Advertising account planner
Advertising account planners develop and plan ad campaigns to make sure adverts reach the right audience.
What you'll do
Day-to-day tasks
You could:
- meet clients to create objectives and work out a strategy
- conduct research like sales data and focus groups
- develop an advertising strategy to reach the target audience
- explain what the client needs to the creative team
- monitor the success of an ad campaign
- keep up to date with trends
Working environment
You could work in an office or at a client's business.
You may need to wear smart business clothes.
Career path and progression
With experience you could:
- become a senior account planner
- manage a team
- get a specialist research job
- work as a freelance planning consultant
- set up your own agency
What it takes
Skills and knowledge
You'll need:
- knowledge of media production and communication
- the ability to use your initiative
- knowledge of English language
- to be thorough and pay attention to detail
- to be flexible and open to change
- the ability to come up with new ways of doing things
- excellent verbal communication skills
- patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
- to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
How to become
You can get into this job through:
- a university course
- an apprenticeship
- working towards this role
- specialist courses run by professional bodies
To become an advertising account planner, you could do a degree in:
- advertising and marketing
- statistics
- communication and media studies
- business or management
- psychology
With your degree you can apply for graduate schemes in advertising companies.
Work experience during university
Employers value work experience so it's important to get as much as you can during your studies.
Your university careers service can help you find work experience, internship and placement opportunities.
Entry requirements
You'll usually need:
- 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
More Information
You could start by doing an advertising and media executive advanced apprenticeship.
If you also get some advertising experience, you can apply for jobs as an account planner.
Entry requirements
There are no set entry requirements but it may help you to get in if you have:
- 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
More Information
You might be able to start in a junior position at a small advertising agency in a position like admin assistant.
You can then work your way up as your experience in advertising grows.
Experience will help you understand advertising and allow you to meet new people who may help you find paid work.
You could try:
- work experience
- internships
- temporary jobs
You could contact agencies directly to ask about volunteering opportunities. You could also make contacts on social media channels like LinkedIn.
You could take the advertising Foundation Certificate to get some of the skills you need to get a paid job in advertising.
The course is offered by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising and is open to anyone with less than one year of experience in an advertising, marketing or communications role.
Career tips
Some companies may expect you to start as a trainee advertising account executive or advertising account manager and move into account planning when you have experience.
Professional and industry bodies
You could join the APG to find training opportunities and make industry contacts.
Further information
You can find out more about careers in advertising from the APG, the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) and Discover Creative Careers.
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