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Social media director vs public relations director

The differences between social media directors and public relations 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 public relations director. Additionally, a public relations director has an average salary of $94,692, 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 public relations director are press releases, web content, and pr campaigns.

Social media director vs public relations director overview

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Director
Yearly salary$70,846$94,692
Hourly rate$34.06$45.52
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs39,01631,693
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
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 public relations director do?

A public relations director is an individual who is employed to design and implement marketing strategies that can cultivate the relationship between a company and the media. Public relations directors collaborate with the internal team to boost brand awareness and maximize brand consistency in all advertising efforts. They must arrange interviews and press releases so that they can promote their company and its products or services. They also maintain relationships with the media and should manage sensitive issues to maintain the company's good reputation.

Social media director vs public relations director salary

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

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Director
Average salary$70,846$94,692
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $124,000Between $59,000 And $150,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WANapa, CA
Highest paying stateIdahoNevada
Best paying companyAccentureExelixis
Best paying industryInternetInternet

Differences between social media director and public relations director education

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

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Director
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 81%
Most common majorCommunicationCommunication
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityStanford University

Social media director vs public relations director demographics

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

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Director
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 42.8% Female, 57.2%Male, 35.9% Female, 64.1%
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, 6.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between social media director and public relations 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

Public relations director example responsibilities.

  • Manage internal agency public relations, blog content and twitter account.
  • Hire, train and manage play-by-play broadcasters guaranteeing a professional and informative listening experience.
  • Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
  • Assist in development-relate alumni campaigns and event planning.
  • Keep running list and archive information regarding NCAA commitments.
  • Compile statistics and update game notes, player biographies, player and team statistics.
  • Show more

Social media director vs public relations 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 public relations director skills
  • Press Releases, 19%
  • Web Content, 9%
  • Pr Campaigns, 5%
  • Facebook, 4%
  • Crisis Communications, 4%
  • Twitter, 3%

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