A twelve-week semester is enough to take students from zero to a first command of social advertising on Meta and TikTok, provided the progression is structured. Here is a complete syllabus, adaptable to two- to three-hour sessions. It relies on a simulator so every student actually handles campaigns without spending anything.
Learning objectives
By the end of the course, a student can:
- choose a campaign objective suited to a need;
- define a reasoned audience and budget;
- create ads consistent with a message;
- read metrics and draw decisions from them;
- test and optimize methodically;
- present and defend a strategy.
Overview
| Weeks | Theme | Deliverable |
|---|---|---|
| 1-2 | Fundamentals and structure | First quiz |
| 3-4 | Audiences and budget | Simulated mini-campaign |
| 5-6 | Creatives and messages | Two ads |
| 7-8 | Measurement and metrics | Results analysis |
| 9-10 | Testing and optimization | Testing plan |
| 11 | Full strategy | Media plan |
| 12 | Presentation | Defense |
Week 1: why social advertising?
- Content: where social advertising sits in marketing, how auctions work, basic vocabulary.
- Workshop: discovering the simulator, creating a fictional account.
- Reading: Why use an ad simulator.
Week 2: campaign structure
- Content: campaign, ad set, ad; campaign objectives.
- Workshop: build a campaign from a simple case.
- Reading: How to create a Facebook Ads campaign and Structure a campaign.
- Assessment: a ten-question vocabulary quiz.
Week 3: audiences
- Content: core, custom and lookalike audiences; exclusions.
- Workshop: two audiences for the same product.
- Reading: Facebook and Instagram Ads targeting.
Week 4: budget and schedule
- Content: daily or lifetime budget, duration, learning phase.
- Workshop: calculate a budget from an objective.
- Reading: How much do online ads cost.
- Deliverable: a simulated mini-campaign with written justification.
Week 5: message and creative
- Content: creative brief, hook, AIDA and PAS structures.
- Workshop: write three hooks for a product drawn at random.
- Reading: Writing effective ads.
Week 6: TikTok
- Content: specifics of vertical video, native creative.
- Workshop: script a 15-second video and run a simulated campaign.
- Reading: TikTok Ads Manager: a complete tutorial and TikTok or Meta.
- Deliverable: two ads, one for Meta and one for TikTok.
Week 7: metrics
- Content: CPM, CTR, CPC, CPA, ROAS, ROI.
- Workshop: analysis of simulated results.
- Reading: Digital advertising formulas.
Week 8: tracking
- Content: pixel, events, UTMs, attribution, consent.
- Workshop: naming convention and tracking plan.
- Reading: Campaign tracking: UTM, pixel and conversions.
- Deliverable: a written analysis of a simulated campaign, with proposed decisions.
Week 9: A/B testing
- Content: hypothesis, single variable, duration, careful statistical reading.
- Workshop: design and launch a test in the simulator.
- Reading: Ad A/B testing.
Week 10: optimization
- Content: diagnose a campaign, avoid breaking learning, allocate budget.
- Workshop: rescue a struggling campaign.
- Reading: Optimize without breaking learning.
- Deliverable: a four-week testing plan.
Week 11: the full strategy
- Content: funnel, media plan, brief.
- Workshop: build the media plan for a supplied case.
- Reading: The marketing funnel applied to advertising.
Week 12: the presentation
- Format: each team presents its plan, simulated results, analysis and recommendations (10 to 15 minutes, followed by questions).
- Assessment: see below.
Proposed grading scheme
| Element | Weight |
|---|---|
| Vocabulary quiz (week 2) | 10% |
| Justified mini-campaign (week 4) | 15% |
| Results analysis (week 8) | 20% |
| Testing plan (week 10) | 15% |
| Media plan and defense (weeks 11-12) | 40% |
The detailed rubric for grading work on a fictional campaign is in Assess students on fictional campaigns.
Adapting the syllabus
- Short course (4 weeks): see The 4-week plan.
- Beginner audience: drop the TikTok week or merge weeks 7 and 8.
- Advanced audience: add a week on paid search or SEO.
- 90-minute sessions: shorten workshops and assign readings as independent work.
Don’t forget the real interfaces
The simulator prepares students for the real tool; it does not replace it. Plan, toward the end of the semester, a demonstration session on the actual interfaces and their official help pages, which change regularly. To equip your institution, see the pricing or tell us about your project.
Frequently asked questions
Do I need a real ad budget to follow this syllabus? No: the simulator provides fictional budgets and results.
Can I use it for a more general marketing course? Yes: weeks 1, 5, 7, 9 and 11 fit easily into a broader digital marketing module.
How do I grade simulated results? You assess the approach, justification and analysis, not the raw number.