Advertising Careers: Options, Job Titles, and Descriptions

Advertising team meeting
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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, 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.

Careers in Advertising

Thinking about applying for an advertising job? It pays to learn as much as possible about roles in this industry, as well as general advertising job categories. Use these lists when searching for a job in advertising.

If you already work in the industry, you might also use these lists to encourage your employer to make certain that your job title fits your responsibilities.

Types of Advertising

There are two main types of advertising: commercial and non-commercial. Here are the main differences between them:

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 streaming ads might focus more heavily on graphics, while magazine or 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.

Advertising Job Titles

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.

Creative Development

Creative development professionals put together the visuals for online advertisements, magazine and newspaper advertisements, television advertisements, or brochures and corporate reports. Workers with these jobs tend to have strong attention to detail and communication skills, as well as creativity and training in the specific disciplines required.

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. Both tend to work under a creative or art director.

  • 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

Management

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

Marketing

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

Sales

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