Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between social media marketers and digital marketing specialists can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a social media marketer and a digital marketing specialist. Additionally, a digital marketing specialist has an average salary of $60,359, which is higher than the $51,505 average annual salary of a social media marketer.
The top three skills for a social media marketer include facebook, instagram and social media marketing. The most important skills for a digital marketing specialist are digital marketing, marketing campaigns, and email marketing.
| Social Media Marketer | Digital Marketing Specialist | |
| Yearly salary | $51,505 | $60,359 |
| Hourly rate | $24.76 | $29.02 |
| Growth rate | 19% | 19% |
| Number of jobs | 52,486 | 94,029 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A social media marketer utilizes online platforms for marketing campaigns and projects. They typically perform market research and analysis to find opportunities and trends, identify the target audience, develop marketing plans and strategies according to the projects' needs, coordinate with content specialists and graphic designers, create marketing materials, and monitor the progress of all operations. There are also instances where they prepare and present reports to managers. Moreover, as a social media marketer, it is essential to have attention to detail and be proactive at dealing with issues.
A digital marketing specialist is an individual who is responsible for promoting products or services of a company using appropriate technology platforms effectively. Digital marketing specialists collaborate with marketing teams to plan and execute digital programs such as online advertising, social media, and mobile. They are proficient in digital technology tools that can include web advertising, social media, and web development. Digital marketing specialists must also develop multimedia packages and present recommendations to the company's director of marketing and communications.
Social media marketers and digital marketing specialists have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Social Media Marketer | Digital Marketing Specialist | |
| Average salary | $51,505 | $60,359 |
| Salary range | Between $36,000 And $71,000 | Between $44,000 And $81,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | Meta |
| Best paying industry | - | Finance |
There are a few differences between a social media marketer and a digital marketing specialist in terms of educational background:
| Social Media Marketer | Digital Marketing Specialist | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 75% | Bachelor's Degree, 76% |
| Most common major | Communication | Business |
| Most common college | University of Georgia | University of Georgia |
Here are the differences between social media marketers' and digital marketing specialists' demographics:
| Social Media Marketer | Digital Marketing Specialist | |
| Average age | 37 | 37 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 43.6% Female, 56.4% | Male, 51.1% Female, 48.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 5.1% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 10.3% White, 67.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% | Black or African American, 5.0% Unknown, 5.0% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 12.3% White, 65.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.1% |
| LGBT Percentage | 10% | 10% |