Advertising Sales Agents
US occupation · SOC 41-3011
Job titles people report: Advertising Account Executive, Advertising Account Representative, Advertising Consultant, Advertising Representative, Advertising Sales Representative (Ad Sales Representative), Directory Advertising Sales Representative (Directory Advertising Sales Rep), Display Advertising Sales Representative (Display Advertising Sales Rep), Media Consultant, Multimedia Sales Consultant, Retail Advertising Account Executive
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $64,820
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $47,020 – $99,990
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 91,700
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- -7.2%
- Shrinking (below 0%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 7,800
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
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.
- Locate and contact potential clients to offer advertising services.
- Draw up contracts for advertising work, and collect payments due.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Training once hired: moderate-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 3
- Medium preparation
- Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Enterprising: leading, persuading and making business decisions
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Artistic: creating, designing and self-expression
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Business
- Selling Skills and Sales Operations
Find colleges that fit you with our matcher: choose Business at the Major step.
Where many students take business
- Southern New Hampshire UniversityManchester, NH · 35% of degrees · 163,164 undergraduates
- Western Governors UniversitySalt Lake City, UT · 28% of degrees · 155,088 undergraduates
- Arizona State University Campus ImmersionTempe, AZ · 26% of degrees · 64,674 undergraduates
- Grand Canyon UniversityPhoenix, AZ · 22% of degrees · 73,371 undergraduates
- University of Maryland Global CampusAdelphi, MD · 25% of degrees · 49,664 undergraduates
- University of the PeoplePasadena, CA · 53% of degrees · 22,688 undergraduates
Ordered by the field's share of degrees awarded times undergraduate enrolment (College Scorecard), among colleges with at least 1,000 undergraduates. Online universities are included. It's a rough measure of how big the programme is. It says nothing about quality. The share counts every programme in the field, not only the ones linked to this career.
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Advertising and Promotions Managers
$133,660 median · -3.7% projected
- Marketing Managers
$166,790 median · +6.9% projected
- Market Research Analysts and Marketing Specialists
$78,760 median · +7% projected
- Public Relations Specialists
$74,750 median · +1.8% projected
- Sales Managers
$148,270 median · +4.5% projected
- Sales Representatives, Wholesale and Manufacturing, Except Technical and Scientific Products
$72,080 median · -0.9% projected
Sources
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. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk