Advertising Majors Guide

Guide to Online Advertising Degrees

The primary goal of most commercial firms is to market and sell their products or services at a profit. Advertising is the mass-market equivalent of the salesperson’s person-by-person approach. Since the first ad agency began in the U.S. in 1841, the goal of advertising has been to inform, persuade and remind consumers of companies’ products.

A business degree program in advertising generally includes education on the creative or visual aspects of selling a product or service, combined with a technical and practical focus on technology and business applications. If you’re creative and a strong communicator, this field might be a good choice for you. Flexibility, good judgment and the ability to establish and maintain effective personal relationships both with your team and with your clients are also important qualities in this field.

It can also be a smart career move to participate in management training programs conducted by many large firms, either in-house, at local colleges and universities, or online. Courses can include brand and product management, international marketing, sales management evaluation, telemarketing and direct sales, interactive marketing, promotion, marketing communication, market research, organizational communication, and data processing systems procedures and management.

Types of Advertising Degrees

What Can You Do With a College Degree in Advertising?

There are many different career paths available within the advertising field. Whether you’re in advertising, promotions, marketing, public relations, or sales, you’ll be involved at some level with sales, market research, marketing strategy, advertising, promotion, pricing, product development, or public relations activities.

Employment in this industry is expected to grow much faster than average in most business services industries, like computer and data processing, and in management and public relations firms. Little or no change is projected in manufacturing industries. Median salaries in 2002 for advertising and promotions managers were over $57,000 per year. Here is a quick sampling of the most common advertising jobs:

Managers

Managers oversee the advertising and promotions staff. In a small firm, managers may liaise between their firm and the outside advertising agency they have contracted. In larger firms, advertising managers handle in-house accounts, creative, and media services departments.

Account Executives

Account executives assess the need for advertising, manage the account services department and, in advertising agencies, maintain client accounts.

Creative Directors

Creative directors oversee the copy chief, art director, and their respective staffs. The creative services department develops the subject matter and presentation of ads.

Media Director

The media director oversees planning groups who select the communication media.

Promotion Managers

Promotion managers supervise their promotion specialist team and direct promotion programs.

Marketing Managers

Marketing managers develop the firm’s marketing strategy, working with advertising and promotion managers to promote the firm’s products and services and to attract potential users.

Product Development Managers and Market Research Managers

Product development managers and market research managers determine the demand for products and services offered by the firm and its competitors. They identify potential markets, develop pricing strategies, monitor trends that indicate the need for new products and services and oversee product development.

Public Relations Managers

Public relations managers direct publicity programs to maintain the support of the specific target group upon whom their organization’s success depends, such as consumers, stockholders, or the general public. They often specialize in a specific PR skill, such as crisis management, or in a specific industry, such as healthcare. They study social, economic, and political trends that might ultimately affect the firm and make recommendations to enhance the firm’s image based on those trends. Public relations managers focus on both the internal and external relations of an organization.

Other advertising jobs include copywriting, editing, graphic design, web design and web development. In all these divisions of marketing, well-trained, experienced, successful managers may be promoted to higher positions in their own or other firms or may gain the capital and expertise to branch out on their own.

Advertising Certification and Licensure

Professional designations, licenses and certification are not required for a career in advertising. Industry certification is more common in other divisions of the marketing field. Relatively few advertising, marketing, and public relations managers are currently certified, but the number of managers who seek certification is expected to grow. The Public Relations Society of America and the Canadian Public Relations Society offer accreditation programs such as the APR (Accredited in Public Relations) for practitioners based on years of experience and testing.