Advertising Salary Tools Education and Training

Learn how to use advertising salary information when job hunting

By Rhyah Fletcher
It's important to understand the advertising industry salary ranges when hiring or looking for a job. The salary surveys and tools available can help with negotiations and possibly relocation expenses, but only with proper utilization of the tools. Advertising salary tools education and training involves understanding how to calculate a decent salary for an advertising position at different ranges. There are entry-level positions, administrative positions and executive positions. Each position has its own salary requirements and perks.

When researching salaries in advertising, it's important to remember that salaries vary based on location and size of the agency. An advertising salary calculator will give you the approximate salary for an area, but researching advertising agency salaries is important, too. When using salary tools to help with negotiations or relocation expenses, remember the following:

1. The base salary isn't the only compensation for advertising jobs. Bonuses and incentives affect your salary.

2. Factor in the cost of living when negotiating advertising salaries with employers.

3. Stock options are another factor that increase salary earnings for advertisers, so consider those when using salary tools.

 

Understand the key terms of advertising compensation

When researching average advertising salaries, knowledge of industry terms is important. If you don't understand the terms used in salary survey and reports, you won't be able to utilize them properly when doing salary research.
Try: Check out the definitions of some key terms used in salary reports at Advertising Age, published by Crain Communications. A list of useful terms can be found at Quintessential Careers.

Use a cost of living calculator along with an advertising salary guide

The cost of living is an important factor when negotiating salary. A $50,000 salary may sound ideal, unless the average cost of living in that area averages $75,000 or more. Take advantage of more than one cost of living calculator, since different calculators give different averages. One idea is to use two different calculators and choose a median salary range based off the two calculations. For example, if one calculator says you need to make $40,000 and another says $60,000, you can guess that a salary of $45,000 or more is what you need.
Try: CBsalary.com lets you approximate salary based on location or job title. The calculator at Fast Forward breaks down the cost of living by food costs, taxes and housing costs.

Read surveys and calculate advertising industry salaries for various positions

Salary surveys are a great training tool for giving background information on various advertising career salaries. In-depth surveys usually require a fee for service, but are worth the investment if aiming for an executive position within an advertising agency. Using a salary calculator that narrows down average salaries based on information of your current advertising position may be more accurate than a general salary calculator.
Try: Readex Research offers a compensation calculator based on job function, number of people employed and ad revenue. Vault.com offers a variety of salary surveys for the advertising field, but does have a membership fee.

 

  • Consider taking a class on job hunting, if you're a recent graduate. These classes will teach you a little more about salary tools and salary negotiations that you can apply to salaries in the advertising industry.