Advertising sales agents held about 147,900 jobs in 2018. The largest employers of advertising sales agents were as follows:
| Advertising, public relations, and related services | 36% |
| Newspaper publishers | 12 |
| Self-employed workers | 10 |
| Radio broadcasting | 9 |
| Television broadcasting | 6 |
Selling can be stressful because income and job security depend directly on agents’ ability to keep and expand their client base. Companies generally set monthly sales quotas and place considerable pressure on advertising sales agents to meet those quotas.
Getting new accounts is an important part of the job, and agents may spend much of their time traveling to and visiting prospective advertisers and maintaining relationships with current clients. Sales agents also may work in their employer’s offices and handle sales for walk-in clients or for those who call or email the firm to ask about advertising.
Work Schedules
Most advertising sales agents work full time. Some advertising sales agents work more than 40 hours a week. Some work irregular hours and on weekends and holidays.
Although a high school diploma is typically enough education for an entry-level advertising sales position, some employers prefer applicants with a bachelor’s degree. Sales and communication skills are essential. Most training for advertising sales agents takes place on the job.
Education
Although a high school diploma is typically the minimum education requirement for an entry-level advertising sales position, some employers prefer applicants with a college degree. Publishing companies with large circulations and broadcasting stations with a large audience typically prefer workers with a college degree. Courses in marketing, communications, business, and advertising are helpful. For those who have a proven record of successfully selling other products, educational requirements are not likely to be strict.
Training
Most training takes place on the job and can be either formal or informal. In the majority of cases, an experienced sales manager instructs a newly hired advertising sales agent who lacks sales experience. In this one-on-one environment, supervisors typically coach new hires and observe them as they make sales calls and contact clients. Supervisors then advise the new hires on ways to improve their interaction with clients. Employers may bring in consultants to lead formal training sessions when agents sell to a specialized market segment, such as automotive dealers or real estate professionals.
Advancement
Agents with proven leadership ability and a strong sales record may advance to supervisory and managerial positions, such as sales manager, account executive, and vice president of sales. Successful advertising sales agents may also advance to positions in other industries, such as corporate sales.
Advertising sales agents typically have an interest in the Creating, Persuading and Organizing interest areas, according to the Holland Code framework. The Creating interest area indicates a focus on being original and imaginative, and working with artistic media. The Persuading interest area indicates a focus on influencing, motivating, and selling to other people. The Organizing interest area indicates a focus on working with information and processes to keep things arranged in orderly systems.
If you are not sure whether you have a Creating or Persuading or Organizing interest which might fit with a career as an advertising sales agent, you can take a career test to measure your interests.
Advertising sales agents should also possess the following specific qualities:
Communication skills. Advertising sales agents must be persuasive during sales calls. In addition, they should listen to the client’s desires and concerns, and recommend an appropriate advertising package.
Initiative. Advertising sales agents must actively seek new clients, keep in touch with current clients, and expand their client base, in order to meet sales quotas.
Organizational skills. Agents work with many clients, each of whom may be at a different stage in the sales process. Agents must be well-organized to keep track of their clients or potential clients.
Self-confidence. Advertising sales agents should be confident when calling potential clients (cold calls). Because potential clients are often unwilling to commit on a first call, agents often must continue making sales calls, even if rejected at first.
The median annual wage for advertising sales agents was $53,310 in May 2019. 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 $25,390, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $118,300.
In May 2019, the median annual wages for advertising sales agents in the top industries in which they worked were as follows:
| Advertising, public relations, and related services | $59,080 |
| Television broadcasting | 49,760 |
| Radio broadcasting | 45,170 |
| Newspaper publishers | 39,720 |
Performance-based pay, including bonuses and commissions, can make up a large portion of an advertising sales agent’s earnings. Most employers pay some combination of salaries, commissions, and bonuses. Commissions usually are based on individual sales numbers. Bonuses may depend on individual performance, the performance of all sales workers in a group, or the performance of the entire firm.
Most advertising sales agents work full time. Some advertising sales agents work more than 40 hours a week. Some work irregular hours and on weekends and holidays.
Employment of advertising sales agents is projected to decline 2 percent from 2018 to 2028.
Media companies will continue to rely on advertising revenue for profitability. However, employment of advertising sales agents will largely follow broader industry trends, and several of the industries that employ large numbers of these workers are projected to decline. For example, employment in newspaper publishers is expected to decline, although some of this decline may be offset by the sale of digital ads on newspaper websites.
An increasing amount of advertising is expected to be concentrated in digital media, including online video ads, search engine ads, and other digital ads intended for cell phones or tablet-style computers. Digital advertising on the Internet allows companies to directly target potential consumers because websites usually are associated with the types of products that those consumers would like to buy. As a result, employment of advertising sales agents is likely to increase in Internet-focused companies.
Job Prospects
Competition is expected to be strong for jobs as advertising sales agents. Applicants with experience in sales and those with a bachelor’s degree and knowledge of digital advertising techniques, such as search engine optimization (SEO), should have the best opportunities.
For information about advertising sales in the newspaper industry, visit
For information about the radio advertising industry, visit