Guidance.help

Advertising Sales Agents

In the Advertising Sales Agents occupation, workers sell or solicit advertising space, time, or media in publications, signage, TV, radio, or Internet establishments or public spaces. A regular part of the work is to explain to customers how specific types of advertising will help promote their products or services in the most effective way possible. With a code of ECA, this is mostly a job for people drawn to leading, persuading and making business decisions. Conventional interests also help, rated 4.3 out of 7. Plan on one or two years of vocational training, an apprenticeship or an associate’s degree; O*NET labels this medium preparation. Strength in speaking, persuasion, and active listening helps most here. If you want leading, persuading and making business decisions, keep it on your list. If you need hands-on work with tools, machines or the physical world, it may feel thin.

What they do

Sell or solicit advertising space, time, or media in publications, signage, TV, radio, or Internet establishments or public spaces.

Main tasks

  • Explain to customers how specific types of advertising will help promote their products or services in the most effective way possible.
  • Prepare and deliver sales presentations to new and existing customers to sell new advertising programs and to protect and increase existing advertising.
  • Obtain and study information about clients' products, needs, problems, advertising history, and business practices to offer effective sales presentations and appropriate product assistance.
  • Provide clients with estimates of the costs of advertising products or services.
  • Maintain assigned account bases while developing new accounts.
  • Recommend appropriate sizes and formats for advertising, depending on medium used.

Skills

  • Speaking
  • Persuasion
  • Active Listening
  • Social Perceptiveness
  • Negotiation
  • Service Orientation

Who this career fits

May suit you if

  • You like taking the lead and making the call.
  • You like clear rules and getting the details right.
  • You are willing to put in a year or two of focused training.
  • You are comfortable relying on speaking and persuasion.

May not suit you if

  • You would rather not persuade, sell or manage other people.
  • You want to work with your hands for most of the day. Realistic rates 1.2 out of 7 here.
  • You need to start within a few months, with no training period.

Interest profile

O*NET rates each occupation from 1 to 7 on six interest types. The code ECA takes the three highest, and Enterprising comes first here.

Preparation

Medium preparation. Expect vocational school, an apprenticeship, related experience or an associate’s degree, usually one or two years in total.

Also called

  • Advertising Account Executive
  • Advertising Account Representative
  • Advertising Consultant
  • Advertising Representative
  • Advertising Sales Representative (Ad Sales Representative)

Related careers

Is this your direction?

See how your interests line up with ECA and 906 other careers.

Take the career test

This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA.