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Job outlook for creative services managers in the United States
Are creative services manager jobs in demand?
Creative services manager job and salary trends over time
Creative services manager jobs over time
Creative services manager job growth rate over time
| Year | # of jobs | % of population |
|---|---|---|
| 2021 | 1,994 | 0.00% |
| 2020 | 1,938 | 0.00% |
| 2019 | 1,953 | 0.00% |
| 2018 | 1,813 | 0.00% |
| 2017 | 1,687 | 0.00% |
Average creative services manager salary over time
Creative services manager salary by year
| Year | Avg. salary | Hourly rate | % Change |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | $78,567 | $37.77 | +3.9% |
| 2024 | $75,627 | $36.36 | +1.9% |
| 2023 | $74,212 | $35.68 | +1.6% |
| 2022 | $73,074 | $35.13 | +0.8% |
| 2021 | $72,494 | $34.85 | +1.9% |
Creative services manager jobs by state
Most common states for creative services managers
| Rank | State | Population | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | District of Columbia | 693,972 | 497 | 72% |
| 2 | Rhode Island | 1,059,639 | 318 | 30% |
| 3 | Massachusetts | 6,859,819 | 1,860 | 27% |
| 4 | Minnesota | 5,576,606 | 1,516 | 27% |
| 5 | Oregon | 4,142,776 | 1,007 | 24% |
| 6 | Utah | 3,101,833 | 710 | 23% |
| 7 | New Hampshire | 1,342,795 | 291 | 22% |
| 8 | Washington | 7,405,743 | 1,582 | 21% |
| 9 | Iowa | 3,145,711 | 666 | 21% |
| 10 | Virginia | 8,470,020 | 1,653 | 20% |
| 11 | Montana | 1,050,493 | 205 | 20% |
| 12 | Vermont | 623,657 | 122 | 20% |
| 13 | Illinois | 12,802,023 | 2,447 | 19% |
| 14 | New Jersey | 9,005,644 | 1,672 | 19% |
| 15 | California | 39,536,653 | 6,676 | 17% |
| 16 | Georgia | 10,429,379 | 1,724 | 17% |
| 17 | North Carolina | 10,273,419 | 1,716 | 17% |
| 18 | Connecticut | 3,588,184 | 608 | 17% |
| 19 | Nebraska | 1,920,076 | 324 | 17% |
| 20 | Delaware | 961,939 | 153 | 16% |
Most common cities for creative services managers
| Rank | City | # of jobs | Employment/ 1000ppl | Avg. salary |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Farmington | 1 | 4% | $87,569 |
| 2 | Silver Spring | 1 | 1% | $87,484 |
| 3 | Denver | 1 | 0% | $58,585 |
| 4 | Jacksonville | 1 | 0% | $70,083 |
| 5 | Los Angeles | 1 | 0% | $109,320 |
Creative Services Manager job outlook: Expert opinions
Our panel of creative services manager experts
University of Hawaii at Manoa
Indiana University Bloomington
Bethel University
Moravian College
Troy University
University of Northern Iowa
University of Scranton
University of Findlay
Villanova University
Los Angeles County Museum of Art
The One Club
Fordham University
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
Frances Zhu: Get competing offers and negotiate a higher salary. Foster skills that lend to higher salaries. For example, even though marine biology may not pay the highest, if you have some coding experience, you will be one of the higher paid marine biologists in the field.
What Creative Services Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Frances Zhu: Do not feel locked into a career trajectory. Find some great mentors. So much information is conveyed through word of mouth. Put yourself in the way of luck (as assert yourself in situations of opportunities). Advocate for yourself as if your friend were advocating on your behalf.
What will help Creative Services Managers increase their earning potential?
Frances Zhu: With the rise of AI, we're seeing a lot of skills become irrelevant. Just 5 years ago, a software engineering job seemed ludicrous. Now those are the fastest jobs being replaced by AI. A skill that will never be irrelevant is creativity, which is a skill you can cultivate. Create content and think in new ways that no one (even AI) has ever thought of.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
George Logothetis Jr: Create work that is undeniably great. Work that turns heads, shows daring and provocative thinking, and is attention-getting and impossible to ignore.
What Creative Services Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
George Logothetis Jr: Being able to flex between the various media channels and show competence and imagination in them all. Young creatives have to be versatile and fluent on all communication platforms. It’s also important to maximize your craft and continually hone it. Whether you are art or copy, having a heightened sense of design and writing will not only make the job easier, but you will be more productive. The better your skills are the more work you can create. If you bring lots of work to every meeting, you will always be appreciated.
What will help Creative Services Managers increase their earning potential?
