Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers

Summary

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.

Quick Facts: Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers
2010 Median Pay	$108,260 per year $52.05 per hour
Entry-Level Education	Bachelor’s degree
Work Experience in a Related Occupation	1 to 5 years
On-the-job Training	None
Number of Jobs, 2010	216,800
Job Outlook, 2010-20	14% (About as fast as average)
Employment Change, 2010-20	29,400

What Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers Do

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in a product or service. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.

Work Environment

Twenty-two percent of advertising and promotions managers worked for advertising agencies in May 2010. Thirteen percent of marketing managers worked for management of companies and enterprises.

How to Become an Advertising, Promotions, or Marketing Manager

A bachelor’s degree is required for most advertising, promotions, and marketing management positions. These managers typically have work experience in advertising, marketing, promotions, or sales.

Pay

The median annual wage of advertising and promotions managers was $83,890 in May 2010. The median annual wage of marketing managers was $112,800 in May 2010.

Job Outlook

Employment of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers is expected to grow 14 percent from 2010 to 2020, as fast as the average for all occupations. Advertising, promotions, and marketing will continue to be essential for organizations as they seek to maintain and expand their share of the market.

Similar Occupations

Compare the job duties, education, job growth, and pay of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers with similar occupations.

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Contacts for More Information

Learn more about advertising, promotions, and marketing managers by contacting these additional resources.

What Advertising, Promotions, and Marketing Managers Do

Advertising managers can be found in advertising agencies that put together advertising campaigns for clients, in media firms that sell advertising space or time, and in companies that advertise heavily.

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in a product or service. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.

Duties

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers typically do the following:

• Work with department heads or staff to discuss topics such as contracts, selection of advertising media, or products to be advertised
• Gather and organize information to plan advertising campaigns
• Plan the advertising, including which media to advertise in, such as radio, television, print, online, and billboards
• Negotiate advertising contracts
• Inspect layouts, which are sketches or plans for an advertisement
• Initiate market research studies and analyze their findings
• Develop pricing strategies for products to be marketed, balancing the goals of a firm with customer satisfaction
• Meet with clients to provide marketing or technical advice
• Direct the hiring of advertising, promotions, and marketing staff and oversee their daily activities

Advertising managers create interest among potential buyers of a product or service for a department, for an entire organization, or on a project basis (account). They work in advertising agencies that put together advertising campaigns for clients, in media firms that sell advertising space or time, and in organizations that advertise heavily.

Advertising managers work with sales staff and others to generate ideas for an advertising campaign. They oversee the staff that develops the advertising. They work with the finance department to prepare a budget and cost estimates for the advertising campaign.

Often, advertising managers serve as liaisons between the client requiring the advertising and an advertising or promotion agency that develops and places the ads. In larger organizations with an extensive advertising department, different advertising managers may oversee in-house accounts and creative and media services departments.

In addition, some advertising managers specialize in a particular field or type of advertising. For example, media directors determine the way in which an advertising campaign reaches customers. They can use any or all of various media, including radio, television, newspapers, magazines, the Internet, and outdoor signs. 

Advertising managers known as account executives manage clients' accounts, but they don't develop or supervise the creation or presentation of the advertising. That becomes the work of the creative services department.

Promotions managers direct programs that combine advertising with purchasing incentives to increase sales. Often, the programs use direct mail, inserts in newspapers, Internet advertisements, in-store displays, product endorsements, or special events to target customers. Purchasing incentives may include discounts, samples, gifts, rebates, coupons, sweepstakes, and contests.

Marketing managers estimate the demand for products and services that an organization and its competitors offer. They identify potential markets for the organization’s products.

Marketing managers also develop pricing strategies to help organizations maximize profits and market share while ensuring that the organizations' customers are satisfied. They work with sales, public relations, and product development staff.

For example, a marketing manager may monitor trends that indicate the need for new products and services. Then they oversee the development of that new product. For more information on sales or public relations, see the profiles on sales managers, public relations managers and specialists, and market research analysts.

