Are there different types of advertisers?

Great question Steven, not an easy one to answer :)

First, almost every company advertises or markets itself somehow. Generally companies call it Marketing, of which Advertising is a part. Every company wants you to know about them, what they do and why you should buy their product. They do that in tons of ways like social media, sponsoring events, advertising, etc. So the answer is, everyone is marketing but let's just look at your question on Advertising and where you might be able to work.

One way to look at advertising by separating it into 2 categories - the creative design side and the strategic execution side.

The creative side is probably what a lot of people think about when they think of advertising - what an ad looks like, the jingle playing, the logos, colors, etc. While some larger companies do this internally, a lot of companies use Advertising Agencies to do this. These agencies often focus on different industries, etc.

On the strategic execution side, there are more variables as advertising is changing constantly but these tasks are about figuring out where to advertise and when. How do you find customers and get them to buy your product?

Older advertising methods like newspapers, direct mail, magazines, radio and TV are shrinking while online advertising is growing. Within that there are more options, e.g. our company works in what's called programmatic marketing where we optimize online advertising using learning algorithms.

For long term career planning, I would look into the large number of Advertising Technology companies and what they do because more and more big companies are starting to do their own advertising instead of using Ad Agencies.

Overall, you can learn a lot of what's going on in the advertising world at this site: http://adage.com/.

Hi there.
There are many, many different types of advertising. Broadcast, print, social media/digital are the biggest. I would recomend a graphic arts degree if you'd like to pursue the creative, visual side of advertising. You won't interact with clients, and will be producing the visual desires of the people you are advertising for. If you would like to do the production/account management side (where you work directly with the client) I would look into a business degree with an emphasis on marketing. This will allow you to learn all aspects of the industry. Social media is thriving in the advertising world, so the more you can get involved and learn about that the better prepared you will be.
There are so many facets to an advertising career. And you will probably change careers and companies and jobs many times. That is normal. Just decide what you want your end goal to be (do you want to produce vivid ads, do you want to run your own firm, do you want to make commercials) and follow that path.
I wouldn't go into journalism if advertising is your passion. That major will teach you different skills than I have seen used in the office. However, if you're passionate about it I'm sure you can make anything work in this world.
Good luck in your career!
Amie~

Hi Steven,
Might I suggest exploring Content Marketing. It's a great way to blend both your interest in journalism and drawing. There are plenty of social media marketers out there these days but a good content marketer is still rare. If you do find this interesting, I would suggest starting at a agency that companies, such as the Fortune 500, hire to do their content marketing for them. Get the feel of what's required and then you can always go to work for a company directly or even go freelance and work for yourself.

Hope this helps!