How to hire an advertising manager

How to hire an advertising manager, step by step

Here's a step-by-step advertising manager hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write an advertising manager job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new advertising manager
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does an advertising manager do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   The advertising manager hiring process starts by determining what type of worker you actually need. Certain roles might require a full-time employee, whereas part-time workers or contractors can do others.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them an advertising manager to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire an advertising manager that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of advertising manager salaries for various roles:

   Type of Advertising Manager	Description	Hourly rate
   Advertising Manager	Advertising, promotions, and marketing managers plan programs to generate interest in products or services. They work with art directors, sales agents, and financial staff members.	$29-67
   Manager, Field Marketing	A field marketing manager oversees a company's field marketing operations, aiming to improve brand awareness and reach sales goals. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around devising marketing strategies, participating in organizing campaigns and trade shows, setting objectives for the team, and monitoring the progress of marketing programs, ensuring they are functioning effectively and efficiently... Show more	$32-61
   Marketing Strategist	The marketing strategist is an executive who works with the members of the marketing team to ensure the implementation of high-quality marketing strategies within a given time frame. Marketing strategists examine data to find out the best way to administer resources to increase revenue and profits... Show more	$25-57

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Digital Marketing
   • Marketing Campaigns
   • SEO
   • PPC
   • SEM
   • Facebook
   • Google Analytics
   • Integrated Marketing
   • B Testing
   • Market Research
   • Twitter
   • ROI
   • YouTube
   • Media Planning

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Design and manage CRM, email marketing and database systems for B2B and B2C environment.
   • Manage all advertising and product reselling opportunities, represent the company at trade shows and handle SEO.
   • Lead corporate rebranding efforts to reflect proprietary technology and high-end international market.
   • Work with NYC base advertising and media agencies.
   • Build and maintain company work portfolio and Facebook page.
   • Test and expand marketing programs to include content seeding, and SEM.

   More advertising manager duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your advertising manager job description is a great way to entice the best and brightest candidates. An advertising manager salary can vary based on several factors:

   • Location. For example, advertising managers' average salary in missouri is 50% less than in nevada.
   • Seniority. Entry-level advertising managers earn 57% less than senior-level advertising managers.
   • Certifications. An advertising manager with a few certifications under their belt will likely demand a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for a prestigious company or an exciting start-up can make a huge difference in an advertising manager's salary.

   Average advertising manager salary

   $93,050yearly

   $44.74 hourly rate

   ---

   Entry-level advertising manager salary

   $61,000 yearly salary

   Updated January 30, 2026

   Average advertising manager salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$129,734	$62
   2	Nevada	$127,071	$61
   3	Washington	$106,800	$51
   4	New York	$97,366	$47
   5	Arizona	$96,800	$47
   6	Hawaii	$90,823	$44
   7	Colorado	$88,132	$42
   8	Utah	$86,494	$42
   9	Vermont	$81,198	$39
   10	Texas	$80,743	$39
   11	Ohio	$75,501	$36
   12	Oklahoma	$75,156	$36
   13	Maryland	$73,438	$35
   14	Georgia	$72,552	$35
   15	Mississippi	$69,522	$33
   16	Alaska	$68,457	$33
   17	Illinois	$67,379	$32
   18	Florida	$63,097	$30

   Average advertising manager salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Apple	$158,868	$76.38	17
   2	Turo	$157,811	$75.87	3
   3	Atlassian	$145,391	$69.90	2
   4	Koch Industries	$105,940	$50.93
   5	University of Alaska	$99,182	$47.68	3
   6	Williams Sonoma	$99,014	$47.60	2
   7	CyberCoders	$98,972	$47.58
   8	Celtra	$97,122	$46.69
   9	J&L Marketing	$97,111	$46.69
   10	Acadia Healthcare	$96,956	$46.61	3
   11	M&T Bank	$96,324	$46.31	3
   12	U.S. Legal Support	$94,887	$45.62
   13	Penguin Random House	$92,004	$44.23
   14	Essense of Australia	$91,766	$44.12	2
   15	Lopez Negrete Communications	$89,533	$43.04	1
   16	United Nations Foundation	$88,794	$42.69
   17	CommerceHub	$88,736	$42.66
   18	Gardner Denver	$88,110	$42.36	1
   19	Epson America	$87,200	$41.92	1
   20	Miami Valley Gaming	$86,652	$41.66

