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Sales & marketing

Advertising media buyer

Media buyers book advert space on newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and websites.

Annual Salary

£21,000 to £36,000

Average UK salary in 2022 was £33,200
(source Office for National Statistics)

Working hours

38 to 40 a week

You could work: 9am to 5pm;

2.9%
Future employment

There will be 2.9% more Advertising media buyer jobs in 2027.

Day to day tasks

You could:

  • work out who the audience is and where to put adverts so they'll see them
  • build relationships with clients and media sales companies
  • negotiate for the best advert spots at the cheapest rates
  • manage budgets and outline costs to clients
  • monitor campaign audience figures
  • analyse sales data, to judge a campaign's effectiveness

Working environment

You may need to wear smart business clothes.

You could work in an office or at a client's business.

You can get into this job through:

  • a university course
  • an apprenticeship
  • working towards this role
  • specialist courses run by professional bodies
University

You could get into advertising with any degree subject.

However, for this role some employers may prefer subjects like:

  • advertising and marketing
  • statistics or operational research
  • communication and media studies
  • business or management

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 2 to 3 A levels, or equivalent, for a degree
For more information
Apprenticeship

You could do an advertising apprenticeship like an assistant buyer higher apprenticeship or an advertising media executive advanced apprenticeship.

With experience these may give you some of the skills, knowledge and industry contacts you need to move into advertising media buying roles.

Entry requirements

You'll usually need:

  • 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C), or equivalent, including English and maths, for an advanced apprenticeship
  • 4 or 5 GCSEs at grades 9 to 4 (A* to C) and A levels, or equivalent, for a higher or degree apprenticeship
For more information
Work

You could start in a junior position like office assistant in a small advertising agency and work your way up through training and promotion.

Volunteering and work experience

You'll find it useful to get experience before you apply for roles. It will help you understand the industry and make contacts.

You could try:

  • work experience
  • internships
  • temporary employment

You could contact agencies directly to ask about placements or contact companies on sites like Twitter or LinkedIn.

Other routes

You could study the Foundation Certificate offered by the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising.

To apply, you must have less than one year of experience in an advertising, marketing or communications role.

More information

Career tips

Employers will usually be interested in your personal qualities, like creativity, quick thinking and business sense, as well as your formal qualifications.

Professional and industry bodies

You could join the Institute of Practitioners in Advertising, for professional development, training opportunities and to make industry contacts.

Further information

You can find out more about a career in advertising from the IPA and Discover Creative Careers.

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You can choose to specialise in buying radio, online or TV adverts.

With experience, you could eventually become a:media planner; account planner; account executive

You can find out more about a career in advertising from the IPA.

Skills required and how your skills match up

What skills are required?

You'll need:

  • knowledge of media production and communication
  • the ability to use your initiative
  • the ability to organise your time and workload
  • patience and the ability to remain calm in stressful situations
  • excellent verbal communication skills
  • 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
  • the ability to sell products and services
  • to be able to use a computer and the main software packages competently
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