When you turn out your television, you don’t have to wait long for a commercial break. Bring up your favorite news site and you’re bound to see ads. Watch a video on YouTube and you’ll likely get advertisements before, after and throughout. Browse social media and targeted ads simply blend in with the rest of your content.
The advertising field has integrated seamlessly into the digital market. If you’re looking to get the attention of potential customers, you’ll face plenty of competition. You could pay to premier your ads front and center, or you could learn a few tips and tricks to help you get less expensive, organic traffic.
Advertising is a crucial part of the overall marketing campaign. This is when you introduce your product to your audience. It sets the tone for your entire campaign and for your brand as a whole. You want your first impression with potential customers to be memorable and impactful.
Online advertising courses are a great way to learn the best practices for advertising. Not only will you get a first-hand account from those who have run successful advertisements, but you’ll be able to take the class on your own time.
Quick Look: The Best Advertising Courses You Can Take Right Now
- “Advertising Your Business Online” by Alison – Get this course
- “Copywriting 101: Crafting Your First Ad Campaign” by Skillshare – Get this course
- “Advertising Foundations” by Lynda – Get this course
- “Instagram Ads for Business: Step by Step Process to a Successful Instagram Ad Campaign” by Skillshare – Get this course
- “Facebook Ads Crash Course” by Udemy – Get this course
- “Advertising on Twitter” by Lynda – Get this course
- “Programmatic Advertising Foundations” by Lynda – Get this course
- “YouTube Ads Mastery ft. The Triple Threat Strategy” by Udemy – Get this course
- “ICI Advertising Program” by International Career Institute – Get this course
What Makes a Great Advertising Course?
Your time is valuable. Not every class is going to fit your specific needs, but keeping these 3 factors in mind will help you locate the best ones.
Course Level
Have you had any advertising experience before? Questioning the course level you should start at will ensure you’re getting the most out of your course.
Finding one that suits your preferences and competencies will allow you to utilize the learning opportunity to the fullest. The level of the course will also determine how much effort you’ll need to put in. More advanced classes require a greater commitment, and you need to make sure you’re ready for it.
Focus
Though you could find an advertisement almost anywhere you look, the platform the ad appears on is a huge part of the battle for audience attention. For instance, an ad designed for Instagram will look different on Twitter, Facebook, and a desktop website.
As you search for the best class for you, you’ll discover that many advertising courses are platform specific. There are also more general and comprehensive courses, but you can specialize within a certain platform if you desire. Your individual needs will determine what will work best.
Price
In a way, learning how to advertise means learning how to make money. That’s what makes these classes an excellent investment. But when you choose a course, you need to make sure the value matches what you’re paying for.
The Best Online Advertising Courses
To help you begin your class search, we’ve compiled a list of some of the best online advertising courses you can take. These range in both skill level and platform. From beginners to advanced, and from platform-specific to general advertising, you’re likely to find a course that fits your needs.
Best Online Advertising Courses for Beginners
If you’re new to advertising or want to brush up on the basics, these courses are for you.
1. “Advertising Your Business Online” by Alison
If you’re looking to advertise a business or product online, you need to engage a social media audience.
In “Advertising Your Business Online,” you’ll learn the fundamentals of social advertising, including what success looks like for the platform you choose. You’ll also learn the rules that online campaigns need to follow.
The course also provides an overview of the different platforms you have available. It touches on search engine optimization and a few other topics.
It’s a fairly short course, taking only between 2 and 3 hours to complete. Considering that this course is free, if you do not connect to the material, there is no harm in giving it a try.
2. “Copywriting 101: Crafting Your First Ad Campaign” by Skillshare
Copywriting is an essential part of any advertising campaign. It is the process that determines what copy will be on all your ads, brochures, emails, and more.
With this course, you’ll learn some of the basic principles behind creating engaging copy.
You’ll learn about headline writing, various types of scripts, and practical applications. This will give you a better understanding of the process and help you regardless of whether you plan to do all of the writing yourself or mean to supervise others.
This is a Skillshare class, meaning you need to be a Premium member to access it. This costs $15 for one month or $8.25 per month if you commit for a year (for a total of $99). However, you can try one month of Premium at no charge – if you haven’t used this before, it means the class can be free.
