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How Do I Improve My Advertising Vocabulary?

Tara Barnett
Tara Barnett

Improving advertising vocabulary is simple once you identify the types of words you are hoping to learn. The exact process through which new vocabulary is acquired is different for different people, but several basic strategies can be helpful. Many people seek to improve their advertising vocabulary skills in languages other than their native tongue, which can be useful when conducting business or working in advertising firms. One of the most effective ways to improve advertising vocabulary is to read and study advertising attentively, which can help naturally build up vocabulary skills.

There are many strategies that can be helpful when trying to improve your advertising vocabulary. If you are studying for an exam at a school, it is often possible to construct lists of vocabulary words that will be on the test. This is useful if you primarily need to know the definitions of words, but it is often difficult to integrate language you have learned on lists into your daily speech. For this reason, making flashcards and working from lists may not be the best approach if you need a more permanent understanding of advertising vocabulary.

Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone
Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone

The key to vocabulary retention is often thought to be actual use of words. In order to use vocabulary terms naturally as part of your speech, you must use them frequently. For this reason, discussing advertising and practicing using these vocabulary terms in real conversations is essential. When learning about advertising in a school setting, it is often possible to practice with classmates, but when this is not an option seeking out alternatives may be necessary. Discussing advertising as part of your professional duties may also be helpful, although using vocabulary incorrectly in a work setting may have consequences.

A great way to learn advertising vocabulary more generally is to read about advertising and look up any word you do not recognize. Making an effort to precisely understand all terminology used in advertising texts can improve vocabulary rapidly. This makes it possible to learn most of the necessary terminology quickly, as the more important terms will be used more frequently than the obscure ones.

One of the hardest parts of learning advertising vocabulary is figuring out which words are most important to learn. The answer to this question is different depending on the type of advertising in which you are interested as well as how you are involved in the advertising field. Learning new words through reading about advertising is doubly effective because this teaches not only what vocabulary is important but also the style in which professional advertisers write.

Discussion Comments

OeKc05

I read a book about advertising that was written for people with no concept of it at all. I found it to be very helpful.

I have always been interested in finances and economics, and advertising is a big part of that. I wanted a better understanding of news articles that used advertising terms, and I thought that reading an entire book on the topic would be the best way to learn.

Instead of having to look up the definition of a word online every time I encountered one I didn’t know, I gained a comprehensive knowledge of many terms at once. Reading a whole book on the subject is definitely better than getting snippets here and there from reference books.

seag47

@shell4life - I know what you mean. I am a graphic designer, so I learned a little bit about advertising in college, but the majority of my understanding of it came from working with sales representatives.

I often had to sit in on weekly meetings, and after the part that concerned me was over, I still had to hear all about sales and how they intended to improve them. I learned the meanings of many terms this way, and I got an even deeper understanding of them when I had to design ads based on the concepts.

If a sales rep ever used a word that I didn’t understand, I would simply look it up in the dictionary. I kept one in the cabinet on my desk for quick reference, and it helped me better understand what was being asked of me.

shell4life

Just being around people who worked in advertising helped me improve my vocabulary. I worked in accounting, but several of my friends were in sales, and when we would all go out to lunch together, they would talk about their jobs. Advertising terms filled the hour, and I picked up on a lot of them this way.

This came in handy when I went back to school to get my marketing degree. The world of advertising just seemed so much more interesting than my boring accounting job, and I had an advantage over my classmates because I already had a good understanding of advertising terms.

orangey03

I often have trouble understanding new concepts when I am reading about them, and when I began studying advertising in college, I had some problems. I ended up hiring a tutor, who happened to be a more advanced advertising student.

He had a natural talent for advertising, and he was able to explain terms to me with real life analogies. He could use every concept or word I didn’t understand in a sentence, and this helped me tremendously.

After a session with him, I would go back and read the section of my textbook that I didn’t understand before. Suddenly, it all made perfect sense. Sometimes, another person is the key to unlocking the mysteries of advertising vocabulary.

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      Businesswoman talking on a mobile phone