Want to Work in Advertising? Here are Some Job Titles

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Alison Doyle is the job search expert for The Balance Careers, and one of the industry’s most highly-regarded job search and career experts.

Alison Doyle

Updated December 12, 2019

Advertising is a type of marketing communication used to promote or sell something – like goods, services, or ideas. Because there are so many steps to creating an advertisement, and given the varied types of jobs in the industry as a whole, there are many advertising job titles and descriptions.

Advertising is usually paid for by sponsors and viewed through various media such as websites, newspapers, magazines, television, radio, outdoor advertising, or direct mail. An advertising firm might create advertising campaigns for various clients, or for one company.

Read below about some general advertising job categories, and a list of advertising job titles.

Use these lists when searching for a job in advertising, or learning about opportunities in the advertising industry. You might also use these lists to encourage your employer to make certain the title of your position to fits your responsibilities.

Commercial
Commercial advertising describes advertisers who are selling a product or service. Advertisements for these items showcase the features of goods and services appropriate to the type of media involved. Television and video stream ads might focus more heavily on graphics, while magazines or internet blog ads might be more text-based.  

Non-commercial
Non-commercial advertisers spend money to advertise items other than a consumer product or service. These would include political parties, interest groups, religious organizations, and governmental agencies.

People in advertising have a wide range of skills, especially strong communication skills which are required in many different kinds of jobs within the advertising industry. Below is a list of some of the most common advertising job titles. For more information about each job title, check out the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook.

The creative arena of advertising employs many workers responsible for putting together the visuals for magazine and newspaper advertisements, television advertisements, or brochures and corporate reports. Jobs such as advertising copywriters and graphics designers work under a creative or art director. Advertising copywriters write print ads, online ads, brochures, or commercial scripts for a variety of ad mediums, and also need to be able to spot spelling and grammar errors easily. Graphic designers create visual concepts, by hand or using computer software.

• Advertising Copywriter
• Advertising Photographer
• Art Director
• Copy Associate
• Copyeditor
• Copywriter
• Creative Technologist
• Editorial Photographer
• Graphic Artist
• Graphic Designer
• Illustrator
• Motion Graphics Designer
• Preprint Analyst
• Print Traffic Coordinator
• Production Artist
• Producer
• Web Designer
• Writer

An advertising manager oversees all of the advertising activities of a particular company. They help implement advertising campaigns, oversee all employees within the advertising department, maintain the advertising budget, and make sure each campaign is a success. They are in charge of making sure the client is satisfied with the ad agency’s advertising strategies.

• Account Director
• Account Executive
• Account Manager
• Account Supervisor
• Advertising Campaign Manager
• Advertising Director
• Advertising Manager
• Advertising Sales Director
• Advertising Traffic Manager
• Broadcast Account Manager
• Creative Director
• Digital Advertising Manager
• Digital Advertising Sales Manager
• Events Manager
• Major Account Manager
• Marketing Manager
• Media Account Director
• Media Director
• Online Advertising Director
• Online Advertising Manager
• Print Traffic Director
• Print Traffic Manager
• Promotions Manager
• Sales Manager
• Senior Account Director
• Social Media Advertising Manager

A marketing associate helps a marketing or advertising office run smoothly. They might perform administrative tasks and conduct market research, analyze consumer data or create marketing and advertising materials such as brochures. Marketing associates need strong written and oral communication skills in order to interact with employers, colleagues, clients, and vendors. 

• Advertising Assistant
• Advertising Buyer
• Advertising Coordinator
• Advertising Specialist
• Agency Account Coordinator
• Assistant Account Executive
• Assistant Buyer
• Assistant Media Planner
• Brand Manager
• Client Strategist
• Client Support Specialist
• Communications Coordinator
• Content Marketer
• Developer
• Digital Advertising Specialist
• Digital Media Planner
• Interactive Media Buyer
• Interactive Media Planner
• Internet Advertising Buyer
• Junior Account Planner
• Marketing Associate
• Marketing Coordinator
• Media Buyer
• Media Coordinator
• Media Planner
• Media Research Analyst
• Media Specialist
• National Account Coordinator
• Online Advertising Coordinator
• Target Marketing Strategist
• Traffic Manager
• Web Analytics Consultant

An advertising sales department is responsible for selling media space to advertisers. If they work for a magazine publisher, they sell space (such as half a page or a page) in the magazine. If they work for a TV station, they sell airtime to advertisers. They locate and meet with potential clients, provide all necessary information, and close advertising campaign sales.

• Account Associate
• Account Coordinator
• Account Planner
• Account Representative
• Account Specialist
• Advertising Sales Agent
• Advertising Sales Representative
• Multi-Media Advertising Sales Manager
• Multi-Media Sales Manager
• Online Advertising Specialist
• Public Relations Specialist
• Researcher
• Sales Planner
• Senior Account Planner

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