What is Media Sales?
Media sales is selling advertising, in a nutshell. It encompasses a wide range of media, from classified adverts in a magazine through to airtime on TV or radio. It also includes things like selling stands and sponsorship for exhibitions. The skill is in helping your clients find the best way of communicating to the audience that they want to reach – and that is where you come in!
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What does it involve?
Every day is different in media sales. It’s a fast-paced, fun environment where you’ll be working as part of a team to meet and exceed targets. One of the most exciting things about media sales is that however well you do, there’ll always be another challenge to meet so you won;t find yourself bored or clock-watching – meeting deadlines and finding innovative ways to sell to new and existing clients will keep you busy, motivated and excited.
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So how can I get involved?
If you are a recent graduate and think that you would be suited to a career in media sales, then we would love to hear from you. Send us your CV and we’ll get in touch to find out what really makes you tick. If we like what we hear, then we’ll try to get you along to one of our ‘Sales Academy’ sessions where you’ll undertake some challenging tests, roleplay scenarios and generally enjoy yourself with like-minded people. That will enable us to really put you through your paces and, once we are in a position to fully understand your strengths, we’ll start looking for the perfect role for you!
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What support would I get in my new job?
All our clients offer a graduate training and development program which will typically start with a two week induction. You will then continually learn and develop over the next year through on-the-job training coupled with additional in-house and external training courses.
At the end of the graduate program it is likely that you will be promoted to a senior sales person and offered one of several different career paths to follow, and you’ll also see an increase in your salary too.
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Is Media Sales a good career?
Media sales is still a great place to forge a career
Media is one of the most exciting industries in which to work.
But given that it is such an attractive environment, it is incumbent on the sector to promote the opportunities for development available within it and promote commercial media as a great place to forge a career – not as the “last resort of scoundrels” who can’t get a job elsewhere. (Actually, Dr Johnson was referring to politicians when he said that, but if you look at the Truth In Ad Sales video doing the rounds on YouTube, you’ll see what I mean.)
By promoting media as a career choice, the sector will entice more and more of the most capable people to join the industry and, ultimately, raise the quality of the services and work offered to clients.
The buying and selling of media space has evolved significantly in line with the seismic changes that are taking place in media. But as this week’s feature on careers shows (page 25), there are some immutable truths that remain constant.
Our industry experts are all quick to emphasise that the business of media sales is about much more than dialling hundreds of phone numbers and reciting a script down the phone. It’s about understanding clients’ businesses and building relationships based on respect and trust. Although, as ZenithOptimedia’s Chris Hayward points out, a thick skin comes in useful as well – especially in TV trading.
It is also a fun industry in which to work, built on relationships often forged in some of the places profiled in Media Week’s frighteningly useful FHM 100 Media Doors supplement that is enclosed with this week’s issue.
A survey conducted by FHM to accompany the 2007 guide showed that the UK media industry consumes one million bottles of wine every week, with an average lunch lasting three hours and costing £117. Although more than one in four of you diehards still manage to make lunch stretch across half a normal working day. Good work – you know who you are …
But if there is one serious objective that everyone in the sector should sign up to in 2007, it should be to shout from the rooftops about what a great industry this is to work in and to highlight the opportunities available for the brightest and best brains that our schools and universities produce.
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