George Logothetis Jr: Be focused on the strategic approaches that inform the creative process. Don’t think that being a creative person in advertising is solely about being creative. Show insight and appreciation for business initiatives and how strategies define them.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
Becki Graves M.A.: I often refer to the 'swiss army knife' in my field. These students can sing, write songs, set up a stage, chart a song, lead a team, lead a room in worship, run worship software, and lead their peers. Don't just keep to one lane, try to learn the most about all of them.
What Creative Services Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Becki Graves M.A.: It is already vital in the field of creative arts and creative ministry but being a researcher. Research the current products on the market, trends in attendance, etc. This is a vital tool in being able to build the programs or ministry teams you envision.
What will help Creative Services Managers increase their earning potential?
Becki Graves M.A.: Try anything and everything—no work or job is beneath you. All your experiences will culminate into who you are as a person and employee and leader. Be ready to work several jobs. Most creative types end up being bi-vocational at some point in their career. Try to see this a gift—creative inspiration flows from having multiple lids open at once.
Dr. MaryJo Rosania-Harvie
Assistant Professor of Practice | Art Education Coordinator | Interim Art Department ChairMoravian College
Fine And Studio Arts
What will help Creative Services Managers increase their earning potential?
Dr. MaryJo Rosania-Harvie: For someone beginning their career, I would advise them to consider the problem-solving and critical thinking skills they developed in school, and highlight those skills when meeting with potential employers and clients. They can consider themselves entrepreneurs, and should try to be flexible and open-minded.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
Christopher Stagl MFA: This industry is all about connections with people. You have to network and market yourself. This will lead to opportunities for you creatively - which may start small but you build upon success, grow your clients, and progressively begin to charge more and more as you grow in to your field. Never stop learning, never stop making (even if it's mistakes), and never stop networking.
What Creative Services Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Christopher Stagl MFA: Definitely video, motion, animation, and effects will continue to grow as some of the most needed skills - but if you can't think creatively, if you can't be unique and different in your problem solving and design thinking approach - then it doesn't matter how much technology you know or how good you are at Ai - you won't have a place in the industry. This industry is based on ideas - not technology. Skills can be learned, the most successful creatives think different.
What will help Creative Services Managers increase their earning potential?
Christopher Stagl MFA: a. Remain curious about creative problem solving with diverse and unique approaches. b. Seek feedback. Just because your classroom projects are over doesn't mean you still shouldn't be reaching out your peers and mentors to get feedback. c. Do your research, always. Never just assume you know the market or the demographic - do your due diligence and ask all the right questions to learn about your client. d. Tell a good story. The creative industry is really about people - figure out who the people are you're speaking for and speaking to and find the story that lives in those thrulines. e. Be Hungry and Hustle. Nobody is going to do this for you - creative work isn't going to come to you - you have to go get it.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
Jennifer D'Angelo Ph.D.: Brands across many product categories are facing an increasing level of competition. Brands may struggle with rising brand parity, where brands and their competitors are seen as similar to one another. Therefore, to stand out from competitors, it has become increasingly important for brands to have marketing managers that create value for consumers and communicate that value to consumers.
Elizabeth Sutton
Department Head, Professor of Art HistoryUniversity of Northern Iowa
Department of Art
What soft skills should all Creative Services Managers possess?
Elizabeth Sutton: There are many--the ability to collaborate and communicate effectively is absolutely necessary. The ability to ask for feedback and be able to take that feedback and incorporate it into a process is very important. Of course, meeting deadlines is also very important.
Abhijit Roy
Professor of MarketingUniversity of Scranton
School of Management
What soft skills should all Creative Services Managers possess?
Abhijit Roy: These are very important, yet harder to quantify skills, not only for marketing professionals but for business graduates in general. They include the ability to make sound decisions under pressure, having a high emotional intelligence quotient (EQ) as embodied by having empathy towards coworkers and subordinates, delegating appropriately, mentoring, communicating, time management, maintaining positivity despite setbacks and adapting to unforeseen challenges, being flexible, being persuasive and assertive at appropriate moments, yet being collaborative, seeking feedback, and the ability to negotiate and resolve conflicts when needed, amongst others.
Soft skills are typically more instrumental in enabling candidates to fit into an organization's culture and be strong candidates for promotion. Most marketing jobs involve candidates representing their brand initiatives and building strong client relationships, so interpersonal, and other soft skills are often valued more than hard skills. The strongest case for having excellent soft skills is that they are more easily transferable across various jobs and industries.
What are the biggest trends we'll see in the Creative Services Manager job market given the pandemic?
Anne Beekman: Employers are looking for versatility, someone who can take on multiple roles: graphic design, social media, photography, and web. Anything else that you can add - the ability to write, to do illustration, video, animation - will give you an edge in a competitive job market.
