Advertising is one of the topics examiners return to most often in Part 3, where you're expected to discuss ideas rather than just describe your own life. It can also turn up as a Part 2 cue card asking you to describe an advert you remember, so you need IELTS advertising vocabulary for more than one part. This page gives you twenty advertising phrases with meanings and example sentences, phrases for giving and supporting an opinion, sample answers for each part, and the mistakes learners tend to make on this topic.
Table Of Contents
Video Lesson: Talking About Advertising
In the video you'll hear each advertising phrase used in a full sentence. Advertising answers tend to be longer and more abstract than most, so notice how the phrases help link one idea to the next.
How Advertising Comes Up in IELTS Speaking
In Part 1 you'll get light questions about the ads you notice. Part 2 asks you to describe one advertisement, and Part 3 is where the real discussion happens: whether advertising is fair, how it affects children, and how it's changing.
Part 1 questions
- Do you pay attention to adverts?
- What kind of advertisements do you see most often?
- Have you ever bought something because of an advert?
- Do you like the advertisements on TV?
- Are there many billboards where you live?
Part 2 cue card
Describe an advertisement that you remember well.
You should say: what it was for, where you saw it, and what happened in it.
And explain why you remember it.
Part 3 questions
- Should there be stricter rules on advertising aimed at children?
- How has social media changed advertising?
- Do you think celebrities should advertise products?
- Is advertising more helpful or harmful to society?
Vocabulary for Talking About Advertising
The cards are grouped by what you'll use them for: explaining how the business of advertising works, naming the kinds of ads you see, and describing what makes an advert good or bad.
How advertising works
Use these to explain what companies are trying to achieve. They're especially useful in Part 3.
Advertising campaign
A planned series of advertisements.
- The company launched a successful advertising campaign last year.
- A creative advertising campaign can attract many customers.
- Large brands usually invest heavily in an advertising campaign.
Advertising budget
The amount of money spent on advertising.
- Large companies usually have a huge advertising budget.
- Small businesses often have a limited advertising budget.
- The company increased its advertising budget this year.
Advertising industry
The business sector related to advertising.
- The advertising industry has changed a lot because of technology.
- Many creative people work in the advertising industry.
- Social media has transformed the advertising industry.
Target audience
The specific group of people a product is aimed at.
- Every advertisement should focus on its target audience.
- Teenagers are the main target audience for this product.
- Companies often research their target audience carefully.
Brand awareness
How familiar people are with a company or product.
- Advertising plays an important role in increasing brand awareness.
- Companies spend a lot of money to improve their brand awareness.
- Social media is an effective way to build brand awareness.
Consumer behavior
How people decide what to buy.
- Advertising can strongly influence consumer behavior.
- Companies study consumer behavior before launching products.
- Discounts can change consumer behavior quickly.
Consumer loyalty
When customers continue buying from the same brand.
- Good advertising can improve consumer loyalty.
- Companies try to build consumer loyalty through quality service.
- Discounts sometimes help increase consumer loyalty.
Kinds of ads
Naming the type of advert makes your answer more precise than just saying "ads".
Online advertisement
Ads shown on websites or apps.
- I see a lot of online advertisements while using social media.
- Some online advertisements can be quite annoying.
- Companies prefer online advertisements because they are cheaper.
Pop-up ads
Ads that suddenly appear on screens.
- I find pop-up ads extremely annoying.
- Many websites use pop-up ads to earn money.
- Some people install software to block pop-up ads.
Traditional advertising
Advertising through TV, radio, newspapers, or billboards.
- Traditional advertising is still effective for older generations.
- Many businesses are moving away from traditional advertising.
- Television is one form of traditional advertising.
Billboard advertisement
A large outdoor advertisement.
- I often see billboard advertisements while driving.
- Some billboard advertisements are very creative.
- Billboard advertisements are common in busy cities.
Social media influencer
A person who promotes products online.
- Many companies work with social media influencers to advertise products.
- Young people are often influenced by social media influencers.
- Being a social media influencer has become a popular career.
Celebrity endorsement
Famous people promoting products.
- Many brands use celebrity endorsements to increase sales.
- Celebrity endorsements can influence young consumers.
- Some products become popular because of celebrity endorsements.
Product placement
Showing products in movies or TV shows.
- Product placement is common in modern movies.
- Companies pay a lot for product placement.
- Sometimes viewers do not notice product placement.
Promotional offer
A special deal used to attract customers.
- I bought the product because of a promotional offer.
- Many stores use promotional offers during holidays.
- A good promotional offer can attract new customers.
Describing ads
These help you say what an advert was like and whether it worked on you.
Catchy slogan
A memorable phrase used in advertising.
- A catchy slogan can make a product more memorable.
- Some companies become famous because of their catchy slogans.
- I still remember the catchy slogan from a popular soft drink advertisement.
Eye-catching advertisement
An ad that attracts attention easily.
- Bright colors can create an eye-catching advertisement.
- I prefer eye-catching advertisements with creative designs.
- Companies compete to produce the most eye-catching advertisements.
Persuasive advertisement
An ad designed to convince people.
- A persuasive advertisement can increase sales quickly.
- Some advertisements are too persuasive and encourage unnecessary spending.
- Companies use emotional language to create persuasive advertisements.
