Advertising is an ever-evolving and lucrative field. That’s why, it’s understandable if you want to break into the industry and climb the career ladder quickly. If this is the field you have set your sights on, get your career off to a good start with an entry-level position.
Many advertising jobs require a solid network and years of experience. It might be that you recently graduated so you don’t have many related jobs listed on your resume, or that you’re thinking of shifting careers from a different industry. In this case, you may be wondering how you’d compete against more experienced candidates.
Entry-level advertising jobs are nothing you have to be stressed about. Likely, they involve spending a few years learning from and working under someone else before you may be promoted to a senior position. This is just the standard route for reaching your goals in an advertising career.
How are advertising and marketing different?
The main objective of marketing is to make target audiences aware of a certain business’ services and products. Think of marketing as a huge puzzle, of which advertising is an important piece of. It’s a means for convincing consumers to make that purchase or close that deal.
The advertising team is responsible for positioning a client’s goods in a creative manner. What this means is that you have to make your client’s offerings stand out from the crowd. You want people to think that their items or solutions are more beneficial for their specific needs above others.
What are the main types of advertising?
Commercial
This is when you are selling a specific product or service. Advertisements in this category highlight the features of the goods in a way that’s appropriate to the medium involved. For instance, video streams might focus on graphics, while blogs might be more text-based.
Non-commercial
This is when you spend money to promote items other than consumer services or goods. These include interest groups, government agencies, religious organisations, and political parties. Though less common than the commercial category, there are still plenty of clients looking for help with non-commercial ads.
What are the sub-types of advertising?
Ideally, companies must use a variety of advertisements to inform the public about them or to reach their target consumers. Here are examples of more specific types of advertising and how they’re done:
Direct mail
A form of print advertising where you send advertisements to customers through snail mail. Examples include flyers, newsletters, catalogues, and brochures. It allows businesses to narrow down their target market, especially for local consumers, because it distributes ads through direct mailing lists.
Radio
A type of broadcast advertising where you play ads during breaks in the programming. People may hear radio adverts while engaged in other activities, such as washing the dishes or driving to work. Radio ads give brands more recognition among consumers due to the repetition.
Mobile
This reaches audiences through any mobile device as long as it has internet connectivity, such as a tablet or a smartphone. These adverts may appear within web pages or apps. For example, someone playing a mobile game may receive ads for similar games or from the same developer.
Podcast
Your client might choose to sponsor an episode or have ads of their offerings played during the stream. Usually, adverts are played in the beginning, middle, and end of the episodes. You may have the host read a script that you made on your own too.
Social media
Like other forms of digital advertising, social media allows you to target specific markets. You may focus on reaching customers based on their buying habits, age groups, geographic locations, and other demographics. It may be that you pay the platform to run your ads, or you use more organic methods.
What are examples of entry-level advertising jobs?
If you’re looking for an entry-level advertising job, you actually have plenty to choose from, including:
Graphic designer
Preferable skills:
- An excellent sense of audience appeal and artistry
- Ability to manage time and communications well
- Ability to represent ideas and messages visually
- A strong grasp of editing and design software
Necessary tools:
- Hard drives and cloud storage
- High-resolution monitor and powerful computer
- Repositories for stock photography and creative assets
- Programs for page layouts, raster graphics, photo-editing, and more
Junior account manager
Preferable skills:
- Ability to manage the budget
- Ability to research the industry and the client
- Able to provide sales support, creation, and analysis
- Good presentation and negotiation skills
Necessary tools:
- Payment processing and invoicing software
- Customer relationship management programs
- Meeting and event scheduling tools
- Project management applications
Advertising operations coordinator
Preferable skills:
- Experience in generating leads
- Knowledge of managing projects and people
- Familiar with reconciling data and implementing campaigns
- Ability to communicate well with others
Necessary tools:
- Conversion tracking programs
- Digital marketing platforms
- Ad debuggers and auditors
- Ad managers, testers, and tag generators
Junior copywriter
Preferable skills:
- A firm grasp of language conventions and writing
- An adaptability for tone of voice
- Skills in connecting and communicating with people
- Capability in researching and solving problems
Necessary tools:
- Plagiarism and readability checkers
- Punctuation, spelling, and grammar checkers
- Thesaurus and dictionaries
- Conversion, headline, and SEO analyzers
Where to find entry-level advertising jobs
The advertising industry is a competitive field that calls for a variety of education and employment. In an entry-level role, you may have to design layouts for adverts, research materials for marketing, or simply compiling data, among other things.
Do you believe this is a field you want to work in? We at Remote Workmate can help you find a virtual position in advertising that suits you best. We are connected to employers and clients from all around the world, so opportunities are plenty.
See our listings for openings in the advertising industry.