Advertising managers are in charge of promoting, marketing and advertising a company's products. They maintain close working relationships with all departments within a company as well as working intimately with the marketing department. A successful and professional advertising manager will have years of experience and in-the-trenches know-how. The job requires a college education in communications, marketing or journalism and many companies require a graduate degree in a similar field.

Budget Responsibilities

Budgets are a major factor for the advertising manager as he is responsible for supplying the company with an advertising budget and outline the personnel required to market the company's goods or services. His budget will allocate costs for advertising space in publications, radio and media outlets such as cable television stations or local broadcast networks and the emerging field of Internet advertising. He may be responsible or oversee the development of the company's website as well. Part of his budget will include research into the market area and demographics of the company's consumers. For example, a company that makes toy trains will want to market to children, but a company that manufacturers locomotives will want to market to railroad companies.

Target Audience

The advertising manager will work closely with the marketing department to determine what target audience best fits the company's product. This audience will be identified through market research and polls conducted by the marketing department. The advertising manager develops and plans an advertising campaign that appeals to the target audience. An example of a planned advertising campaign includes when to run the company's commercials on broadcast television. If the target audience is children, then the commercials run during the hours that children watch television. If the target audience is adults, then it is best to run the company's commercial during prime-time television or on channels adults watch such as cable stations.

Advertising Campaign

Once the target audience is identified, the advertising manager is responsible for coordinating an advertising campaign that will appeal to the targeted audience. This will include publications and media outlets. As part of this advertising campaign, the manager will oversee the development of all the advertising material such as artwork, mail displays or postcards, commercial development and approve the material before the company utilizes it. If a company decides to use an outside advertising agency, the advertising manager is responsible for reviewing all the agency's ideas, marketing strategies and help create the advertising campaign. After the advertising agency has created a suitable campaign, the advertising manager will approve the advertising campaign.