Promotions director vs advertising manager

The differences between promotions directors and advertising managers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a promotions director and an advertising manager. Additionally, an advertising manager has an average salary of $93,050, which is higher than the $90,074 average annual salary of a promotions director.

The top three skills for a promotions director include photoshop, giveaways and radio station. The most important skills for an advertising manager are digital marketing, marketing campaigns, and SEO.

Promotions director vs advertising manager overview

	Promotions Director	Advertising Manager
Yearly salary	$90,074	$93,050
Hourly rate	$43.30	$44.74
Growth rate	10%	10%
Number of jobs	8,812	43,083
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Average age	39	39
Years of experience	6	6

What does a promotions director do?

Promotions Directors have many skills and requirements, starting with a bachelor's or master's degree in business administration with classes in marketing, economics, business accounting, statistics, math, computer technology, and communications. Averaging at an annual salary of $42K, this career choice requires interaction across multiple departments to create promotional programs and events.

What does an advertising manager do?

Advertising managers are executive professionals who work closely with the advertising team to create and implement advertising media to create effective promotional and advertising campaigns for an organization. Advertising managers are required to negotiate advertising contracts for various advertising campaigns such as print media, online ads, radio, or television. They must identify new strategies so that they can maximize brand visibility. Advertising managers must also monitor the results of their advertising campaigns to determine their effectiveness and cost-benefit ratio.

Promotions director vs advertising manager salary

Promotions directors and advertising managers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Promotions Director	Advertising Manager
Average salary	$90,074	$93,050
Salary range	Between $56,000 And $143,000	Between $61,000 And $141,000
Highest paying City	Redwood City, CA	Burlingame, CA
Highest paying state	Nevada	Nevada
Best paying company	Bonneville International	Apple
Best paying industry	Media	Finance

Differences between promotions director and advertising manager education

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

	Promotions Director	Advertising Manager
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 78%	Bachelor's Degree, 77%
Most common major	Communication	Business
Most common college	Northwestern University	Northwestern University

Promotions director vs advertising manager demographics

Here are the differences between promotions directors' and advertising managers' demographics:

	Promotions Director	Advertising Manager
Average age	39	39
Gender ratio	Male, 46.0% Female, 54.0%	Male, 43.4% Female, 56.6%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 12.1% Asian, 7.6% White, 71.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%	Black or African American, 3.4% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 11.9% Asian, 7.6% White, 72.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	10%	10%

Differences between promotions director and advertising manager duties and responsibilities

Promotions director example responsibilities.

Create and execute special events, manage DJ public appearances and the prize giveaway process for this leading adult contemporary station.
Execute promotional radio campaigns, create advertisements, manage social media accounts, coordinate DJ events and design innovative graphics.
Negotiate competitive pricing for station promotional materials and listener giveaways to maintain financial stability and increase ratings.
Increase Facebook fans from approx.
Record liners, promos, and sweepers, as well as host a bi-weekly music show.
Post videos to YouTube for clients and then a link to the video on their Facebook page.

Advertising manager example 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.

Promotions director vs advertising manager skills

Common promotions director skills

Photoshop, 7%
Giveaways, 6%
Radio Station, 6%
On-Air Promotions, 6%
FM, 6%
Promotional Materials, 6%

Common advertising manager skills

Digital Marketing, 13%
Marketing Campaigns, 10%
SEO, 8%
PPC, 8%
SEM, 8%
Facebook, 6%

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Promotions Director
Promotions Director vs Advertising Manager

Updated January 8, 2025

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