ADVERTISEMENT
A successful advertising campaign will spread the word about your products and services,
attract customers and generate sales. Whether you are trying to encourage new customers to
buy an existing product or launching a new service, there are many options to choose from.
The most suitable advertising option for your business will depend on your target audience
and what is the most cost effective way to reach as many of them as possible, as many times
as possible. The advertising option chosen should also reflect the right environment for
your product or service. For example, if you know that your target market reads a particular
magazine, you should advertise in that publication.
The following list is an introduction to advertising tactics that you could use. Remember,
you can always be creative in your advertising to get noticed (within advertising
regulations).
Newspaper
Newspaper advertising can promote your business to a wide range of customers. Display
advertisements are placed throughout the paper, while classified listings are under subject
headings in a specific section.
You may find that a combination of advertising in your state/metropolitan newspaper and your
local paper gives you the best results.
Magazine
Advertising in a specialist magazine can reach your target market quickly and easily.
Readers (your potential customers) tend to read magazines at their leisure and keep them for
longer, giving your advertisement multiple chances to attract attention. Magazines generally
serve consumers (by interest group e.g. women) and trade (industry/business type e.g.
hospitality).
If your products need to be displayed in color then glossy advertisements in a magazine can
be ideal — although they are generally more expensive than newspaper advertisements.
Magazines do not usually serve a small area such as a specific town. If your target market
is only a small percentage of the circulation, then advertising may not be cost-effective.
Radio
Advertising on the radio is a great way to reach your target audience. If your target market
listens to a particular station, then regular advertising can attract new customers.
However, sound has its limitations. Listeners can find it difficult to remember what they
have heard and sometimes the impact of radio advertising is lost. The best way to overcome
this is to repeat your message regularly — which increases your costs significantly. If you
cannot afford to play your advertisement regularly, you may find that radio advertising does
not generate strong results.
Television
Television has an extensive reach and advertising this way is ideal if you cater to a large
market in a large area. Television advertisements have the advantage of sight, sound,
movement and color to persuade a customer to buy from you. They are particularly useful if
you need to demonstrate how your product or service works.
Producing a television advertisement and then buying an advertising slot is generally
expensive. Advertising is sold in units (e.g. 20, 30, 60 seconds) and costs vary according
to:
• The time slot
• The television program
• Whether it is metro or regional
• If you want to buy spots on multiple networks.
Directories
Directories list businesses by name or category (e.g. Yellow Pages phone directories).
Customers who refer to directories have often already made up their mind to buy - they just
need to decide who to buy from.
The major advantage of online directories over print directories is that if you change your
business name, address or phone number, you can easily keep it up to date in the directory.
You can also add new services or information about your business.
If your target market uses print and online directories, it may be useful to advertise in
both, although print directories are being used less.
Outdoor and transit
There are many ways to advertise outside and on-the-go. Outdoor billboards can be signs by
the road or hoardings at sport stadiums. Transit advertising can be posters on buses, taxis
and bicycles. Large billboards can get your message across with a big impact. If the same
customers pass your billboard every day as they travel to work, you are likely to be the
first business they think of when they want to buy a product.
Even the largest of billboards usually contain a limited amount of information; otherwise,
they can be difficult to read. Including your website address makes it easy for customers to
follow up and find out more about your business. Outdoor advertising can be very expensive
especially for prime locations and supersite billboards.
Direct mail, catalogues and leaflets
Direct mail means writing to customers directly. The more precise your mailing list or
distribution area, the more of your target market you will reach. A direct mail approach is
more personal, as you can select your audience and plan the timing to suit your business. A
cost effective form of direct mail is to send your newsletters or flyers electronically to
an email database. Find out more about direct mail.
Catalogues, brochures and leaflets can also be distributed to your target area. Including a
brochure with your direct mail is a great way to give an interested customer more
information about your products and services. Learn more about leaflet marketing using
letterbox drops and handouts.
Online
Being on the internet can be a cost-effective way to attract new customers. You can reach a
global audience at a low cost. Many customers research businesses online before deciding
whom to buy from.
A well-designed website can entice customers to buy from you. There are a number of ways you
can promote your business online via paid advertising or to improve your search engine
rankings. Learn more about doing business online.
Other ways to advertise your business online include promoting your products or services on
social media sites, blogs and search engines and other websites that your target audience
visits. Find out more about social media.
As an advertising agency, one of the main questions our clients ask first is what sort of
advertising services we offer.
Advertising is a very broad field that can cover multiple aspects such as campaign planning,
content creative, video planification, media buying or just creating strategies.
Similarly, there is also another factor to take into account such as channel, there are
several advertising media channels to take into consideration depending on the advertising
services that you might need;
Let’s start with the basics, what does it mean advertising services? It generally means
According to Wikipedia, advertising is a marketing communication process that utilizes a
sponsored message to promote or sell a product to the public.
Sponsors of advertising are usually companies but this could include non-profit
organizations, governmental entities or other institutions.
1. What constitutes advertising?
Even though some people still venture themselves into advertising by promotion their services by themselves, advertising requires professional assessment.As it can be very delicate legally speaking. In the United Kingdom, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations regulates advertising to ensure it compels with the law to protect citizens by ensuring that no advertising or promotional material contains any of the following:
• Including false or deceptive messages
• Leaving out important information
• Using aggressive sales techniques
For more information, visit the government’s advertising and marketing regulatory website. Or else feel free to send us a message using our contact form.
