Media advertising jobs include traditional jobs such as sales representatives and media managers, and more recent positions such as graphic designers, video producers, directors, and even social media managers. These jobs often require a great deal of technical knowledge as well as some knowledge of marketing and public relations. Often, agencies responsible for advertising campaigns may do both public relations and advertising. Generally, media advertising jobs require either a four-year college degree or a technical degree, but there can be exceptions.
Sales representatives generally work for a specific agency or form of media, such as a newspaper, magazine, radio station, television station or network. These individuals are responsible for making direct contact with clients, and showing how effective advertising in their form of media can be. In order to entice advertising and foster long-term relationships, representatives may be authorized to offer package deals and offer discounts to certain customers. Sales representatives will also inform clients of specials, when available.
Media managers often work for the advertisers themselves to help them determine where the best use of their money would be. For example, the media manager may do a statistical analysis of past and current advertising campaigns in order to determine effectiveness. This analysis may include things such as the message, target audience, and the medium involved, whether it be print publications, broadcast media, or the Internet. That data can then be used to predict future outcomes and target money more efficiently for a better return on investment.
Production media advertising jobs include things such as graphic designers, producers, and directors. Graphic designers work to design ads for more stationary media, such as Internet and print publications, though they may also work on some video productions. Producers and directors work with an advertiser to produce a product that gets across a certain message for a targeted audience in motion picture or audio format. These pieces could air on broadcast media or be streamed over the Internet. Other production jobs include copywriting and art directors.
Of all the media advertising jobs, social networking jobs are some of the newest. These jobs involve using popular social media platforms to promote products and services to audiences who are most likely already familiar with the product. This may also involve, as a secondary responsibility, e-mail marketing as well. Often, these jobs are handled by a dedicated employee of the advertiser, but could be contracted to another agency authorized to speak for the advertiser.
Various types of degrees can be required for media advertising jobs. For some jobs, such as video production jobs, experience may be a more valuable asset than a degree. Advertising representative jobs could require a marketing degree, but the educational requirements largely depend on the employer. Media manager jobs may require a bachelor's degree, or even an advanced degree of some type, possibly in marketing or statistics.