A Television Advertising Representative is responsible for selling advertising on the station to businesses and other individuals. Depending on the station, its size, and its structure, the TV Advertising Representative may sell to local, regional, or national accounts or may sell to all three. Television Advertising Representatives, or sales reps, as they are often called, work under the direction of a sales manager who assigns accounts to them. The individual may also be assigned specific territories or areas in which he or she is permitted to sell.
The Television Advertising Representative services accounts currently advertising on the station. He or she may do this in a number of ways. The individual regularly calls or meets with the current advertisers to obtain future orders for insertion on the station. If the station is offering any special discounts or sales packages, the representative makes the advertiser aware of it. The representative also lets the advertiser know when station promotions are being planned or special programming will be aired.
In smaller, independent, and cable stations where the advertising department is limited in size, the Television Advertising Representative may work on commercial copy and content with the advertiser. He or she may also help the client develop an advertising campaign. In larger stations this is usually accomplished by the production staff, the copywriters, or the advertiser’s ad agency.
The TV Advertising Representative must have a good working knowledge of the station and its programming. This information is valuable when offering suggestions to clients regarding the best time slot or period in which their ad should appear. If a commercial is shown in an inappropriate time period, even if the television station is number one in the ratings, the advertising won’t draw the most effective results. For example, if an exclusive nightclub was advertising, it probably wouldn’t want its commercial to air during the Saturday morning cartoon show. The individual must also know what time slots are available and how long commercials can be in the time slots.
In order to be successful in his or her job, the Television Advertising Representative must locate new advertisers. These might come from referrals from satisfied clients or from businesses calling the station to inquire about advertising rates. The majority of new business, however, will have to be produced by the advertising representative calling potential advertisers, visiting their places of business, sending information about the station, or a combination of all three. After making initial contact the individual will try to set up appointments to make presentations.
The Television Advertising Representative may put together sales packages including rate cards, discount cards, information sheets, station demographics, audience, and market share data. The individual sends or delivers this information when he or she visits potential clients or when advertisers call to get information on advertising space. If the Television Advertising Representative is trying to sell space nationally, he or she may contact the advertising agencies that handle the potential national advertisers. Depending on the structure of the advertising sales department, the individual may make a sales presentation him- or herself to the agency account executive or may work with the sales manager.
He or she is required to write sales orders for commercial insertion and be responsible for getting them to the appropriate people at the station. These orders might go to production, traffic, continuity, and billing people. The advertising representative is responsible for keeping records of when advertisements air, number of insertions, time of the commercial, billing names and addresses, people to contact for commercial content, rates charged, and discounts to be applied.
The individual may be required to attend advertising department sales meetings in which training techniques and sales problems are discussed along with new promotions, discounts, and packages the station is offering. The advertising representative may work at his or her desk one day and be out in the field servicing accounts and trying to get new business the next. He or she must constantly keep motivated to keep selling. Many advertising representatives in the television industry work long hours. They begin working early in the morning and continue late into the night. They see every business as an opportunity to sell space.
As many stations today have their own Web sites, Television Advertising Representatives may also be responsible for selling advertising space on the station’s site. In some cases, the station may additionally hire salespeople specifically to sell Web site advertising. Advertising representatives are responsible directly to the sales manager of the department. The television industry in general is extremely competitive. Selling advertising space in the industry can add stress and pressure to the job.
It is difficult to estimate earnings for Television Advertising Representatives. Earnings vary depending on the size, location, and prestige of the station as well as the experience and selling ability of the individual. Compensation in jobs of this type can include a modest salary plus commissions on sales, straight commission, and draws against commissions. A commission is a percentage of the money earned for the station that is paid to the sales rep who sells the advertising space. The percentage varies but is usually between 10 percent and 20 percent. For example, if an individual sold $2,500 worth of advertising for a week and was being paid 15 percent, he or she would earn $375.
If the individual earns a salary plus a commission, he or she would add the salary onto the $375 figure. Individuals who earn a draw against commission get a set amount of money each week or month that is taken out of their earned commission. If the person has a bad week, he or she still goes home with the draw. For example, the rep may have a $250 draw against commissions per week. If he or she sold the $2,500 worth of advertising space, he would not receive the draw. If he or she only sold $1,000 worth of space that week, and was receiving a 15 percent percentage, the individual would receive $150 from the commission and $100 from the draw. Individuals who receive part of their salary in the form of a percentage of sales have the opportunity of earning as much as they want. TV Advertising Representatives may earn between $22,000 and $65,000 a year. Very successful sales reps can earn up to $100,000 plus annually.
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