Responsibilities of an advertising sales manager. Employment terms.

The biggest difference between an advertising sales manager and a usual sales manager is that they sell advertising spaces for some certain period of time in some advertising media – mass media, OOH media, Internet, TV and press. The main responsibility of this manager is to sell advertising services and/or advertising spaces and perform client search. 

Of course the exact list of responsibilities of an advertising sales manager depends on who they work for. For example, if they work at an advertising agency, then their main responsibilities are maintaining relationships with clients – discussing their advertising campaigns, creating new advertising products or selling available ones (videos, images, texts, printing products etc.). If the agency does not only produce advertising materials, but also makes advertisement placements, then the manager is to establish relationships with ad construction owners. 

Those who work on TV or radio are involved in selling airtime, creation of broadcasting network, runtime planning, creation of advertising products (videos), hiring broadcasters and actors. 

As for print media, and newspapers in particular, advertising sales manager responsibilities include selling ad spaces for paid content or advertisements, assistance in advertisement designing and creating texts. 

Notwithstanding the place of work, advertising sales manager must:

1. Know all ins and outs about the services provided by the company they work for, so that he can offer coherent advice to the clients.

2. Keep record of completed work.

3. Work on gaining sales quantity and sales planning.

4. Keep in touch with existing clients and search new ones. 

Employment terms of advertising sales manager 

There are no specific terms, but there are several main factors that employers usually pay attention to:

1. Education. Obviously there is no professional education for an advertising sales manager, but  employers prefer candidates with bachelor’s degree in marketing, economics, psychology, journalism or social science. A certificate about completing PR courses will give you an edge.

2. Skills and abilities. Employers would like to have a creative and sociable person as their sales manager, who would be able to hold official negotiations and work efficiently even with the smallest budget.

3. Knowledge. Candidates with background knowledge in journalism, branding, philology, marketing, psychology, politics, design and foreign languages (in case company has clients from different countries) are more likely to get the position. Understanding of company specifics and advertising market in general is a great advantage as well. 

In the same way as in all the other industries, employers will prefer experienced candidates oven inexperienced ones. Although lately there is a tendency to employ young and ambitious people, whose heads are bursting with ideas, as sales managers. 

In the end, it’s necessary to add a couple of words about career perspectives. Who can a sales manager grow into? If they are lucky and the company offers such opportunities, a sales manager can be promoted to the head of PR-department, PR executive or independent advertising consultant.