Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Advertising Sales Representative

🎯 Role Definition

The Advertising Sales Representative is a client-facing revenue driver responsible for developing new business and growing existing accounts across linear and digital advertising channels. This role blends consultative selling, media planning, and campaign delivery coordination to meet quarterly and annual revenue targets. The ideal candidate can prospect effectively, build and present customized media solutions, negotiate contract terms, and partner with internal teams (ad operations, creative, analytics, finance) to ensure campaigns launch on time and deliver agreed KPIs.

Keywords: advertising sales representative, ad sales, media sales, digital advertising, programmatic, client acquisition, revenue growth, campaign management, media planning, Salesforce.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Sales Development Representative (SDR) / Business Development Representative (BDR)
Account Coordinator / Junior Account Executive (Media)
Media Planner or Marketing Coordinator with client-facing exposure

Advancement To:

Senior Account Executive / Senior Advertising Sales Representative
Account Director / Sales Manager (Ad Sales)
Director of Advertising Sales / Head of Revenue
VP of Sales / Chief Revenue Officer (for enterprise growth roles)

Lateral Moves:

Account Management / Client Success (post-sale client retention)
Programmatic or Ad Operations Specialist
Brand/Marketing Manager or Media Planner

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Prospect, qualify, and convert new advertisers through targeted outreach, cold calling, email campaigns, networking, and inbound lead follow-up to build a predictable pipeline that supports monthly and quarterly quota attainment.
Conduct discovery meetings with prospective advertisers to understand business goals, target audiences, KPIs, budgets, and timeline requirements and translate those insights into tailored media recommendations.
Prepare and present persuasive, data-driven proposals, media plans, and rate cards that align advertising creative, targeting strategies, and measurement frameworks to client objectives.
Negotiate pricing, contract terms, value-added incentives, and insertion orders to close deals while protecting margin and minimizing legal/revenue risk.
Manage the full sales cycle from initial outreach through post-sale activation: execute proposals, secure signed agreements, coordinate ad trafficking, and confirm billing setup with finance.
Collaborate closely with ad operations, programmatic, creative, and analytics teams to ensure accurate campaign set-up, trafficking, QA, and on-time launch across linear, digital, mobile, native, and OTT platforms.
Monitor active campaigns against performance KPIs (impressions, clicks, viewability, CTR, completion rates, conversions) and proactively recommend optimizations to maximize advertiser ROI and increase renewal likelihood.
Maintain accurate and up-to-date opportunity records, pipeline stages, and forecasting in CRM (e.g., Salesforce), including activity logs, next steps, and deal close probabilities.
Achieve or exceed monthly, quarterly, and annual sales quotas and contribute to territory and team revenue goals through consistent pipeline generation and deal execution.
Upsell and cross-sell additional inventory, sponsorships, branded content, audience segments, and measurement packages into existing accounts to grow average deal size and lifetime value.
Build and sustain long-term relationships with key decision-makers (CMOs, marketing directors, digital leads) through regular business reviews, strategic check-ins, and proactive campaign recaps.
Develop and deliver high-quality client-facing materials — media kits, case studies, one-sheets, customized proposals, and post-campaign performance reports — that demonstrate business impact and support renewals.
Conduct competitive market research and audience insights analysis to identify whitespace opportunities, refine targeting recommendations, and position the product competitively in buyer conversations.
Participate in pitch meetings, RFP responses, and cross-functional strategy sessions to craft integrated offerings that combine broadcast, digital, and programmatic solutions.
Forecast revenue accurately and provide pipeline updates to leadership; escalate risks, highlight strategic deals, and propose mitigations to protect projections.
Represent the company at industry conferences, trade shows, networking events, and client offices to generate leads, learn market trends, and strengthen the brand presence.
Collaborate with finance and legal to ensure contracts, insertion orders, and NDAs comply with company policy and that billing and commission structures are executed correctly.
Train and mentor junior sales staff, interns, or associates on prospecting techniques, CRM best practices, and product offerings to elevate team capability.
Proactively manage churn risk by monitoring campaign performance, addressing advertiser concerns quickly, and recommending contract amendments or value-adds that increase retention.
Drive new product adoption by educating clients on emerging inventory types (e.g., connected TV, OTT, programmatic guaranteed) and coordinating pilot campaigns to prove effectiveness.
Maintain a deep understanding of advertising technology, audience segmentation, measurement vendors, and privacy regulations (e.g., GDPR, CCPA) to advise clients on compliant campaign design.
Create monthly and quarterly business reviews that synthesize campaign results, insights, next steps, and strategic recommendations aimed at expanding relationships and budget share.
Collaborate with marketing on co-marketing opportunities, thought leadership pieces, and case studies that highlight successful campaigns and support lead generation.

