Advertising Manager Job Description, Skills, and Salary
Get to know about the duties, responsibilities, qualifications, and skills requirements of an advertising manager. Feel free to use our job description template to produce your own. We also provide you with information about the salary you can earn as an advertising manager.
Who is an Advertising Manager?
Advertising managers are responsible for overseeing a company’s advertising activities. They direct employees to produce consistent, brand-specific advertising campaigns. They collaborate closely with others and set goals for projects, oversee, and evaluate a project’s impact and progress.
Advertising managers may find themselves in brainstorming sessions together with creative professionals to develop ideas that will grab the attention of the public. They may also test their ideas with focus groups before launching them. They will oversee a project’s quality, budget, timeline, and compliance with the requirements.
They may manage third-party work or outsource the creation and management of advertising campaigns. They may work for large agencies, which do all of the work internally. They might also supervise large teams. They would inspect all work done by the agency and make sure it meets certain quality standards.
These professionals are highly creative and work in a fast-paced environment. They design and manage advertising campaigns for companies. Their primary goal is to increase consumer interest in services or products.
They also collaborate with art directors, financial staff, and sales agents to create these campaigns. Often, they act as an intermediary between agencies and clients.
Advertising Manager Job Description
Below are the advertising manager job description examples you can use to develop your resume or write an advertising manager job description for your employee. Employers can also use it to sieve out job seekers when choosing candidates for interviews.
The job and duties of an advertising manager include:
- Supervising the advertising department’s operations and employees.
- Collaborating with clients, staff, or an agency to set and achieve project goals, budgets, timelines, and deadlines.
- Advertising strategies that increase interest in products and services.
- Ensuring that projects are focused, efficient, and monitored from planning to execution.
- Negotiating terms and specifications for contracts with clients or external parties.
- Directing and initiating research.
- Collecting and analyzing data and presentation to clients and management.
- Participating in the hiring of employees within the advertising department.
- Advising experts regarding marketing and advertising strategies for new products or services.
- Assisting in the design and content creation of advertising campaigns to meet the needs of the target audience.
- Collaborating with clients and leaders to establish the goals for advertising projects and to strategize plans to achieve them.
- Running campaigns to introduce potential customers for new product launches and increase brand awareness
- Ensuring that advertising campaigns are engaging customers and bringing results
- Managing and supervising advertising campaigns consistently
- Analyzing the results of each campaign will help you determine which campaigns were successful and which ones need to be improved.
- Facilitating brainstorming sessions with colleagues to generate ideas for new advertising campaigns concepts.
- Identifying industry trends to determine industry needs and interests
- Examining and responding to the current sales trends
- Using existing data and insights
- Assisting the advertising department in planning and implementing new marketing campaigns
- Implementing marketing strategies
- Interviewing and hiring advertising personnel
- Contacting advertising agencies to negotiate different contracts
- Developing marketing campaigns that are tailored to specific business needs
Other tasks and responsibilities include:
- Budget Responsibilities
Advertising managers are responsible for providing the company with an advertising budget. They also need to outline the staff required to market their products or services. They will budget for advertising space in media outlets, publications, and radio. They might also be responsible for or supervise the development of the company’s website. His budget will also include research into the demographics and market areas of the company’s customers. A company making toy trains may want to market it to children, while a company manufacturing locomotives will market it to railroad companies.
- Target Audience
The advertising manager will collaborate closely with the marketing department to identify the best target audience for the company’s products. The marketing department will conduct market research and polls to identify the audience. Advertising managers plan and develop advertising campaigns that appeal to their target audience. A planned advertising campaign might be included when the company streams its commercials on broadcast TV. If children are the target audience, the commercials should run at the time that children watch TV. If the target audience includes adults, it’s best to show the commercial during prime time television or on channels that adults watch.
Qualifications
- Bachelor’s degree in advertising, marketing, or another related field.
- Minimum of two years experience in the relevant field. Marketing experience is preferred.
- Understanding design and marketing principles and techniques.
- Capability to create strategies that are based on industry developments and trends.
- Excellent organizational and multitasking skills, especially when it comes to working with multiple projects or groups.
- Excellent communication skills, including listening and management.
- You must be able to think clearly and solve problems quickly, even under pressure.
- Ability to build and maintain work relationships.
- Demonstrable presentation and sales skills.
Essential Skills
- Creativity
It is important to have a lot of creativity and a wide range of ideas you can use during brainstorming sessions, especially if you work in a field that requires creating captivating content to sell products or brands. Creative personality and innovative ideas are key to creating content that grabs attention in a saturated market.
This industry requires you to sharpen your creative skills and make the most of them, no matter if you are a copywriter or a graphic artist.
- Teamwork
A team of skilled professionals is required to create a successful advertising campaign. It is essential that you can work together as a group.
Account managers and marketing executives will need to constantly put their heads together to create imaginative content and ensure that clients’ needs are met.
Collaboration is key to a successful project. Working as part of a creative team requires you to be able to accept criticism, even if your idea is brilliant.
- Communication skills
Communication skills are crucial, especially when pitching ideas to your team. These skills are not only important for team meetings. Regular conversations with clients will be a part of your job and will require frequent back-and-forth as well as correspondence. It is important to know how to communicate professionally and effectively.
It doesn’t matter if you are presenting a project or having a conversation with your team, it is important to communicate clearly, especially in an industry where selling yourself and your pitch is everything.
