Advertising Bachelor’s Degree Online
Is an Advertising Degree Right for You?
If you plan to pursue a fast-paced career in advertising, a bachelor's degree is essential. To excel in the field, you should have strong interpersonal skills, as you will often be working with demanding clients and managers. The ability to use your creativity and channel it in the right direction is important, as well. You will also be making a wealth of presentations, so you should be able to think on the spot and speak in front of groups without losing your cool. During your degree program, you will often have to conduct market research to understand consumer needs and predict their responses to certain advertising methods. Communication and stress management are also very important skills to possess, both during your degree program and during your career.
Advice for Earning Your Advertising Degree Online
You can receive an online bachelor's degree, with a concentration in advertising, marketing, or public relations. Because the field requires a lot of communication and presentations, it is good to make sure your online or traditional degree program makes you exercise these skills. Also, if you plan to transfer from an online program to a brick-and-mortar school, you need to make sure the school you transfer to will accept your online credits. If you plan to pursue the degree entirely online, be sure that potential employers will find the degree program credible. You can do this by making sure your school of choice is accredited.
Required Courses
In order to excel in an advertising career, you must have a firm grasp of concepts including advertising theory, marketing strategy, media management, business management, and design techniques. Some required courses in the field include account planning, advertising copy and design, advertising research, advertising sales, campaign, consumer behavior, creative strategy, principles of advertising, and retail advertising. After completing your basics, you may be required to put together a portfolio of advertisements. Usually employers will ask to see your portfolio, which should highlight your degree experience as well as your work experience within the field.
Common Career Paths
Once you have earned your advertising degree, you can choose from many career options. There are a wealth of non-profits and web development companies that hire advertising majors, in addition to corporative and sales positions. Some of the common career titles for advertising graduates include (but are not limited to):
- Creative Director
After completing your bachelor's degree in advertising and earning a few years of experience, you can pursue a career as a creative director. Because of the variety of companies needing creative directors, you can choose to work in the fashion industry, media industry, or even directly in the movie industry. Companies within the entertainment industry are common employers, but you can also look into doing graphic design, web development, or software development in other industries. You will be in charge of reviewing product designs, usually submitted by a team you directly oversee. After some experience, you may even be in charge of creating full layouts for certain products.
Most employers require at least a bachelor's degree in advertising (or a concentration in advertising) when recruiting for potential employees. Because this is a popular field, a few years of experience can be helpful to give you a competitive edge over other advertising majors. You are likely to start off as a copy editor or copywriting editor and advance to creative director after showing your potential. According to PayScale.com, entry-level creative directors usually make anywhere from $35,000 to $65,000 a year. After about 10 years or more, salary ranges increase to $64,586 to $107,450.
- Art Director
An art director usually works under a creative director for an advertising firm or section of a company. You will usually be required to work with a copy editor on an advertising layout before presenting it to the creative director. You will have to come up with ideas and/or creative concepts to promote various products. You usually need these ideas to line up with certain forms of advertising techniques, such as television/Internet ads, brochures, and mailings.
After you finish your assignments, you will present your ideas to the creative director, senior media creative, and chief media director. Therefore, in order to be an art director, you should have great presentation skills. Being able to sell your layout to your firm and clients is crucial to excel in this career. According to PayScale.com, entry-level art directors make anywhere from $26,695 to $37,500.
- Graphic Designer
As a graphic designer, you should be proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, HTML, and XML. You will often be required to know how to produce and render different advertisements with new software. Aspects of the career include drawing, offset printing, photography, and interactive media brochures for clients. You will usually have to produce layouts that help companies spread the popularity of their brand and their product.
To be considered for a large company or firm, you usually need to have a portfolio with a variety of completed graphic design products. Bachelor's degree courses in advertising (with a concentration in graphic design) will usually help you prepare an adequate portfolio. According to PayScale.com, entry-level graphic designers usually make anywhere between $26,141 and $36,499.