Secondary Functions

Support ad-hoc performance analyses and post-campaign attribution modeling to inform future media plans and strengthen sales narratives.
Contribute market intelligence and client feedback to product and inventory roadmap discussions to influence feature prioritization and packaging.
Coordinate cross-functional launch checklists, sprint planning for campaign-related projects, and agile workstreams for high-priority, enterprise-level deals.
Participate in internal training, sales enablement sessions, and role plays to continuously improve pitch effectiveness and product knowledge.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Proven consultative selling and closing experience in advertising, media sales, or digital marketing with enterprise and SMB advertisers.
Strong proficiency with CRM systems (Salesforce preferred) for opportunity management, pipeline forecasting, and sales reporting.
Familiarity with programmatic advertising ecosystems (DSPs, SSPs, PMP, RTB) and hands-on knowledge of platforms such as Google Ads, DV360, The Trade Desk, or Meta Ads Manager.
Media planning and buying fundamentals including reach/frequency, CPM/CPC/CPA pricing models, audience targeting, and inventory types (display, native, video, CTV/OTT).
Ability to interpret campaign performance metrics and attribution models; comfortable using Excel/Google Sheets, data visualization tools (e.g., Looker, Tableau), or BI dashboards.
Experience preparing RFP responses, insertion orders, legal agreements, and scope-of-work documentation with attention to revenue recognition and billing cycles.
Competence in creating professional pitch decks, case studies, and ROI forecasts using PowerPoint/Keynote.
Basic knowledge of ad operations, trafficking tags, QA processes, and third-party measurement vendors (Nielsen, Moat, DoubleVerify).
Understanding of privacy, data governance, and cookie-less targeting strategies to advise clients in regulated markets.
Familiarity with contract negotiation fundamentals, margin protection, and upsell strategies to maximize revenue per client.

Soft Skills

Exceptional verbal presentation and written communication skills for client pitches, stakeholder management, and cross-functional coordination.
Strong relationship-building aptitude; ability to become a trusted advisor to marketing and media-buying stakeholders.
High emotional intelligence and active listening skills to diagnose client needs and design tailored media solutions.
Resilience and tenacity in prospecting and navigating long, complex sales cycles without losing momentum.
Strategic thinking and commercial acumen to prioritize high-value opportunities and balance short-term wins with long-term account development.
Time management and organizational discipline to manage multiple active deals and campaign deadlines simultaneously.
Problem-solving orientation with the ability to troubleshoot campaign issues and propose clear, timely remedies.
Adaptability and continuous-learning mindset to keep pace with rapid changes in ad tech, formats, and industry standards.
Collaborative team player who can work closely with product, creative, and operations teams to deliver seamless client experiences.
Customer-centric approach focused on delivering measurable business outcomes and maximizing advertiser ROI.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Business, Marketing, Communications, Advertising, or equivalent demonstrable sales experience. Comparable combinations of education and practical ad sales experience will be considered.

Preferred Education:

Bachelor's or Master’s degree in Marketing, Advertising, Business Administration, Media Studies, or Communications.
Additional certifications in digital marketing, programmatic advertising, or sales (e.g., Google Ads, The Trade Desk Academy, HubSpot Sales) are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Marketing
Advertising
Business Administration
Communications
Media Studies
Data Analytics / Marketing Analytics

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

1–5 years for mid-level Advertising Sales Representatives; 3–7 years preferred for roles expected to manage larger territories or enterprise clients.

Preferred:

Proven track record in advertising or media sales with documented quota attainment and closed deals.
Experience selling cross-platform campaigns (linear + digital) or specialized inventory (CTV/OTT, programmatic, sponsored content).
Prior exposure to CRM-driven selling, forecasting, and sophisticated pipeline management.
Demonstrated ability to collaborate with ad operations and analytics teams to launch and optimize campaigns, and to present post-campaign performance insights that drive renewals and upsells.