Account planners make sure that advertising campaigns are targeted at the right audience. They aim to find out who buys or uses the client’s brand and why, so that they can suggest the best ways of making the brand stand out from its competitors.

Their work involves:

• meeting the client to find out about the product or service
• analysing existing data, market reports, and information from past campaign
• deciding whether new market research is needed
• carrying out the market research, or commissioning an outside agency to do it
• developing an advertising strategy to reach the target audience
• presenting the strategy to the client
• briefing the agency's creatives (art director and copywriter) so that they can produce effective ads that get the right message across
• monitoring audience response and sales figures to judge the campaign’s effectiveness.

Account planners may work with several clients and brands at the same time.

In larger agencies, account planning is a full-time job. In smaller agencies, account planning is usually part of the account executive or account management role. (See the Advertising Account Executive profile for more information).

Hours and Environment

Account planners work long and irregular hours, usually Monday to Friday. Deadlines and workload can mean evening work is common.

Account planners are office-based, but may also travel to meet clients and to conduct some market research activities.

Skills and Interests

To be an account planner you should:

• have good spoken and written communication skills
• have strong presentation and negotiation skills
• be confident, persuasive and tactful
• be able to analyse and interpret statistical information
• be organised and able to think strategically both long and short term
• have good people skills and be able to work as part of a team
• be able to work long hours, often under pressure
• be interested in psychology and consumer issues
• be smart and professional.

Entry

There are no specific entry qualifications, but advertising is a very competitive industry and most people have a degree or higher national diploma (HND).

Your HND or degree can be in any subject, but the following subjects may increase your chances:

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

Contact colleges or universities for advice about entry requirements for degrees and HNDs.

You may have an advantage if you have previous work experience in the media, marketing, communications or sales. Some agencies offer short work experience placements – contact individual agencies directly.

For more information on getting into advertising, see the Advertising Association and Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) websites (contact details in the Further Information section).

The IPA website includes a list of member agencies offering work experience, plus the IPA Graduate Recruitment Agency.

Training

You will usually start as a junior account planner. You will be trained on the job, possibly through a structured graduate training scheme.

You may also be able to work towards qualifications from the professional associations, such as:

• IPA Foundation Certificate, an online course for junior staff with at least six months’ experience in any area of advertising
• IPA Excellence Diploma, for middle managers with at least three to five years’ experience
• Communication Advertising and Marketing Education Foundation (CAM) Diploma in Marketing Communications – for this you will need a degree or equivalent, or at least two years’ relevant work experience.

The Account Planning Group offers training courses for both new and experienced account planners. The IPA and the Market Research Society also offer a range of short courses which may be useful for your career development.

Opportunities

Advertising is a very popular career among graduates, and there is a lot of competition for jobs. Most advertising jobs are based in London. Other major centres for advertising are Birmingham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Leeds and Manchester.

Jobs are advertised in the national press, trade publications such as Campaign and Creative Review, the IPA website (at IPA Jobs Online) and specialist recruitment agencies. However, not all jobs are advertised, so it is also a good idea to approach agencies directly. It can also be useful to network and make contacts within the industry.

Account planners in larger agencies could become senior account planners or specialist planning consultants. Experienced planners could work freelance. Very experienced advertising staff could become agency directors, or set up their own agencies.

It is common to move between agencies to gain promotion or work with larger accounts. Head-hunting is also common for senior jobs.

Annual Income

Figures are intended as a guideline only.

Graduate starting salaries are around £18,000 to £22,000 a year.
Experienced account planners earn between £30,000 and £40,000 a year.
Senior directors in advertising agencies can earn £60,000 to £120,000 a year.

Further information

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