Misleading advertisement
An ad that gives false information.
- Some companies use misleading advertisements to attract customers.
- Governments should control misleading advertisements.
- I dislike misleading advertisements because they confuse consumers.
Word of mouth
People sharing opinions about products with others.
- Nowadays, word of mouth is still a powerful form of advertising.
- Positive word of mouth can increase sales significantly.
- I usually trust word of mouth more than online ads.
Useful Phrases for Discussing Advertising
Part 3 advertising questions ask for your opinion, so you need phrases that state a view, give a reason and admit the other side. These starters do exactly that.
| Phrase | Use it to | Example |
|---|---|---|
| From my point of view, … | State your opinion | From my point of view, advertising aimed at young children should be banned. |
| The main reason is that … | Give a reason | The main reason is that children can't tell an advert from a TV show. |
| A good example of this is … | Support your point | A good example of this is the way snack brands use cartoon characters. |
| Having said that, … | Show the other side | Having said that, some adverts tell people about genuinely useful products. |
| It's hard to say for sure, but I'd guess … | Predict the future | It's hard to say for sure, but I'd guess most advertising will be online within ten years. |
| Companies do this because they want to … | Explain a motive | Companies do this because they want to build brand awareness among teenagers. |
| What sticks in my mind is … | Describe an advert you remember | What sticks in my mind is the catchy slogan at the end. |
Sample Answers
Read these answers to see how the phrases fit into real speech. The card vocabulary is in bold. Notice how the Part 3 answer gives an opinion, a reason and an example before it looks at the other side.
Part 1: Do you pay attention to adverts?
Not really, to be honest. Most of the ads I see are pop-up ads on my phone, and I close them as fast as I can. I do notice a really eye-catching advertisement now and then, usually a funny one on the side of a bus.
Part 2: Describe an advertisement that you remember well
The advert I remember best is one for a sports drink that came out a couple of years ago. It was part of a big advertising campaign, so I saw it everywhere: on TV, on YouTube and on a huge billboard advertisement near my school.
It showed an ordinary teenage runner training alone in the rain, early in the morning, while everyone else was still asleep. There was no talking at all until the very end, when a catchy slogan appeared on the screen: "Nobody sees the work." Then you saw the drink for about two seconds.
I think it worked so well because the target audience was clearly people like me, students who play sport. It didn't rely on a celebrity endorsement, which made it feel more honest. It was a very persuasive advertisement, but it never felt like it was trying to sell me something.
I remember it partly because it was so different from the loud adverts around it, and partly because of word of mouth. Everyone at school talked about it for weeks, and plenty of my friends started buying the drink. So I'd say it did a great job of building brand awareness, at least among teenagers.
Part 3: Should there be stricter rules on advertising aimed at children?
Yes, I think so. The main reason is that young children don't really understand that an advert is trying to sell them something, so it isn't a fair contest. You can see this in product placement in children's videos online, where a toy just appears as part of the story. I'd also worry about misleading advertisements for snacks that are full of sugar. Having said that, a total ban would be hard to enforce, so clearer labels and limits on when these ads can be shown might be more realistic.
How to Use This Vocabulary Well
- Learn the noun phrases. Advertising vocabulary is mostly two- or three-word nouns, such as "target audience" and "celebrity endorsement". Practise saying each one as a single unit.
- Back up every opinion. In Part 3, a phrase like "consumer behavior" only helps if you explain it with a reason or a real example.
- Describe a real advert in Part 2. It's much easier to talk for two minutes about something you've actually seen than to invent one on the spot.
- Keep both sides in mind. Examiners reward answers that weigh up good and bad points, so prepare a "having said that" point for each opinion you hold.
Common mistakes
- Saying "advertise" when you mean the noun. You advertise a product, but you watch an advertisement, an advert or an ad.
- Using "advertisings". Advertising is uncountable, so talk about "a lot of advertising" or "many adverts".
- Mixing up "effect" and "affect". Adverts affect people (a verb) and have an effect on them (a noun).
- Giving a one-word opinion in Part 3, such as "Yes, I agree", without explaining why.
What Our Learners' Part 3 Answers Show
Advertising is mostly a Part 3 topic, and Part 3 is where learners have to explain abstract ideas on the spot. In BestMyTest tutor reviews of Part 3 answers, learners averaged 5,6 for lexical resource and 6,0 for fluency and coherence. Our automated scoring placed vocabulary lowest of its five scores in 41% of the Part 3 recordings it marked.
A typical Part 3 answer on BestMyTest ran to about 69 words. That's enough for an opinion, a reason and an example, and each of those is a natural place for an advertising phrase such as "target audience" or "consumer loyalty".
Practise and Get a Band Score
Pick two of the Part 3 questions above and answer each one for about a minute, using the opinion phrases from the table. Then try an IELTS Speaking Part 3 practice test in our app. You'll get an instant AI review of every answer, with a separate band for vocabulary, so you can see whether the new phrases are lifting your score. For targeted practice on word choice, open the speaking vocabulary exercises in our AI Tutor.
More topics: movies and TV shows, music, or the full list of IELTS speaking vocabulary topics.
The figures on this page come from the BestMyTest IELTS learner performance data, our records of IELTS practice on BestMyTest up to October 2026. That page explains how we measure each figure. Last updated 15 October 2026.