BroxtenDigital
The types of jobs in advertising break down into six departments inside an ad agency, plus three sides outside it: brands, media owners and platforms. I've interviewed people in almost every one of these seats across 27 episodes, and most of these jobs never come up in a standard job search.
I work as a performance media analyst at one of the top agencies, and I host The BroxtenDigital Show where guests break down what their actual job looks like day to day. I made this map because, as I said on the show, "there are so many opportunities across advertising and probably a good two or three things that you probably don't even know exist at any given point in your career."
What types of jobs are there in advertising?
Every job in advertising sits on one of four sides. Brands pay for the ads, agencies plan, make and buy them, and media owners sell the space, meaning TV, streaming, publishers, podcasts and billboards. Platforms like Google, Meta, Amazon and TikTok run the auctions where most of the money moves now.
Most people start at an agency, and that's my seat, so that's the part of the map I'll go deepest on. Inside an agency there are six departments: account, strategy, creative, production, media, and data.
Trying to land your first role in advertising or marketing? Every episode is someone who built a career in this industry sharing what works. Subscribe on YouTube.
What does each agency department do?
Account owns the client relationship: it spots the client's problem and manages the day to day. Strategy finds the insight, and creative turns that insight into the actual ad, whether it's a social post, a performance ad or a TV spot.
Production builds the work and keeps it on time. Media puts it in front of the right people, and for me that means paid search, paid social and programmatic. Data shows what worked and what to do next.
If you're organized and good with people, account is your fit. Strategy is for the curious, the people always asking why. Creative fits people who live for ideas and feedback, production fits people who like hitting deadlines, and media and data fit people who like numbers, whether in ad platforms or in Excel and SQL.
What are the four sides of the advertising industry?
Brands pay for the advertising. Agencies come in types too: creative, media, digital and performance, PR and comms, social and influencer, and experiential, and most of the big ones sit under a handful of holding companies like WPP, Publicis Groupe, Omnicom, Dentsu and Havas.
Media owners (TV, streaming, publishers, podcasts and billboards) sell the space, so most of their jobs are ad sales, built around delivering value to agencies. Platforms like Google, Meta and Amazon run the auctions, with a lot of the work in sales and product roles.
Which entry-level titles should you search for?
"It's really easy to just think junior and associate are the only two things." Search only those two words and you'll scroll past most of the real openings.
You're looking at account coordinator or assistant account executive to kick things off. You get into strategy as a junior strategist or strategy associate. You start as a junior copywriter or junior art director if you want to do creative work.
Production coordinator is the production role, media associate or search and social analyst is the media role, and data roles usually carry an analyst title. Type those into LinkedIn and Indeed, then find someone doing that job and have a real conversation before you apply.
Watch the full conversation
Watch the full video for every seat in the industry, the ladders inside each one, and the three sides outside the agency, each with an episode to go deeper: Jobs In Advertising, Explained: Every Seat And Where To Start.
Watch next: A Media VP On How To Get Into The Advertising Industry
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