- Active listening
Communication skills are important but listening is equally important. Advertising will often bring you into contact with colleagues and clients. They will either relay details to you or offer their ideas.
Advertisers cannot afford to misunderstand or ignore clients and co-workers. This is especially true when details are crucial to the success of a project.
- Computer skills
In an industry that is increasingly focusing on digital marketing, it is essential to have good computer skills. Your day-to-day activities will depend on your job. You may be required to use software such as Photoshop or Illustrator. You may also find yourself responding to client emails and relaying project details.
Whatever your situation, it is crucial to be able to work with technology. It is important to have experience with software and tools used in advertising agencies for managing their projects and strategizing.
- Social media skills
Social media knowledge will allow you to stay up-to-date with all the latest developments and trends online. Having the technical know-how of these apps and tools can help you improve your work performance, as the modern consumer uses most of their content via social media platforms.
- Commercial awareness
We have covered the importance of being aware of social media trends and platforms. However, commercial awareness encompasses more than knowing how to send out a tweet.
It is crucial to understand the market and be aware of consumer needs and wants to fulfill clients’ project requirements and business requirements.
Being a commercially aware person in the advertising field requires:
- Conducting extensive market and product research
- Keep an eye on the financial markets.
- Research skills
Research is a skill that allows you to search through many sources for inspiration.
Concentration and dedication are key to research skills. As you scroll through case studies, academic research reports, and past advertising campaigns, you must be focused and committed. This will be a great asset when you’re trying to find the next great idea for a client.
- Multitasking skills
Advertising requires you to be able to do many things. You will need to be able to balance the budget and interpret complex information to manage a project.
Different projects can be very complex and demanding because they require a variety of tasks, such as market research, metrics coordination, and client feedback.
It is crucial to learn how to balance these tasks while not compromising on the finer points.
- Marketing skills
Are you able to design and present engaging advertising campaigns for the public? These are just a few of the performance indicators you’ll use when creating and implementing advertising campaigns.
Marketing and advertising are often misunderstood. A marketing strategy is the overall strategy to promote a product, brand, or service. Professionals in the advertising industry need to have a solid understanding of the different strategies and techniques.
- Organizational skills
You may already know that being organized is essential for anyone working in the advertising sector. Advertising can be very hectic. It is not easy to manage multiple clients or colleagues at once.
- Adaptability
It is essential to be open-minded and willing to try new things in a constantly changing market.
Think about how advertising has evolved over the past few decades, and what changes will occur in the future. To reach new audiences, advertisers must continue to evolve with technology. You will stay ahead of the curve if you can adapt to new technologies.
Advertising can be very rewarding. You will have the opportunity to work with many creative people.
Every day, consumers are bombarded by advertisements. This could be the career for you if you are creative and skilled enough to get consumers to pay more attention to your campaigns.
How to Become an Advertising Manager
These steps will help a student or career changer get started on their path to becoming an advertising manager. An undergraduate degree can lead to many advertising opportunities. Alternatively, a marketing MBA can help you achieve your career goals faster. The advertising manager is not an entry-level position and requires years of experience on the job.
Step 1: Get a Bachelor’s degree
Although there are many types of bachelor’s degree options, an MBA in communication is a great option for those who want to be advertising managers. These programs equip students with the skills necessary to adapt to a changing marketing environment where consumers are continually bombarded by messages.
There are many concentrations available in undergraduate communication, including social media, media strategy, and strategic communications. This multifaceted program may lead to an internship. It is a great opportunity to work in real-world settings with media professionals and gain experience using communication tools to communicate with clients.
Step 2: Create an On-the-Job experience
An entry-level position is necessary to become an advertising manager. This could be a media or advertising associate or account coordinator, sales assistant, or junior creative team member (often in an art or brand planning role). Employees in agency settings might be promoted to a supervisor position, which assists with approval phases of advertising layouts in different departments. This gives employees valuable exposure to cross-functional communication required to execute a successful campaign from start to finish. Future advertising managers will also gain an appreciation for the importance of brand consistency, attention, and detail, as well as the willingness to work with clients to achieve a common vision.
An advertising career can then lead to a managerial role such as an advertising manager. Advertising managers have worked their way up the ranks and are familiar with the importance of each department. They also know how to communicate effectively with key personnel. They are also exposed to a variety of media platforms, including traditional media, digital, and social media.
Step 3: Obtain a Master’s degree
Although an advanced degree is not necessary to be an advertising manager, an MBA in marketing could help professionals move faster. An MBA in marketing can help you qualify for higher salaries, more bonuses, and more career options. The MBA in marketing includes courses that complement the core business curriculum from a bachelor’s degree. It focuses on relevant advertising topics such as consumer behavior and social networking.
Where to Work
Individuals interested in this job should contact the companies they are interested in working for. Newspaper job ads, career websites on the Internet, and trade journals often advertise openings for this position in their companies. There are also private employment agencies that can help you find jobs. Advertising managers are in high-ranking positions. Many people take up positions with larger corporations where they are more responsible and have to do more difficult work. Others work in advertising agencies or start their own.
Advertising Manager Salary Scale
The average salary for an American advertising manager is approximately 151,000 USD per year. The salary ranges between 78,600 USD (lowest) and 231,000 USD (highest).
This is the average annual salary, which includes housing, transportation, and all other benefits. The salaries of advertising managers can vary depending upon where they live, their experience, gender, and the skills they have.
