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Social media director vs director of public affairs

The differences between social media directors and directors of public affairs 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 director of public affairs. Additionally, a director of public affairs has an average salary of $114,639, 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 director of public affairs are government affairs, public policy, and external stakeholders.

Social media director vs director of public affairs overview

Social Media DirectorDirector Of Public Affairs
Yearly salary$70,846$114,639
Hourly rate$34.06$55.11
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs39,01626,290
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
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 director of public affairs do?

Directors of Public Affairs are executives who manage the public relations and communications initiatives of the company. They oversee all external communications that are intended for broadcast. They create guidelines on the proper crafting of communication materials that will be published or broadcasted. They also lead the public affairs department in networking activities and industry events. Directors of Public Affairs must be level-headed, calm, and creative. They should know how to communicate with the public, handle crises, and create successful brands.

Social media director vs director of public affairs salary

Social media directors and directors of public affairs have different pay scales, as shown below.

Social Media DirectorDirector Of Public Affairs
Average salary$70,846$114,639
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $124,000Between $70,000 And $187,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WALas Vegas, NV
Highest paying stateIdahoNevada
Best paying companyAccentureKaiser Permanente
Best paying industryInternetPharmaceutical

Differences between social media director and director of public affairs education

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

Social Media DirectorDirector Of Public Affairs
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 71%
Most common majorCommunicationPolitical Science
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityStanford University

Social media director vs director of public affairs demographics

Here are the differences between social media directors' and directors of public affairs' demographics:

Social Media DirectorDirector Of Public Affairs
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 42.8% Female, 57.2%Male, 57.6% Female, 42.4%
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, 8.9% Asian, 5.1% White, 75.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between social media director and director of public affairs 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

Director of public affairs example responsibilities.

  • Manage crisis communications, securing any media articles and editorials in support of the company.
  • Manage communications with students, alumni and faculty, including distribution of all social media
  • Prepare testimonies for city and state oversight hearings.
  • Revise and place opinion editorials on behalf of the museum's executive director.
  • Produce, edit, and publish issue orient videos for YouTube and internet.
  • Execute Marketing/PR campaigns, events/exhibits, copywriting, and print, broadcast and outdoor advertising.
  • Show more

Social media director vs director of public affairs skills

Common social media director skills
  • Facebook Insights, 10%
  • Instagram, 9%
  • Twitter, 8%
  • Social Media Marketing, 7%
  • Digital Marketing, 6%
  • Web Content, 5%
Common director of public affairs skills
  • Government Affairs, 12%
  • Public Policy, 11%
  • External Stakeholders, 7%
  • Policy Issues, 6%
  • Government Relations, 5%
  • Press Releases, 4%

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