What Creative Services Manager skills would you recommend for someone trying to advance their career?
Anne Beekman: Keep your design skills sharp, for they quickly fade if you don't use them. Continue to build your portfolio with self-initiated projects. Do tutorials to improve with technology and software. Read design books and magazines to stay on top of trends. Then, when a potential employer asks what you have been doing for the past year since graduation, you can show that you are capable of self-initiated learning.
Edward Sobel
Associate Professor, Resident DirectorVillanova University
Department of Theatre
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
Edward Sobel: It's important to know that theater is a relationship-based career. Look to build relationships with those with whom you share a common aesthetic and a sense of purpose. Building relationships takes time and care, and only sometimes pays immediate dividends. Remember this is a marathon, not a sprint. Be persistent. You may not ever be able to make a living in the theater. But if you quit, you definitely won't.
I'll add, many but not all who obtain a degree in theater wish to work in the profession. A theater degree, particularly within a liberal arts context, offers highly marketable and desirable skills. The theater is a collaborative art form, making those with a theater degree experience working as part of a team. The theater is storytelling. Those with a theater degree have learned how to construct a compelling narrative and to communicate it clearly. They have practiced analytical and presentational skills. They have embodied empathy. All of this position a graduate well in many other occupations, including law, teaching, advertising/marketing, social work, etc.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
Cynthia Tovar: Due to the pandemic, it is unfortunate that there are limited job openings for new graduates entering the workforce; however, there are a number of ways that a young professional can continue to network and gain experience, including virtual internships and entering into an official mentorship or training program (such as the ARCS Mentorship Program, The Museum Leadership, Polaris mentorship program, the Broad Diversity Apprenticeship Program, or The Registrar Hour, Intern Hour). Emerging professionals that join ARCS as an individual or student member, will have access to job listings, networking opportunities, funding opportunities for conferences and the mentor program among other benefits.
For those that do enter the workforce, many institutions' staff are still working remotely or operating in a hybrid model. There will be a need for new staff to communicate effectively with their supervisors, while working remotely, over video meetings. They might also be expected to learn new software or technology such as DocuSign to facilitate remote working and or be expected to serve as a virtual courier using video technology and digital condition reporting techniques. Museums can benefit from a fresh viewpoint that advocates for efficiencies and new ways of operating in these challenging times.
What general advice would you give to a Creative Services Manager?
Yash Egami: A recent Forrester report says that the ad industry will lose 50,000 jobs through 2021, with 35,000 of them already lost since the pandemic. The traditional ad agency model was already in trouble, with many brands hiring away talent and creating their own in-house agencies. Add to that the recent reckoning with the Black Lives Matter movement, and what we're seeing is an industry that is being forced to go through monumental change in order to survive.
While traditional roles like art director or copywriter are on the decline, the good news is that, in an effort to reinvent themselves, agencies are seeking creatives with digital skills like UX design and programming. The rise of in-house creative departments has also meant more opportunities for job seekers within brands rather than agencies. And because of the demand for more diversity from clients and those within advertising, recruiters are making more of an effort to hire multicultural talent.
At The One Club for Creativity, we've been at the forefront of change in the industry through our diversity and inclusion, professional development and gender equality programs. We recently hosted our annual multicultural career fair, "Where Are All the Black People?" that brought together thousands of diverse talent with 40 agencies and companies looking to hire. We launched One School, a free online program for Black creatives who want to get into the industry but don't have a portfolio or the economic means to afford to go to ad school. And we're working on upskilling courses for professionals who want to reinvent themselves or keep up with the changing demands of our industry.
So if you're a recent graduate who specializes in art direction, our advice would be to keep an open mind about what kind of company you want to work for and think about expanding your skillset to include digital skills so that you can future-proof your career. Where you are isn't as important because, since the pandemic, agencies have become more comfortable with working remotely and they are more open to having a workforce not centered on the traditional agency hubs, like New York or Los Angeles.
Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock
Clinical Associate ProfessorFordham University
Department of Theatre and Visual Art
Will there be an enduring impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Creative Services Managers?
Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock: Graduates will undoubtedly experience the impact of the coronavirus for years to come. A number of our alumni have traditionally worked within the art and museum industries, which have been functioning in a limited capacity since the start of the pandemic. Those venues are starting to open up once again; however, there is no guarantee that they will return to the same operating and staffing levels as before.
How do you envision technology impacting Creative Services Managers in the next 5 years?
Stephan Apicella-Hitchcock: Image-making continues to see integration into many aspects of our lives-from the propagation of cat pictures to utilization in video activism of varying types. As these devices become increasingly sophisticated and more affordable, I imagine that we will see even more significant and democratic usage.