Advertisement is the action of drawing more attention to a product, brand, service or cause using certain marketing tactics to increase awareness or sales. In advertisements, choosing a favorable medium is one of the most important tasks. The advertising medium is the method in which the message is delivered to the intended target audience.
How to choose the right advertising medium? There are three primary factors that need to be considered when choosing a medium.
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- Target Audience. Who are your target audience? Understanding this plays a crucial role in determining your advertising medium. For instance, teenagers are more inclined towards social media making it an ideal platform to advertise.
- What is your budget? A common mistake when it comes to advertising is blowing the complete budget for a TV spot or a celebrity endorsement. Understanding your budget and developing suitable strategies can ensure you get long-lasting and continuous results from your campaigns.
- What is the message that you wish to convey? Each campaign has different goals, expected results, and a message that needs to be conveyed. Understanding the intent of the campaign can help you select a suitable medium.
Table of Contents
Different Advertising Mediums – An Insight
Following are the different types of advertising media and here will find out its characteristics, advantages and disadvantages.
- Print Advertising
- Broadcast Advertising
- Outdoor Advertising
- Digital Advertising
Print Media or Print Advertising
Being one of the oldest and most widely used forms of advertising, print media includes newspaper advertisements, journals, flyers and magazine ads. This form of advertising also doubles up as an important source of income for newspaper and magazine publishers.
The common mediums available in print media advertising are as follows:
- Newspaper advertisements. This is the most common form of print media advertising. They have a high reach of audience and is considered to be an efficient form of advertising. However, there are a few limiting factors such as the cost of advertising space, language, and demography.
- Magazines. They have a high conversion rate and is perfect for advertising to a niche class of audience. However, advertising in magazines is more expensive due to the superior quality of print and niche target audiences.
- Newsletter advertisements. Newsletters are periodicals that are sent out to interested parties via mail or email. Newsletter marketing is a great way to reach a particular audience due to low costs and efficient reach.
- Brochures. This is mainly aimed at educating the consumer in-depth about the product or service that is being advertised.
Advantages of Print Media Advertising
- Print media usually has a loyal reader base. This is very useful in gaining loyal customers and also, in turn, promoting your brand via word of mouth.
- High trustworthiness. More than 58% of people believe the advertisements in print media to be trustworthy and reliable.
- Highly flexible options with print media, it is very easy to reach a target audience. You can choose a particular demographic region or language to filter your audience.
Disadvantages of Print Media Advertising
- Limited shelf life. Print advertising usually comes with a very limited shelf life depending on the type of medium. For instance, newspapers are not relevant for more than a day.
- The reach is limited to the area in circulation. Compared to the internet and other forms of advertising, print media has a very limited reach.
- High chances of your message being lost. If your message is not advertised in a prime space, there are high chances of it going unnoticed by the reader.
Broadcast Advertising
Broadcast media advertising includes channels such as television, radio, and others. This is an effective way to advertise as you can advertise powerful messages using audio/video clips or even still images. However, it is considered to be one of the most expensive advertisement options.
The most common types of broadcast media advertising are:
- Television advertising. It is very useful to create brand awareness and image. It is more beneficial when it comes to print advertising as it can even reach audiences who cannot read.
- Radio advertising. It is one of the most economical options available in advertising and has a high ROI. Choosing the right radio-station for your advertisement can help you get local or national target audience reach as per your preference.
Advantages of Broadcast Media advertising
- High reach and credibility. Broadcast advertising has a very high reach and is considered to be one of the most trustworthy sources of advertisements.
- Can leave a lasting impression of the viewers. Placing your broadcasting advertisements during peak viewing times is a guaranteed way to efficiently market or advertise your brand.
- Flexible advertisement options. Depending on the message that needs to be passed, you can customize your ads in the form of short audio/visual clips, still images and much more.
Disadvantages of Broadcast Media Advertising
- Not suitable for a low budget option. Not only do you have to pay for the advertising spot, but you must also invest money into the actors, script, production and much more. Though it is a highly reliable form of advertising, it is also the most expensive option available.
- No guarantee that your ad will be viewed. The biggest drawback of broadcast advertising is that your advertisement can be missed easily by the target audience.
Outdoor Advertising
Any advertising done outside your home falls under outdoor advertising. It has a very high reach and is one of the most efficient ways to advertise a product or brand.
The common mediums for outdoor advertising include:
- Banners and Billboards.
- Point of Sales Displays.
- Kiosk, bus stops, and telephone booths.
- Transport advertising and wraps, for example, trains, subways, and taxis.
- Guerrilla advertising strategies which are also known as ambient media advertising.
Advantages of Outdoor advertising
- One of the most low-cost and flexible solutions available. As outdoor advertisements generally involve pasting posters or billboards, they are not very expensive to implement.
- Can be placed strategically at crowded spots in order to get maximum visibility.
- It can grab attention very quickly and is a very efficient way to advertise.
Disadvantages of Outdoor advertising
- Not useful in advertising long messages or statements as they generally carry a low attention span.
- It can become a distraction in roads or junctions and may even cause accidents
Digital Advertising
Being in the digital age where each one of us is hooked to our smartphones or PCs, digital advertising is one of the most widely used methods of advertising today. A right digital marketing campaign has a potentially unlimited reach and is not limited by any physical boundaries or limitations. It is also very efficient in targeting specific audience groups and advertising your message accordingly.
The most common forms of advertising medium are:
- Internet
- Social Media
- Videos
- Mobile Phones
- Media Devices
- Podcast
Advantages of digital advertising
- An extremely high reach. As technology and internet is available in all parts of the world, an efficient digital marketing campaign has a potentially unlimited reach.
- Interactive advertising. Not only is it an efficient form of advertising, but it is also one of the only mediums through which you can collect useful data from your target audience. For example, polls or surveys in social media.
- Very cost-effective. Digital advertising is one of the most cost-effective options available today.
- Targeted advertising. By tracking internet usage history, you can easily target your audience during advertisements.
Disadvantages of digital advertising
- Low trustworthiness. The internet today is bombarded with spams and fake promotional articles. Due to this, digital advertising is considered to be the least trustworthy option when it comes to advertising.
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