Work Environment

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers may travel to meet with clients or representatives of communications media.

Advertising and promotions managers held about 38,700 jobs in 2010. The following industries employed the most advertising and promotions managers in 2010:

Marketing managers held about 178,200 jobs in 2010.  The following industries employed the most marketing managers in 2010:

Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers typically work in offices close to those of top executives. The jobs of advertising, promotions, and marketing managers are usually stressful, particularly near deadlines. They may travel to meet with clients or representatives of communications media.

Work Schedules

Most advertising, promotions, and marketing managers work full time. In 2010, 19 percent of advertising and promotions managers worked 50 or more hours per week.

How to Become an Advertising, Promotions, or Marketing Manager

These managers typically have previous work experience in advertising, marketing, promotions, or sales.

A bachelor’s degree is required for most advertising, promotions, and marketing management positions. These managers typically have work experience in advertising, marketing, promotions, or sales.

Education

A bachelor’s degree is required for most advertising, promotions, and marketing management positions. For advertising management positions, some employers prefer a bachelor's degree in advertising or journalism. A relevant course of study might include classes in marketing, consumer behavior, market research, sales, communication methods and technology, visual arts, art history, and photography.

Most marketing managers have a bachelor’s degree. Courses in business law, management, economics, accounting, finance, mathematics, and statistics are advantageous. In addition, completing an internship while in school is highly recommended.

Work Experience

Advertising, promotional, and marketing managers typically have work experience in advertising, marketing, promotions, or sales. For example, many managers are former sales representatives; purchasing agents; buyers; or product, advertising, promotions, or public relations specialists.

Important Qualities

Analytical skills. As the advertising industry changes with the rise of digital media, advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to analyze industry trends to determine the most promising strategies for their organization. 

Creativity. Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must be able to generate new and imaginative ideas.

Decision-making skills. Managers often must choose between competing advertising and marketing strategies put forward by staff.

Interpersonal skills. These managers must deal with a range of people in different roles, both inside and outside the organization.

Management skills. Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers must manage their time and budget efficiently while directing and motivating staff members.

Pay

The median annual wage of advertising and promotions managers was $83,890 in May 2010. The median wage is the wage at which half the workers in an occupation earned more than that amount and half earned less. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $41,480, and the top 10 percent earned more than $166,400.

The median annual wage for marketing managers was $112,800 in May 2010. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $57,750, and the top 10 percent earned more than $166,400.

Most advertising, promotions, and marketing managers work full time. In 2010, 19 percent of advertising and promotions managers worked 50 or more hours per week.

Job Outlook

Employment of advertising and promotions managers is expected to grow 13 percent from 2010 to 2020, about as fast as the average for all occupations.

Employment of marketing managers is expected to grow 14 percent from 2010 to 2020, as fast as the average for all occupations.

Advertising, promotions, and marketing will continue to be essential for organizations as they look to maintain and expand their share of the market.

Advertising and promotions managers will be needed to plan, direct, and coordinate advertising and promotion campaigns, as well as to introduce new products to the marketplace. They will also be needed to manage digital media campaigns, which often target customers through the use of websites, social media, and live chats.

Newspaper publishers, one of the top-employing industries of advertising and promotions managers, are expected to decline 22 percent from 2010 to 2020. The continued rise of electronic media will result in decreasing demand for print newspapers. However, advertising and promotions managers are expected to see employment growth in other areas, as they will be needed to plan the digital advertisements that replace print ads.  

Because marketing managers and their departments are important to an organization’s revenue, marketing managers are less likely to be let go than other types of managers. Marketing managers will continue to be in demand as organizations seek to market their products to specific customers and localities.

Job Prospects

Advertising, promotions, and marketing manager positions are highly desirable and are often sought by other managers and experienced professionals. As a result, strong competition is expected. With Internet-based advertising becoming more important, advertising managers who can navigate the digital world should have the best prospects.

Contacts for More Information

For more information about advertising managers, visit

American Association of Advertising Agencies