3. “Advertising Foundations” by Lynda
“Advertising Foundations” is a general course that covers topics such as defining your audience, creating a content strategy, tracking your competitors, and more.
Of course, you’ll also learn how to create and place an ad. It even touches on what you can expect when working with partners, such as designers or researchers.
The cost of LinkedIn Learning depends on your profile and billing country. You can expect to pay around $25 for one month (or less with the annual plan). It’s more expensive than Skillshare, but you can still get a lot of value out of it, and you can access multiple courses for one price. Just like with Skillshare, there is a free trial.
These courses focus on the big 3 social media platforms and explain how to successfully use them for advertisements. Social media marketing is incredibly important nowadays, and learning these details is a good step to take after mastering the basics.
1. “Instagram Ads for Business: Step by Step Process to a Successful Instagram Ad Campaign” by Skillshare
With over one billion users, Instagram is one of the most profitable platforms for businesses to use when advertising.
The social media giant has also developed its business functionality significantly over the years, making it a prime location for advertising efforts.
With “Instagram Ads for Business,” you can learn the essentials steps for creating successful Instagram ads.
It contains actionable advice and assignments which will allow you to practice everything you’ve learned. Since it’s on Skillshare, you may be able to access it for free.
2. “Facebook Ads Crash Course” by Udemy
Despite its controversial security standards, Facebook is still the most popular social media platform.
This makes it irreplaceable in terms of advertising, and “Facebook Ads Crash Course” will break down the tips and tricks you need to create gripping Facebook ads.
You’ll learn how to determine and target audiences, how to remarket, how to reengage with past customers, and more. For a comprehensive course, it is reasonably priced.
3. “Advertising on Twitter” by Lynda
Twitter, though it may pull a smaller user base than Instagram and Facebook, is known for having one of the most loyal user-bases on the internet.
In “Advertising on Twitter,” you’ll learn about advertising accounts, the types of ads available on Twitter, audience targeting, the metrics you should keep an eye on, and more.
The class is on Lynda (now LinkedIn Learning), meaning the pricing options are the same as with the Advertising Foundations course.
Best Advanced Online Advertising Courses
If the previous courses didn’t satisfy your needs, these ones offer even more in-depth knowledge.
1. “Programmatic Advertising Foundations” by Lynda
“Programmatic advertising” is a term that’s recently started to be thrown around in the advertising space.
Essentially, this refers to using software to automatically buy digital ads. It can make your marketing far more efficient, but it is a complex subject that is difficult to master. This course seeks to unravel its mysteries.
Students will learn how programmatic advertising works, the different strategies they can employ, the choices they need to make (media type, targeting, buying method), and so on.
It’s the third LinkedIn Learning course on this list, meaning you can theoretically take all three during the same month to minimize the costs.
2. “YouTube Ads Mastery ft. The Triple Threat Strategy” by Udemy
YouTube is the second largest search engine in the world and is an amazing place to advertise for your business.
Since you’re dealing with a video-based platform, setting up advertisements can be a bit more complex, but “Youtube Ads Mastery” is here to help.
You’ll learn how to launch campaigns and convert viewers into buyers.
The class will also talk about remarketing, about Google’s related services, about video content and optimization, and more. The base price is hefty compared to the previous courses, but the skills you learn can be crucial to your marketing strategy.
3. “ICI Advertising Program” by International Career Institute
The last course on the list is by far the most comprehensive one. Its curriculum is expansive and tackles the issue of advertising from various angles.
You’ll learn about the general concepts, the creative process, the role of memory, and much more.
This course is in a completely different category compared to the rest. It offers a lot but also represents a big commitment – completing it will take months. Its price tag is also the biggest by far, but that’s in line with everything you’ll receive.
Final Thoughts
Advertising is one of the pillars of modern society. If you are able to develop a campaign that successfully embodies your company and converts customers, you can launch your business past what you thought you could accomplish.
It’s not easy to make it in the world of advertising – the competition is relentless. Give yourself a leg up on the competition by taking a course from a successful advertiser.