Different Types Of Advertising Mediums

Advertising is the action of calling public attention to something through paid announcements by an identified sponsor. The choice of advertising medium depends on two aspects –

• The product/service to be advertised.
• The Target Group.

These two aspects help marketers decide among ATL, BTL, & TTL advertising strategies.

Types of Advertising Media

Selection of the perfect advertising media where the advertisements will be presented is really important for the success of the marketing campaign. There are several advertising mediums which can be categorized under five heads:

• Print Advertising
• Broadcast Advertising
• Outdoor Advertising
• Digital Advertising
• Product/Brand Integration

Each of the media has its own exclusive characteristic like the reach, shelf space, interest, and niche targetting, etc. A marketer has to evaluate each and choose the one with the greatest ROI.

Print Advertising

One of the oldest and most popular media of advertising, print media has better reach and can even be used for copy extensive advertisements.

Print advertising includes –

• Newspaper advertisements – Newspapers have the highest reach among other types of print advertisements. They are in the regional languages and have a narrower reach as compared to others because of its economical price.
• Magazine advertisements – Magazines can be used for niche advertisements. They have a higher conversion rate as the advertisements are targeted to the right audience.
• Brochures – Brochures impart everything a customer should know about the product or a brand. They are targeted and distributed at a later stage to educate customer more about the brand.
• Fliers – Fliers are handy and have a great local reach. Fliers turn out to be very useful for local businesses.

Different print mediums have different reach depending on their type and the target group involved. Fliers can be used for locally targeted communications whereas niche magazines can be used for extremely targeted communication at a larger scale. Newspapers and other non-niche and high reach print mediums are used for above the line communications.

Broadcast Advertising

Technological advancement has resulted in increased returns from broadcast advertisements. Broadcast mediums include audio-visual information and entertainment mediums like radio, television, etc. It’s one of the most effective media for advertising as a story can be better understood if moving images and audio is used. But this medium is one of the costliest advertising mediums too.

Broadcast advertisements can be classified into

• Television Advertisements – Television advertisements are usually focused on brand building and creating brand awareness among prospective customers. These involve a lot of time and monetary investments and can prove to be one of the most beneficial advertisement investments for a business. Television advertisements have an edge over print advertisements as the people who can’t read can also understand the message through audio-visual ads.

• Radio advertisements – Radio advertisements have both local and national reach and are economical in terms of ROI. These can be in the regional language and have a great recall value.

Outdoor Advertising

Perhaps one of the most economical options, outdoor advertising can prove to be the most effective advertising strategies if used correctly, creatively, and at the right location. As the name suggests, Outdoor advertising involves placing fixed (printed or audiovisual) advertisements in locations most visited by the target audience.

Outdoor advertising can be classified into –

• Banners & Hoardings
• Flags
• Wraps
• Events and sponsorship
• Automobiles
• Other guerrilla marketing strategies

Digital Advertising

Digital advertising refers to advertisements that are digitally displayed over the internet or other digital devices. This includes the Internet, media devices like smartphones, tablets, etc. Big Data has helped digital marketers to carry extremely targeted advertisements and get the most out of their investments. With the everyday addition of new users and increased technology and R&D in the digital world, marketers can now not only target customers with their advertisements but also can engage and interact with them.

Digital advertising include advertisements on –

• Internet
• Mobile phones
• Media devices other than broadcast media. Devices like Kindle, Echo, Google home, etc.

Brand/Product Integration

Brand Integration allows a brand to reach out to the consumers by integrating the brand within the entertainment media content which is consumed by the users as entertainment. The brand or the product is interwoven within the script, showcasing products, functions and unique features.

In simple words, brand Integration is nothing but a form of authentic storytelling which is crafted according to the trend and needs and wants of the consumer and the brand.

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