Sales, marketing and related associate professionals

How to become an advertising and marketing associate professional

Official title: Advertising and marketing associate professionals

Also called: Marketing agent, Marketing adviser, Advertising agent, Marketing officer, Marketing assistant, Marketing associate, Marketing executive, Advertising planner, Marketing consultant, Marketing controller, Marketing copywriter, Marketing specialist

Advertising and marketing associate professionals assist in the development and implementation of projects which aim to elicit the preferences and requirements of consumers, businesses and other specified target groups so that suppliers may meet these needs.

Main tasks

Discusses business methods, products or services and targets customer group with employer or client to identify marketing requirements
Collates and interprets findings of market research and presents results to clients
Through market research, discusses possible changes that need to be made in terms of design, price, packaging, promotion etc
Develops digital marketing strategies, such as the use of social media, to promote products, brands or services and presents options to the client
Briefs advertising team on client requirements, monitors the progress of advertising campaigns and liaises with client on potential modifications

How to become one

There are no formal academic requirements, although many entrants possess a BTEC/SQA award, A levels/H grades, a degree or equivalent qualification. Training is typically in-house, supplemented by short courses or professional qualifications provided by the Market Research Society.

Ways in

Apprenticeship (England): Advertising and media executive (level 3). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0644.
Apprenticeship (England): Digital marketer (integrated degree) (level 6). England. Typically 36 months. Skills England standard ST0481.
Apprenticeship (England): Fundraiser (level 3). England. Typically 18 months. Skills England standard ST0887.
Apprenticeship (England): Marketing executive (level 4). England. Typically 15 months. Skills England standard ST0596.
University: Arts & Humanities degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK
University: Business & Commerce degrees, Offered by 27 universities in the UK

Pay · Outlook

Median full-time pay: £33,412 a year The middle half earn £27,373 to £41,521.
About 158,700 people work in this job now, and about 166,100 are projected by 2035. (+4.6%)

Questions people ask

How do I become an advertising and marketing associate professional?

How much does an advertising and marketing associate professional earn in the UK?

Median full-time pay is £33,412 a year (Office for National Statistics). The middle half earn £27,373 to £41,521.

Is an advertising and marketing associate professional a growing career in the UK?

Yes. Employment is projected to grow 5% by 2035, from about 158,700 to about 166,100 people (Department for Education).

Do you need a degree to become an advertising and marketing associate professional?

Usually. 68% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.

Sources

Office for National Statistics: Annual Population Survey: employment by occupation (April 2025 to March 2026), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: SOC 2020 Volume 1: structure and descriptions (2026-08-27 edition), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Department for Education: Skills Imperative 2035: employment projections by occupation (2021 to 2035 (Warwick IER / Cambridge Econometrics)), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03
Office for National Statistics: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Table 14 (2025 provisional), OGL v3.0, retrieved 2026-10-03

Updated 2026-10-03

Graduate outcomes: Discover Uni dataset, HESA (www.hesa.ac.uk), licensed under CC BY 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0). Aggregated by subject and adapted by Peernovo.