Advertising sales director vs head of sales

The differences between advertising sales directors and heads of sales can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 4-6 years to become an advertising sales director, becoming a head of sales takes usually requires 6-8 years. Additionally, a head of sales has an average salary of $166,100, which is higher than the $76,505 average annual salary of an advertising sales director.

The top three skills for an advertising sales director include media sales, revenue growth and client relationships. The most important skills for a head of sales are CRM, sales strategy, and sales organization.

Advertising sales director vs head of sales overview

	Advertising Sales Director	Head Of Sales
Yearly salary	$76,505	$166,100
Hourly rate	$36.78	$79.86
Growth rate	10%	5%
Number of jobs	56,824	112,592
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 87%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age	39	46
Years of experience	6	8

Advertising sales director vs head of sales salary

Advertising sales directors and heads of sales have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Advertising Sales Director	Head Of Sales
Average salary	$76,505	$166,100
Salary range	Between $52,000 And $110,000	Between $110,000 And $248,000
Highest paying City	-	Portland, OR
Highest paying state	-	Vermont
Best paying company	-	Flexport
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between advertising sales director and head of sales education

There are a few differences between an advertising sales director and a head of sales in terms of educational background:

	Advertising Sales Director	Head Of Sales
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 87%	Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common major	Business	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	University of Southern California

Advertising sales director vs head of sales demographics

Here are the differences between advertising sales directors' and heads of sales' demographics:

	Advertising Sales Director	Head Of Sales
Average age	39	46
Gender ratio	Male, 57.3% Female, 42.7%	Male, 66.5% Female, 33.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.2% Asian, 7.6% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 3.2% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 9.8% Asian, 4.1% White, 78.2% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	10%	7%

Differences between advertising sales director and head of sales duties and responsibilities

Advertising sales director example responsibilities.

Achieve continuous profitability improvements through cost reduction programs successful OEM contract negotiations and outsourcing installation program.
Collaborate on social media and operations project to expand CRM platform for demand awareness, lead scoring automation and forecast accuracy.
Develop new accounts while maintaining and upselling existing accounts.

Head of sales example responsibilities.

Coordinate social media work (Facebook, apps, and social post within the managed brands).
Create, and manage social media initiatives.including facebook, twitter, instagram, pinterest, and youtube.3.
Full responsibility for all sales activities for a start-up electronic commerce company managing electronic data flow in the healthcare industry.
Establish the group sales strategy, group ceiling, and booking calendar for groups.
Initiate and execute a customer service development program, CRM implementation and adoption.
Advance c-level and senior relationships with brand, agency, networks and publishers.

Advertising sales director vs head of sales skills

Common advertising sales director skills

Media Sales, 32%
Revenue Growth, 10%
Client Relationships, 6%
Sales Management, 5%
Account Management, 4%
Sales Strategies, 4%

Common head of sales skills

CRM, 8%
Sales Strategy, 7%
Sales Organization, 5%
Product Knowledge, 5%
Business Development, 5%
Sales Operations, 5%

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Advertising Sales Director
Advertising Sales Director vs Head Of Sales

Updated January 8, 2025

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