Advertising Account Executive Job Description and Skills

Advertising Account Executive Job Description and Skills

Advertising account executive job description: what the role involves, the skills and competencies to assess when hiring, and how to test candidates.

Sales


7

mins

Advertising Account Executive Job Description and Skills

Advertising account executive job description: what the role involves, the skills and competencies to assess when hiring, and how to test candidates.

Sales


7

mins

/

Advertising Sales Representative

About the role

An Advertising Sales Representative job description covers selling advertising space and solutions to new and existing clients and managing contracts and records. The role drives advertising revenue by matching client marketing needs with suitable products. Hiring managers should assess sales prospecting and closing, strategic communication, relationship building, and AI fluency.

Advertising sales representatives, also called advertising account executives, work in sales teams that depend on steady advertising revenue. They secure new advertisers, maintain current client relationships, and keep contracts and client records accurate. Core duties include:

  • Prospecting. Conduct cold calls to prospective clients and set appointments to understand their marketing needs.

  • Proposals. Develop tailored advertising solutions and deliver presentations and sales proposals.

  • Records. Document customer details, sales visits, and interactions in the company’s CRM system.

What are the essential Advertising Account Executive skills?

The essential skills are sales prospecting, presenting and closing, strategic communication and negotiation, relationship building with clients, CRM record keeping and reporting, and AI fluency.

Skill

Why it matters

Bryq assessment and level

Sales prospecting, presenting and closing

Drives cold calls, presentations, proposals, and closed deals.

Sales Roles

Strategic communication and negotiation

Helps explain prices and credit terms and persuade clients.

Strategic Communication (intermediate)

Relationship building with clients

Keeps current advertisers and wins new ones.

Relationship Building (intermediate)

CRM record keeping and reporting

Every client interaction, contract, and visit must be documented.

Customer Relationship Management (intermediate)

AI Fluency

AI supports prospect research, proposal drafting, and campaign analysis.

AI Fluency Assessment (functional)

The role is built around selling. Reps make cold calls, present proposals, explain prices and credit terms, and negotiate. They then document every interaction and contract in the CRM, and use AI tools to support research, drafting, and analysis.

Levels are a starting point. Bryq lets you set the level each role needs.

Which nice-to-have skills help an Advertising Account Executive stand out?

Time management, Microsoft Office proficiency, marketing and advertising industry knowledge, and resilience add value but are not needed on day one.

  • Time management. Helps balance many leads and appointments.

  • Microsoft Office proficiency. Supports proposals, presentations, and client documents.

  • Marketing and advertising industry knowledge. Helps connect client needs to current advertising trends.

  • Resilience. Keeps momentum when cold calls meet rejection.

Use these skills as tie-breakers between candidates who are equally strong on the essentials. Never screen out candidates who can learn them on the job.

Which competencies predict success as an Advertising Account Executive?

The essential competencies are Communication and Leadership Potential.

  • Communication. Crucial for cold calls, presentations, and explaining prices and credit terms.

  • Leadership Potential. Influence and motivation help persuade clients, negotiate, and close deals.

Empathy adds a deeper understanding of client needs, and Learning Agility helps reps keep up with advertising trends.

What AI skills does an Advertising Account Executive need?

The role should use AI daily for prospecting, proposals, and ad performance insights, and verify every output before it reaches a client.

AI tools are increasingly used for prospect research, drafting outreach and proposals, and summarizing client data. Reps need to use them confidently and check the results. Unchecked AI output can put errors in front of clients. The role does not require building AI fluency workflows.

  • Prospect research and outreach. Use AI to research prospective advertisers and draft personalized cold call scripts and outreach emails.

  • Proposals. Use AI to turn client briefs into tailored advertising proposals and presentation outlines that the rep then reviews and refines.

  • Notes and performance data. Use AI to summarize call notes and CRM entries and to interpret campaign performance data for renewal conversations.

How do you assess Advertising Account Executive candidates with Bryq?

Bryq measures all the essential skills and traits for an Advertising Sales Representative in one integrated candidate profile: cognitive ability, personality traits, soft and hard skills, including AI fluency. Bryq builds an ideal profile for the role and matches candidates against it.

All Bryq assessments are validated by I/O psychologists. Profile Fit is independently bias-audited under New York City Local Law 144 (code4thought, April 2026). The AI Fluency Assessment is built on peer-reviewed and subject-matter expert research. A person makes every hiring decision.

Advertising Account Executive (Advertising Sales Representative) job description template

Copy and paste this template, then replace the text in square brackets. To write or rewrite your own, use Bryq’s free job description AI skill, which works in Claude, ChatGPT and Copilot.

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Advertising Sales Representative

About [Company name]

[Add a short description of your company.]