2. Advertising Services List
Below I have listed all the major advertising services an agency offers, it is important to take into account that when an organization hires an advertising agency usually delegate to this one the entire advertising process from creation and strategy to the process of purchases slot within a media channel.There are multiple advertising services an ad agency can offer from campaign creation to planification or even market research, to keep this simple, I will outline the main services and but will list all the other options.
2.1. Creative ideation service Any part within the advertising process take a significantly important role, it is true that the creative process of an advertising campaign could change the entire outcome of that one in particular.
As traditional media buying has been perceived as a simpler task often decided by data and statistics, it still could be decisive in the success of an advertising campaign.
Even so, some company or organization decide to delegate the creative process to an ad agency while they themselves handle the rest of the process.
The creative process usually involves:
1. Market research – it could include social listening, understanding audience data.
2. Establishing goals and objectives.
3. The Brainstorming and experimentation loop to come up with ideas that will deliver the most effective message to an audience.
4. Test the creative message or content and optimize if necessary.
2.2. Media buying service Media buying services involve mainly a company devising a strategy and handle the process of acquiring media advertising slots.
To put it simply, an advertising agency will act an intermediary and negotiator to get their clients the best possible rates for their advertisements.
Agencies usually maintain close ties with media providers – television, radio or any media channels – which helps them and makes the buying process smoother.
In case you are wondering what a media channel, it refers to a particular medium by which an advertiser’s campaign will be released.
Traditional channels include billboards, radio station and mail among many others. Choosing the right media channel would play a crucial role in the success of a campaign as different channels have different audiences and depending on advertiser’s goals and audience, for example, a sports company would probably choose to advertise on a sports magazine or website. The main principles of media buying:
1. Marketing research to estimate which media is optimal for the campaign needs.
2. Process of acquiring and negotiating media time or space lots.
3. Calibrating the outcome of the campaign and adjust accordingly.
To finally makes this section as clear as possible, I would outline the five steps within the buying process:
1. Market research to identify the target audience,
2. Set Objectives
3. Planification containing specific outlets, prices, allocated budget.
4. Negotiating
5. Launch
6. Measure results
2.3. Planning service On rare occasions, an organization might hire an advertising agency to plan their entire campaign while they will actually executive themselves by completing the main tasks of buying themselves while all the leg work will be carried out by the agency.
2.4. Full advertising service Full service mainly refers to the process by which an advertising agency manages and optimizes an advertisers entire campaign including planification, market research, media buying and creation.
This is probably the most popular type of service as it is what people are more familiar with when it comes to what advertising agencies do. This process will include all the advertising services mentioned above together.
2.5. Full list of advertising services As I mentioned above, the following list includes a full and comprehensive selection of the major advertising services offered by advertising agencies, please bear in mind that some agencies specialized in particular channels, services and industries.
For example, media buying agencies have proliferated significantly in the last few decades and we can find more and more social media advertising agencies which only and exclusively dedicate themselves to social media. Below there is a list with the major advertising services:
1. Strategic creation.
2. Planning.
3. Buying.
4. Creation.
5. Paid Search.
6. Television advertising.
7. OOH and Billboard Advertising.
8. Radio.
9. Print media advertising.
10. Social Media advertising.
3. What are the main advertising channels?
Online Online advertising has become extremely popular over the last few years, partly thanks to its versatility and its relatively easiness to monitor and track results but also because in its early days it was significantly cheaper compared to traditional media and it has little entry barrier as anyone can start advertising for as low as fifty cents.Many marketing agencies and freelancers offer this kind of advertising services but it is important to rely on the right agency, not just an amateur.
Needless to say that online advertising should have an article of its own due to the fact it is so broad and complex but just to keep things to a minimum, I will outline the major online digital advertising channels:
1. Google search ads
2. Bing Search Ads
3. Google Shopping
4. Facebook for business which includes Instagram and Facebook
5. Pinterest
6. Online video and digital television
Print Media Print media including mail marketing (letters, leaflets and brochures) enjoy great popularity during the 80s and 90s however since the beginning of the digital era, marketers and advertisers have focused their efforts on digital channels.
However, print advertising statistics (see the full article on print advertisement effectiveness) have proved that it is very effective.
It has a better reputation than email marketing and a higher opening rate than its electronic counterpart.
Outdoor channel It refers to street furniture, billboards and any advertising format consumers find while they are out of their homes. I have written an entire article on outdoor advertising. 75 % of travelers and commuters have seen a digital billboard in the last 30 days.
Television and cinema Television advertising (I will leave smart television apps and online television on the side) refers to non-on-demand television formats where viewers are exposed to ad while watching audiovisual content.
Cinema advertising could be both direct or indirect. Direct refers to any commercial released right before screening the motion picture whereas indirect applies to any promotional propaganda added subtly to the content of the film.
There facts about television advertising to understand this media better: When a TV commercial showed people chewing two pieces of gum at one time, sales doubled. As people also started to chew 2 at a time, just like they’d seen on TVs
Radio Radio advertising comprises any media involving audio message intended to be listened to via a private reception such as a phone, radio receiver or a computer. Examples of radio media include podcasts and radio channels listened to via a computer.
Online radio consumption has increased over the last years and nowadays it accounts for 20% of the total.