HTML.
  • Manage the marketing strategy and budget, including B2C acquisition campaigns focuse on out of home and DRTV.
  • Manage media relations, announcements, editorial placement, and speaking opportunities the organizations.
  • Show more

Social media director vs communications director skills

Common social media director skills
  • Facebook Insights, 10%
  • Instagram, 9%
  • Twitter, 8%
  • Social Media Marketing, 7%
  • Digital Marketing, 6%
  • Web Content, 5%
Common communications director skills
  • Web Content, 8%
  • Press Releases, 8%
  • Customer Service, 7%
  • External Communications, 5%
  • Project Management, 4%
  • Employee Engagement, 4%

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