An advertising specialist is a person who develops and implements a marketing and advertising strategy for a business or company, either as part of a team or independently. To increase sales, increase exposure, or otherwise improve a company’s public image, this professional will conduct market research, develop copy and images for ads, and target specific audiences through a variety of media. Most advertising positions require a college degree in marketing or a related field, so an advertising specialist is likely to have specific education and training in advertising or marketing.
A company can hire an advertising expert to work in-house, or the expert can work independently for several companies at the same time. Once hired, the advertising specialist will be in charge of determining the company’s advertising goals, determining the target market for the company, and developing a marketing strategy for effectively reaching that market. The specialist may work alone or as part of a larger team, depending on the scope of the project and the needs of the company in question. To effectively handle all aspects of a large advertising and marketing campaign, very large businesses and corporations will frequently hire teams of advertising specialists.
After the advertising specialist has a firm grasp on the target audience, he or she will need to start working on writing, images, video, and audio to effectively communicate the advertising message. Writing press releases, commercial scripts, purchasing images for print advertising, and putting together a film production for a commercial shoot are all examples of this. The various types of advertising strategies are frequently determined by the target audience as well as the company’s budget for reaching that target audience. Because print ads are less expensive than film ads, for example, a smaller company may prefer to advertise in print or on the Internet rather than on television.
The advertising specialist’s other major responsibility is to evaluate the effectiveness of the ad campaign after it has been launched. The expert must interpret public reactions to the advertising, as well as any increases or decreases in sales after the ad has run. A thorough analysis may lead to the creation of similar ads or the termination of an ad campaign in favor of one that is more effective. The campaign can sometimes be tweaked to increase exposure and public response more effectively.