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Social media director vs public relations manager

The differences between social media directors and public relations managers 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 manager. Additionally, a public relations manager has an average salary of $91,426, 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 manager are press releases, web content, and pr campaigns.

Social media director vs public relations manager overview

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Manager
Yearly salary$70,846$91,426
Hourly rate$34.06$43.95
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs39,01635,273
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 79%
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 manager do?

A public relations manager is responsible for monitoring the public relations department to boost its brand image and attract potential clients through press releases and media coverage. They work closely with the marketing team, developing marketing campaigns and promotional strategies for creating brand awareness. Public relations managers maintain the company's presence on various social media platforms, responding to the customers' inquiries and concerns regarding the company's goods and services. A public relations manager must have excellent communication and leadership skills, especially in identifying business opportunities to increase revenues and profitability.

Social media director vs public relations manager salary

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

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Manager
Average salary$70,846$91,426
Salary rangeBetween $40,000 And $124,000Between $64,000 And $128,000
Highest paying CitySeattle, WALas Vegas, NV
Highest paying stateIdahoNevada
Best paying companyAccentureGoogle
Best paying industryInternetTechnology

Differences between social media director and public relations manager education

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

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Manager
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 80%Bachelor's Degree, 79%
Most common majorCommunicationCommunication
Most common collegeNorthwestern UniversityNorthwestern University

Social media director vs public relations manager demographics

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

Social Media DirectorPublic Relations Manager
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 42.8% Female, 57.2%Male, 34.5% Female, 65.5%
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, 5.9% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 9.1% Asian, 5.1% White, 74.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage16%16%

Differences between social media director and public relations manager 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 manager example responsibilities.

  • Manage social media - provide content ideas, monitor FB and Instagram activity.
  • Manage events and promotions; create Christmas event, manage twitter account and make marketing plans.
  • Lead a successful rebranding effort to transition the organization into a premier corporate training provider in SoCal.
  • Lead a rebranding and revitalization of the intranet by focusing on improving internal communication, search capabilities, and branding elements.
  • Interview featured alumni, manage copywriting staff and editorial calendar, and coordinate photography.
  • Maintain strong working relationships across all departments to manage successful on-site opportunities, content and multimedia asset development and spokesperson requests.
  • Show more

Social media director vs public relations manager 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 manager skills
  • Press Releases, 20%
  • Web Content, 5%
  • Pr Campaigns, 4%
  • Marketing Campaigns, 4%
  • Digital Marketing, 4%
  • Facebook, 3%

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