Types of advertising in business come in many forms, each with its own level of effectiveness for different audiences. Many companies use several types of advertising to reach a wider group of potential consumers.
It can be helpful to learn about the different types of advertising and what makes them successful in order to create more engaging marketing campaigns. In this article, we explain what advertising is, what makes advertising successful, and the different types of advertising in business.
Contents
What is advertising?
Advertising is a form of promotion for a brand, product or service. The ultimate goal of an advertisement is to entice people to buy or use that brand, product, or service.
Advertising can also be used to raise awareness about an issue, to campaign for a political candidate or to engage the public interest for an event.
What makes an ad successful?
There are various factors that make an ad successful, including:
It resonates with the audience
A successful advertisement uses a universal truth or common experience to engage the audience. Advertising introduces a product or service as a way to address that experience. Because customers relate to the experience, they are more likely to connect with the product on an emotional level.
It’s easy to remember
Whether through a choice of images or a unique way of presenting information, the audience remembers the product or service and its brand. They may even find their colleagues discussing it at work or on social media.
This sets this product apart from its competitors
Ads may mention competitors by name, or they may refer to competitors indirectly. On the other hand, the audience can also clearly see how this product differs from others in the same market space.
It highlights the benefits of the product or service
Good advertising ensures consumers understand how they benefit from the product or service. It could be that the product or service is of high quality at low cost. Maybe the product or service makes their life easier in some way or solves a certain problem.
It has a distinctive branding style
Branding can be applied to product or service logos as well as advertising design and content. Creating brand recognition is an important feature of good advertising. The audience should be able to recognize the company or product only from the advertising branding.
It has a well-written copy or a good script
Depending on the type, the ad should be written or written in a clear, concise, creative and attractive way. It should speak to consumers in a language they understand and get its point across quickly and powerfully.
It has a call to action or CTA
A successful ad not only tells the audience about a product or service, it also encourages them to do something. It could be by telling them to call a number, visit a website, or visit a store. Either way, advertising expects the audience to take action.
Types of advertising in business
The following are some of the more popular types of ads:
Print ads
Print advertising is one of the oldest forms of advertising, and was once one of the most popular. They are still used today, although the internet and digital advertising are more prominent. You can find print ads in a number of different places, including magazines, newspapers, brochures, pamphlets, and direct mail.
As people today consume media in a variety of ways, businesses need to carefully consider whether print advertising is the best way to reach their target audience.
For example, newspaper advertising can be relatively inexpensive but limits the company to the local demographic. Magazine advertising has the potential to reach a very specific audience depending on the nature of the magazine. Leaflets reach audiences right in their mailboxes, making them a great way to market to multiple people in a given area.
Outdoor advertising
This type of advertising is also known as outdoor advertising. As the name suggests, these ads are the type of ads that consumers see when they are not at home. They include billboards and advertisements at bus stops, cars or buses, park benches and movie theaters.
Some businesses even hold outdoor events to promote their products, such as offering food samples or hiring people to put on costumes and hand out flyers.
The key to successful outdoor advertising is being able to quickly grab people’s attention with a message or image they’ll remember. Billboards along the highway may only hold the driver’s attention for a few seconds.
At that point, the billboard needs to communicate its message clearly and convincingly. Poster-sized ads at bus stops need to be kept in mind so that people don’t forget them while on the bus or at home.
Guerrilla advertising
Guerrilla advertising is a type of outdoor advertising that uses unconventional places or methods to promote products or services within a business. The purpose of guerrilla advertising is to attract attention and be memorable. You can achieve this by placing ads in unusual places or creating ads that surprise or surprise your audience.
Examples of guerrilla advertising include:
- Draw chalk on the sidewalk or wall
- Spray painted graffiti on the wall
- Flash mob showing product-related songs or sketches
The advantage of guerrilla advertising is that it can generate conversations on local newscasts or social media. This kind of attention increases the reach of the ad beyond its initial outdoor location.
Radio ads
Radio advertising is when you pay a radio station to play an advertisement for a product or service during a break in its scheduled program. This can be an effective way of advertising because many people listen to the radio on their way to and from work, while running errands or during their workday. Stations can advertise several times during the day. This kind of repetition makes the ad easier to remember.
There are several types of radio advertising, including:
- Song or jingle: This is where your message or tagline is made into a catchy note.
- Live reading: Live reading uses one or more voice actors and possibly music and sound effects to deliver your ad.
- Sponsors: You can sponsor popular broadcast segments, such as weather, news, or competitions. At the beginning of the segment, the host will refer to you as a sponsor.
Television commercials
Despite the growth of the internet, many people still watch broadcast and cable television, making it an effective way to advertise your product or service.
A television advertisement placed during a popular program can reach a wide audience. The advantage that television has over radio is that it combines audio and video. This means you can also engage your audience visually, increasing the likelihood that they will remember your ad.
To create a television commercial, you may need a larger budget to hire actors, directors, scriptwriters, and possibly an advertising agency. If your primary market is local, you can save money by advertising only on local television. Although expensive, television commercials may be beneficial if you can create an ad that is visually appealing and memorable.
Product placement ads
If you watch the show and most of the characters seem to use the same brand of laptop or drive cars made by the same company, this is product placement.
You pay the show producer to naturally include your product, even if your product is not the focus of the show. If the audience enjoys the show, they may remember seeing your product, which creates a positive attitude towards it.
Product placement, or embedded marketing, is used in television shows, movies, and sometimes in live shows. Product placement can be done explicitly, with the brand name clearly visible, or implicitly by using the brand color scheme or design on similar-looking products.
Internet advertising
Internet advertising makes use of the internet and popular social media outlets to promote products, services, or websites or other social media platforms. You usually pay for their ad space in different ways, the most popular of which are:
- Cost per mile: Also known as cost per thousand, this is where you pay for your ad based on how many thousand impressions, or views, it receives.
- Cost per click: The website hosting your ad may charge you based on the number of times someone clicks on your ad.
- Cost per action: With cost per action, advertising costs are based on the number of times a visitor performs a specific action, such as making a purchase or submitting a form.
Online advertising takes many forms. You can have a simple banner ad that displays on a web page, or you can have a pop-up ad that appears when someone visits the site. Email advertising is another way of using the internet to let people know about your products or services.
You can also place ads on popular social media sites. This has the advantage of being able to leverage the social media platform knowledge of its users to target your ads to those they are most likely to be interested in.