Introduction to Advertising – A Free Course

The Alison free online course “Introduction to Advertising” introduces you to the process of advertising including how ad agencies work, the types of advertisements that can be used, and how to evaluate the effectiveness of an ad. The course follows the ad agency Shepardson, Stern, and Kaminsky (SS+K) as it works on an ad campaign for MSNBC. You will learn how to identify objectives for an ad campaign, the methods that can be used for deploying an advertising message, the Four Ps: product, place, price, and promotion, and how to blend these together to create the desired impact. You will learn about methods for managing media such as how to use SWOT analysis and asymmetric communications briefs to solve problems. Ad development is a key step and you will learn about copy research, copy testing, how to construct likable ads and how to appeal to consumers. You will also learn how to measure readership, about the diffusion of innovation, and the benefits of customer relationship management.

This free online course will be of great interest to professionals working in the areas of advertising, marketing, sales and promotion, and who like to learn more about the advertising process. It will also be of interest to students of business and marketing, business owners seeking to promote their goods or services, or even someone who is simply interested in the process behind the promotion of the goods and services they consume.

Introduction to Advertising Course Content

The course includes the following topics:

The Shepardson, Stern and Kaminsky (SS+K) organization.
The five factors that constitute an ad’s likeability, as well as the principles that increase a print ad’s impact.
SWOTs and apply them to the solution of a problem.
The asymmetric communications brief.
How copy research and copy testing is conducted.
The types of appeals used by advertisers.
Advergaming, the diffusion of innovation, relevance, and resonance.
CPM, CPC, CPA, CPV, and CPS.
The various radio day-parts.

The course is organized into the following five modules: