7 Practical Media Advertising Courses You Can Look Forward to Taking
Professionals in every industry need to know how to find and speak to their target audience, conveying just the right message to influence behavior. If you’re interested in a career in the rapidly evolving field of media advertising, The University of Texas at El Paso’s online Bachelor of Arts in Media Advertising provides a strong foundation that combines both theory and application.
Prepare yourself for exciting opportunities and study the fundamentals of advertising, including the basics of design and copywriting, media planning and placement, and campaign development and implementation.
Here are key media advertising courses you can look forward to taking, and why they are important for your career potential:
Foundations of Advertising
Principles of Advertising
What it covers: Learn the core principles of advertising while exploring its role in society. Coursework covers basic concepts including marketing message creation, budget determination, agency-client relationships, creative strategy, media considerations, and social and ethical responsibility of advertisers.
Why it matters: Successful advertising involves so much more than a snappy catch phrase. A strong message needs a solid plan for reaching the right audience at the right time to influence their behavior. This foundational course provides essential concepts for a future in communications and advertising.
Advertising Design, Graphics, and Layout
What it covers: This course will teach you the fundamentals of design and how to use graphics for effective communication. Coursework includes typography, color, photography, design in advertising, print media, Adobe Creative Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign), and printing methods.
Why it matters: How you convey your message visually can be just as compelling as the words you use. It’s important to understand what works, what doesn’t, and why. Not only will you gain a basic understanding of what constitutes good design, you will learn the language you need to communicate with designers.
Creative Strategy and Copywriting
What it covers: In this course you will learn how to utilize strategic research, problem definition, planning creativity, and ethics to develop advertising strategies, as well as the theory and practice of developing appropriate messages to reach and influence target audiences.
Why it matters: Achieving the desired behavior in your target audience typically happens over time, often requiring a variety of focused messaging and media placement. A well-planned strategy, paired with strong creative copy, can be leveraged for campaigns that successfully influence the appropriate demographics.
Media Advertising
Media Planning and Buying
What it covers: In addition to studying the skills and concepts needed for effective advertising placement, you will learn how to develop national media budgets to achieve tactical objectives.
Why it matters: Even in an increasingly digital world, traditional advertising methods (print, direct mail, billboards and other outdoor display, radio, and television) are still important for reaching target audiences.
New Media Advertising
What it covers: This course explores the rapidly evolving world of new media and its application in the advertising industry. From theories and concepts to technical knowledge and best practices, you will study practical skills for leveraging multi-platform media.
Why it matters: The future is here. Advertiser spending on new media is growing exponentially. Mastering new media channels will be critical to your success.
Ad Sales and Management
What it covers: In this course you will review case studies to determine appropriate management procedures, policies, and responsibilities in the successful operation of advertising industries. Coursework also explores general sales techniques and client relationships with a focus on media sales.
Why it matters: Whether you plan on pursing a career on the buyer or seller side of media advertising, understanding the business of ad sales is critical to negotiating effective media plans.
Capstone
Advertising Campaigns
What it covers: This final semester capstone course explores everything that goes into developing successful advertising campaigns, including strategic research, problem definition, audience definition, planning, creativity, media placement, and ethics in advertising. In a final semester project, you will incorporate all elements of integrated marketing communications and apply techniques and principles learned throughout your previous coursework.
Why it matters: This is your opportunity to bring everything together and put concepts and theory into practice. Demonstrate all that you’ve learned throughout your program with a practical, hands-on project, and gain additional insight into real-world opportunities.
What’s Next
Interested in learning more about UTEP’s online Bachelor of Arts in Media Advertising? Reach out, and an enrollment counselor will contact you directly.