An advertising manager must be organized and creative.
An advertising manager is someone who works to promote a company's products or services. Advertising managers are employed in a wide array of industries, and work in unison with marketing and sales departments to help a company generate income. On top of that, ad managers hire, train and direct their staffs and keep track of an advertising budget.
Basics
Advertising managers oversee any campaign their companies or clients use to promote themselves, via everything from radio to television to newspapers to the Internet. Ad managers put a positive spin on what their company is offering, and occasionally, how it is superior to the competition. They are in charge of designing ads, coming up with catch phrases centered around various campaigns, and just generally highlighting their company's best attributes. Ad managers also have to follow and analyze what others are doing, an effort to make certain their own campaigns are current or "trendy."
Skills
A good advertising manager is driven, professional, energetic and a capable problem solver. He should possess strong written and verbal communication skills, as he deals with everyone from clients to customers to his own employees. He also needs to be highly organized and creative, and know coordinate and motivate a staff. And since much of an advertising department's work is done with computer programs, an ad manager will likely need at least a basic understanding of technology.
Background
Most companies look for candidates with a bachelor's or master's degree when hiring an advertising manager. Many managers have to spend time working at the lower levels of the profession, or with a marketing or sales team, before being promoted into a supervisory position. In the event a college degree is needed, aspiring ad managers are typically expected to have focused on courses in advertising, marketing, business, public relations and communications.
Prospects
More than 44,000 workers were employed as advertising managers in May 2008, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Jobs for ad managers were expected to remain steady and experience little change from 2008 to 2018, the BLS reported. "An expected increase in the number of television and radio stations and a sharp increase in the amount of advertising in digital media ... will generate a need for advertising managers to oversee new and innovative advertising programs," the BLS reported.
Earnings
Advertising managers earned a median salary of anywhere from $29,000 to more than $103,000 per year in February 2010, according to PayScale. Much of that range depended on the advertising manager's experience, as well as the industry in which she worked. Meanwhile, the BLS reported that some ad managers earned more than $127,000 per year in May 2008.
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