There are all sorts of media, but how do you choose the best option?
Once you’ve decided to invest in advertising beyond your own channels, having obtained the funds through financing or using your savings, it’s time to consider what you want to invest your money in. All marketing obviously begins with your targets, that is, what you want to achieve with your marketing. Are you aiming to be better known in the long run, or are you going for quick, tactical advertising? Once you’re clear on this, you can move on to the actual media choices. This is the point when you are usually flooded with alternatives, and naturally the solution provided by each media claims to be the best.
According to the old adage, half of any marketing budget is spent on poor choices and the other half on the right ones. The difficulty is to find out which are the good ones and which are the bad ones. Fortunately this is not entirely true, because by measuring and studying campaigns and actions you have taken you can get a pretty good idea of which measures bring better results than others. Unfortunately, there are no clear-cut solutions that fit everyone, but on a general level you can state the pros and cons of the various media. See below for a rough guide for considering the various alternatives.
Moving image
Moving image encompasses everything from traditional television advertising to film advertising and online videos. If the advertising target group is wide and you have a sufficient budget, television advertising is often the most efficient channel for making your brand better known, changing people’s conceptions and creating something people will remember. This is partly because television has such high coverage over a large group of consumers. Television advertising is not always as expensive as one might think, but obviously is clearly more expensive than printed advertising, for example.
The benefit of online videos is that they can be targeted accurately; using data, you can target dog owners planning to buy a car, and you won’t spend your money on the wrong audience. The more you limit the target audience, on the other hand, the more expensive it becomes per contact price. If it is possible to do so within your budget, the best combination is television advertising and online video.
Print advertising includes both advertising in both magazines and newspapers, and among the possibilities are advertorials explaining the content in more detail and advertising offers. The memory trace of newspaper advertising is nevertheless rather short, but may be effective for tactical offer messages, for instance. Consumers are used to looking for offers in newspapers, and know where to find them. Large surfaces on newspapers, such as the front pages, also try to create new topics and attract attention. Magazines, on the other hand, are read more slowly, with readers taking more time to savour the content. For this reason, they tend to have quite a long effect. Magazine readers generally take a positive view of advertisements and may even consider them informative and an important part of the magazine. But such advertising must be adjusted to the magazine’s target group. In print advertising, magazine profiles and number of readers vary considerably – and so does the price of advertising. It’s important to be properly informed about the number of readers, the target group and the correct price level before making an advertising decision.
Outdoor advertising
Outdoor advertising, when properly used, is quite an effective way to connect with urban populations in particular. A good outdoor advertising campaign can reach people with money, and often as they are on their way shopping. So it’s no wonder that outdoor advertising is popular especially among advertisers of daily consumer goods. The strength in outdoor advertising lies in repetition, and it works well in support of another media. It’s the kind of reminder that activates consumers well. However, as an individual media solution it is a poor solution because no complex messages can be conveyed through them. It’s practically pointless even trying. Similarly, no individual surfaces rarely work in outdoor advertising. The power is in the volume.
Radio
Radio is often used as a cost-effective sidekick for television advertising, for example. The power of radio is based on easy reach and repetition. When running a radio advertising campaign, you should ensure that your budget allows you to have enough repetition to reach the right ears. Radio is also at its best as a mass medium. Using only small radio stations may not have much effect on your sales. There are also advertisers who have created successful campaigns based on radio alone or together with digital advertising. Producing radio spots is relatively inexpensive compared to other media, so its popularity as a media solution is easy to justify.
Online advertising
In today’s world, digital visibility is pretty much a necessity. Various solutions must be weighed carefully based on the targets, as alternatives range from influencers to search engine advertising. Online advertising is usually at its height when the consumer is close to making a purchase decision and needs a tactical nudge in the right direction. Of course, digital channels may also be used to increase awareness and to attract attention, and there excellent examples of this too. To underline advertising messages and boost brand images, usually traditional advertising channels, such as television, are better. But if you have a smaller budget, digital advertising gives you more.
Whichever media solution you go for, remember to monitor the results and analyse the impact. Marketing should always be an investment, not an expense, and by experimenting boldly you will find the best solutions. It’s also important to find the right partners to make the most of your advertising campaign.