Marketing Free course · Certificate included
Paid Social Advertising
Plan, launch, test and scale ads on Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and X, including creator-licensed ads
- Intermediate
- 7 h
- 17 lessons in 6 modules
- 2 h 15 min of video lectures
- Updated Sep 2026
About this course
Paid social is where many creators, agencies and small businesses spend most of their ad budget, and where mistakes get expensive quickly. This course teaches how Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest and X structure campaigns in 2026, and how to steer their automation – Meta Advantage+, TikTok Smart+, LinkedIn Accelerate, Pinterest Performance+ and Snap's Smart campaign solutions – instead of fighting it.
You will choose objectives and audiences in a privacy-first world, build creative and testing matrices, use AI creative tools with the right disclosures, and set budgets and bids that let the learning phase complete. You will implement pixel plus conversions API tracking (including cash-on-delivery markets), handle consent and signal loss, report with clear decision rules, scale with incrementality checks and avoid policy rejections. Final modules cover Spark Ads and partnership ads, LinkedIn B2B, and click-to-WhatsApp ads. Next steps: AI Performance Marketing and Privacy-First Measurement.
Tools you’ll use
- Meta Ads Manager
- Meta Advantage+
- Meta Events Manager
- Meta Conversions API
- Meta Ad Library
- TikTok Ads Manager
- TikTok Smart+
- TikTok Symphony
- TikTok Events API
- TikTok One
- LinkedIn Campaign Manager
- LinkedIn Conversions API
- Snapchat Ads Manager
- Pinterest Ads Manager
- X Ads
- WhatsApp Business Platform
- Google Tag Manager
- Google Analytics 4
- Google Sheets
Skills
- Paid social advertising
- Meta Ads
- TikTok Ads
- LinkedIn Ads
- Creative testing
- Conversion tracking
- Creator whitelisting
- Ad automation
What you’ll be able to do
- Structure campaigns and steer Advantage+, Smart+ and other automated campaign types with the right inputs
- Build broad, custom, lookalike and B2B audiences while respecting special ad categories and consent
- Run hypothesis-led creative tests with a testing matrix, including AI-generated creative with correct disclosure
- Set budgets and bid strategies that let the learning phase complete and scale without resetting it
- Implement pixel plus conversions API tracking with deduplication, consent signals and COD-aware events
- Report with decision rules, check incrementality and avoid common ad policy rejections
- Run Spark Ads, partnership ads, LinkedIn B2B and click-to-WhatsApp campaigns end to end
Recommended first
Curriculum
Syllabus
- Modules
- 6
- Lessons
- 17
- Reading time
- 4 h
- Assessment questions
- 25
Understand how Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn and others organise campaigns, choose the right objective, build audiences and steer automated campaign types.
- Campaign structure and objectives across platformsVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- Audiences and targeting in a privacy-first eraVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- Steering automation: Advantage+, Smart+, Accelerate and Performance+Video lecture, 8′15 min
Build platform-native creative, test it systematically with a testing matrix, and use AI creative tools with the right disclosures.
- Ad creative that convertsVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- A creative testing frameworkVideo lecture, 8′15 min
- AI creative for paid social: scale variations, keep trustVideo lecture, 8′15 min
Set budgets and bid strategies that give algorithms room to learn, send accurate conversion data, and handle consent and signal loss.
- Budgets, auctions and bid strategiesVideo lecture, 8′14 min
- Pixels, conversions APIs and data qualityVideo lecture, 8′16 min
- Consent, privacy and signal loss in paid socialVideo lecture, 7′15 min
Turn platform data into decisions, scale with incrementality checks, and avoid the most common ad rejections.
- Reporting and optimisation decisionsVideo lecture, 8′15 min
- Scaling spend and proving incrementalityVideo lecture, 8′15 min
- Ad policies and common rejectionsVideo lecture, 8′14 min
Run ads using creators' posts and identities with the right permissions, disclosures and contracts.
- Spark Ads, partnership ads and whitelistingVideo lecture, 8′Video · 15 min
- Managing a creator ad programme end to endVideo lecture, 8′14 min
Apply the fundamentals to B2B on LinkedIn, to Snapchat, Pinterest and X, and to click-to-WhatsApp and messaging ads.
- LinkedIn B2B playbook: from targeting to pipelineVideo lecture, 8′15 min
- Snapchat, Pinterest and X: when and how to use themVideo lecture, 8′15 min
- Click-to-WhatsApp and messaging ads: when the chat is the checkoutVideo lecture, 8′15 min
- Final assessment
Your certificate
Finish with a credential anyone can check
Earn the Certified Paid Social Specialist badge: The holder can plan, launch and optimise paid social campaigns on Meta, TikTok, LinkedIn, Snapchat, Pinterest and X. They steer automated campaign types, test creative systematically (including AI creative with correct disclosure), manage budgets and bidding, implement pixel and conversions API tracking with consent, check incrementality, avoid policy rejections and run creator-licensed, B2B and click-to-message ads.
Completed all lessons and scored ≥ 80% on the final assessment.
- A public verification page
- A PDF certificate to download
- An Open Badge you can share
- One click to your LinkedIn profile
Final assessment
- 25questions drawn from a larger pool
- 35 mintime limit
- 80%pass mark
- 3attempts per 24 hours
Start learning today. It’s free.
Every lesson is free to read. A free account saves your progress, unlocks the final assessment and issues your certificate.