About the role

As an Advertising Sales Representative, you will secure new advertisers, maintain relationships with current clients, and drive advertising revenue. You will match client marketing needs with suitable advertising solutions. Your work keeps our client base growing and our records accurate.

Responsibilities

  • Build and maintain relationships with new and existing clients to meet sales objectives.

  • Conduct cold calls to prospective clients and set appointments to understand their marketing needs.

  • Develop tailored advertising solutions based on client needs and objectives.

  • Deliver presentations and sales proposals to potential clients.

  • Answer client questions about credit terms, products, prices, and availability.

  • Maintain client records and process contracts and payment setup.

  • Track advertising industry trends and how they affect clients.

  • Document customer details, sales visits, and interactions in the company’s CRM system.

Qualifications

  • High school diploma required.

  • Bachelor’s degree in Marketing, Business Administration, or a related field is a plus.

  • Proven experience as an Advertising Sales Representative or in a similar sales or customer service role.

  • Knowledge of current trends in the advertising industry.

  • Strong presentation, negotiation, and closing skills.

  • Excellent communication and interpersonal skills.

  • Proficiency in CRM software and MS Office.

  • Self-motivated with a results-driven approach.

Skills and competencies we look for

  • Sales prospecting, presenting, and closing

  • Strategic communication and negotiation

  • Building strong client relationships

  • CRM record keeping and reporting

  • Fluency with AI tools

  • Clear communication

  • Influence and motivation

Working with AI

  • Use AI to research prospective advertisers and draft outreach, then review and refine the results.

  • Use AI to turn client briefs into proposals and to summarize notes and campaign data, checking all output before sharing it.

What we offer

  • [Salary range]

  • [Benefits]

  • [Work location and arrangement]

Equal opportunity

[Add your equal opportunity statement.]

Frequently asked questions

Essential skills are sales prospecting, presenting and closing, strategic communication and negotiation, relationship building with clients, CRM record keeping, and AI fluency. Nice-to-have skills include time management, Microsoft Office, advertising industry knowledge, and resilience.
Communication and Leadership Potential matter most. Communication supports cold calls, presentations, and clear explanations of prices and credit terms. Leadership Potential, shown as influence and motivation, supports persuading and closing.
Yes. Reps use AI for prospect research, outreach and proposal drafts, call note summaries, and campaign data. They need to verify every output before sharing it.
Use Profile Fit for cognitive ability and personality, skills assessments for sales, communication, relationships, and CRM, and the AI Fluency Assessment. Add optional skills assessments as tie-breakers.
No. In this role, Leadership Potential means influence and motivation. It helps the rep persuade clients, negotiate, and close deals, rather than manage people.
Essential skills are sales prospecting, presenting and closing, strategic communication and negotiation, relationship building with clients, CRM record keeping, and AI fluency. Nice-to-have skills include time management, Microsoft Office, advertising industry knowledge, and resilience.
Communication and Leadership Potential matter most. Communication supports cold calls, presentations, and clear explanations of prices and credit terms. Leadership Potential, shown as influence and motivation, supports persuading and closing.
Yes. Reps use AI for prospect research, outreach and proposal drafts, call note summaries, and campaign data. They need to verify every output before sharing it.
Use Profile Fit for cognitive ability and personality, skills assessments for sales, communication, relationships, and CRM, and the AI Fluency Assessment. Add optional skills assessments as tie-breakers.
No. In this role, Leadership Potential means influence and motivation. It helps the rep persuade clients, negotiate, and close deals, rather than manage people.
Essential skills are sales prospecting, presenting and closing, strategic communication and negotiation, relationship building with clients, CRM record keeping, and AI fluency. Nice-to-have skills include time management, Microsoft Office, advertising industry knowledge, and resilience.
Communication and Leadership Potential matter most. Communication supports cold calls, presentations, and clear explanations of prices and credit terms. Leadership Potential, shown as influence and motivation, supports persuading and closing.
Yes. Reps use AI for prospect research, outreach and proposal drafts, call note summaries, and campaign data. They need to verify every output before sharing it.
Use Profile Fit for cognitive ability and personality, skills assessments for sales, communication, relationships, and CRM, and the AI Fluency Assessment. Add optional skills assessments as tie-breakers.
No. In this role, Leadership Potential means influence and motivation. It helps the rep persuade clients, negotiate, and close deals, rather than manage people.

You can explore more job profiles on Bryq.

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Author

The Bryq I/O Team

Bryq’s I/O Psychology Team is a group of industrial-organizational psychologists who design and validate the science behind our assessments. They write about what research says on hiring, skills, personality, and performance, and how HR leaders can apply it to make fairer, evidence-based decisions.

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