How To Become An Advertising Account Executive: What It Is and Career Path

What is an advertising account executive and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

4 min read

Quoted Expert

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

Advertising account executives (or simply account executives) are the main associates between advertising and media agencies and their clients. Their role is simply a combination of sales or business development activities and customer relationship management.

Account executives meet with clients to get a thorough understanding of their advertising and promotional needs, the budgets earmarked for these activities, target audience and other critical demographics, market and competition information, and any other relevant details.

As an account executive, they have a standard working period of five days per week; however, this may fluctuate in the event of pressing campaign deadlines, outdoor location shoots, or campaigns being shot after office hours.

Advertising account executives earn a base annual salary starting at $25,000 to $30,000 and going up from $35,000 to $50,000.

What general advice would you give to an Advertising Account Executive?

Kaustav Misra Ph.D.

Associate Dean, Central Connecticut State University

I have spent almost two decades in the higher education industry and about a decade in administration. I often advised students, and it is astonishing to see how many of these students do not plan for their future. A good plan is a starting point to lead a good and successful career and life. Hence, by all means, it is worth noting that developing a future-oriented focus is important, so taking time to streamline the plan should be an important exercise for every graduate before they begin to do anything.

ScoreAdvertising Account ExecutiveUS Average

Salary

4.9

Avg. Salary $62,123

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability Level

8.2

Growth Rate -8%

Growth Rate 0.3%

Diversity

8.3

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.39%

Asian 4.59%

Black or African American 6.02%

Hispanic or Latino 13.32%

Unknown 4.12%

White 71.57%

Gender

female 58.64%

male 41.36%

Age - 43

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 43

Stress Level

8.2

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity Level

9.6

Complexity Level is advanced

7 - challenging

Work Life Balance

4.0

Work Life balance is poor

6.4 - fair

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Key steps to become an advertising account executive

Explore advertising account executive education requirements

Most common advertising account executive degrees

Bachelor's

77.8 %

Associate

11.5 %

Master's

5.3 %

Start to develop specific advertising account executive skills

Skills	Percentages
Media Sales	15.73%
CRM	11.43%
Client Relationships	8.06%
Cold Calls	7.11%
PowerPoint	6.96%

Complete relevant advertising account executive training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 3-6 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New advertising account executives learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as an advertising account executive based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real advertising account executive resumes.

Research advertising account executive duties and responsibilities

Manage RFP responses for CPG and healthcare campaigns across various publishers (i.e.
Manage the everyday activities of a team of 20- 30 account managers, paid search strategist and SEO specialists.
Generate leads using a variety of sources, including the Internet, corporate CRM, industry publications and company publication library.
Manage copywriting and spot production scheduling

Prepare your advertising account executive resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your advertising account executive resume.

You can use Zippia's AI resume builder to make the resume writing process easier while also making sure that you include key information that hiring managers expect to see on an advertising account executive resume. You'll find resume tips and examples of skills, responsibilities, and summaries, all provided by Zippi, your career sidekick.

Choose From 10+ Customizable Advertising Account Executive Resume templates

Build a professional Advertising Account Executive resume in minutes. Browse through our resume examples to identify the best way to word your resume. Then choose from 10+ resume templates to create your Advertising Account Executive resume.

Apply for advertising account executive jobs

Now it's time to start searching for an advertising account executive job. Consider the tips below for a successful job search:

Browse job boards for relevant postings
Consult your professional network
Reach out to companies you're interested in working for directly
Watch out for job scams

Average advertising account executive salary

The average Advertising Account Executive salary in the United States is $62,123 per year or $30 per hour. Advertising account executive salaries range between $44,000 and $87,000 per year.

Average Advertising Account Executive Salary

$62,123 Yearly

$29.87 hourly