4. Writing an advertising manager job description

   An advertising manager job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of an advertising manager job description:

   Advertising manager job description example

   A regional, family and employee owned lumber and construction supply company is replacing the current Merchandising and Advertising Manager who will be retiring in early 2022. Established in 1884, Ganahl Lumber is the oldest family and employee owned company in California. Currently the company has 900 employees and 10 Southern California retail locations.

   Ganahl Lumber is well positioned regionally as a leader in the industry, competing very favorably in their market, even with Home Depot, especially in customer satisfaction, and diversity and quality of products. The management is known for creating a culture of caring about people first, with a “hospitality” mindset, while always maintaining healthy growth and profitability based on continuous improvement of best practices. The company is partially employee-owned and compensation is heavily weighted to a generous bonus and profit sharing plan which creates higher than industry compensation, including benefits and retirement plans. 35% of the company’s profits are paid out to employees in cash bonuses and the ESOP for the employee’s retirement plan (29% bonuses and 6% ESOP)

   The Merchandising and Advertising Manager will lead a team of Product Managers, Operations Manager and Administrative and Support staff where a culture of creativity, autonomy, expectations and accountability towards continuously improving the quality of service, the customer experience, the efficiency of the operation and the profitability of the company.

   Success will be measured in several key areas: Leading a merchandising team that assures Ganahl Lumber provides the highest level of product offering and competitive prices to our core Pro customer base; grow and maintain best-in-industry relationships and programs with our strategic vendors; industry leading retail merchandising standards for Hardlines and Building Materials in all of our retail operations; building positive working relationships with branch management and sales; professional and personal development of direct report employees; and growing market awareness through creative multi-media advertising.

   Other experience, key skills and qualities include:

   • Strong background in buying and merchandising. Preferably in Hardlines and LBM.
   • Proven track record demonstrating ethical decision making, getting results, developing people and driving change.
   • Experience in developing and implementing advertising strategies in the retail channel.
   • Strong analytical and critical thinking skills.
   • Logistical and distribution experience a plus.
   • Great written and personal communication skills up-and-down the organization.
   • Proven negotiating skills.
   • Ability to travel occasionally.
   • MS Office skills and understanding of ERP systems.

   This job description is not an exhaustive list of all functions that the employee may be required to perform, and the employee may be required to perform additional functions. Additionally, Ganahl Lumber Company reserves the right to revise the job description at any time. All active employees must be able to satisfactorily perform the essential functions of the position and that, if requested, reasonable accommodations may be made to enable employees with disabilities to perform the essential functions of their job, absent undue hardship. Your employment with Ganahl Lumber Company is at will. Nothing in this job description shall be interpreted to be in conflict with or to eliminate or modify in any way, the at-will employment status of the Ganahl Lumber Company employees.

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5. Post your job

   There are various strategies that you can use to find the right advertising manager for your business:

   • Consider promoting from within or recruiting from your existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals from friends, family members, and current employees.
   • Attend job fairs at local colleges to find candidates who meet your education requirements.
   • Use social media platforms like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your advertising manager job on Zippia to find and recruit advertising manager candidates who meet your exact specifications.
   • Use field-specific websites.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit advertising managers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents. You can move on to the technical interview if a candidate is good enough for the next step.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new advertising manager

   Once you've found the advertising manager candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's also important to follow up with applicants who do not get the job with an email letting them know that the position is filled.

   After that, you can create an onboarding schedule for a new advertising manager. Human Resources and the hiring manager should complete Employee Action Forms. Human Resources should also ensure that onboarding paperwork is completed, including I-9s, benefits enrollment, federal and state tax forms, etc., and that new employee files are created.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire an advertising manager?