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University of Colorado Boulder · on Coursera

Social Media Advertising

Beginner English University CertificateFREE
SkillsSocial media advertisingPaid socialAudience targetingCampaign planningMarketing metricsPerformance marketing

Is this course right for you?

Our take
Chris J. Vargo's University of Colorado Boulder course gets past the buzzwords to the actual craft of paid social.

Good for: Learning the data-driven craft of paid social advertising.

Skip if: You want organic social strategy or general content tips.

It's about planning campaigns, targeting the right audiences, and reading the metrics that tell you whether your money is working — data and performance, not generic 'post more often' advice. That measurement focus is what makes it worth the time, and it also tells you what it isn't: if you're after organic social strategy or general content tips, this is aimed somewhere else.

One caveat comes with the territory: ad platforms change their tools and interfaces constantly, so the specific walk-throughs will date faster than the strategy and metrics principles underneath them. Free to audit on Coursera, with a certificate on a subscription (about $49/month) or Coursera Plus and financial aid available (as of 2026).

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About this course

Social Media Advertising gets past the buzzwords to the actual craft of paid social: how to plan campaigns, target audiences, and read the metrics that tell you whether your money is working. Taught by Chris J. Vargo at the University of Colorado Boulder, it leans toward the data and performance side rather than generic 'post more' advice.

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Instructor

CJ
Chris J. Vargo
Coursera instructor

Chris J. Vargo is a professor at the University of Colorado Boulder who researches computational advertising and social media analytics. His teaching brings a data-driven lens to paid social rather than surface-level tactics.

Frequently asked questions

Its focus is paid advertising on social platforms — running and optimising ad campaigns — rather than growing an audience organically through posting. There may be some context on how paid and organic fit together, but if your goal is organic growth and content strategy, this is not the main focus. It is aimed at understanding and running social-media ad campaigns as a marketing channel.

No. Part of a University of Colorado Boulder marketing specialization, it is pitched to teach social-media advertising from the ground up, so no prior ad experience is assumed. Some general marketing awareness helps the strategy land, but beginners to paid social can follow it. It focuses on the concepts and approach rather than assuming you have already run campaigns.

Treat the concepts as durable and the platform specifics with caution. Social ad platforms — their interfaces, targeting options, and formats — change frequently, so any course's click-by-click steps can date. The strategic principles of social advertising (targeting, creative, testing, measurement) stay valid; verify the exact platform steps against the live ad managers, since those evolve faster than a course can track.

Yes, you can audit it on Coursera and watch the lectures at no cost. The graded assignments and the certificate require a subscription, with financial aid available if you apply. Since much of the value is the strategic concepts, auditing gives you the substance if you want the ideas rather than the credential.

As a single course within a specialization, it typically runs a few weeks at a modest weekly pace. It is concept-focused rather than a hands-on campaign build, so the time goes into the advertising strategy and principles, with the wider marketing specialization a longer commitment if you continue through it.
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