Advertising

Advertising

It’s safe to say that advertising is vital for the success of every business. Some businesses rely more heavily on advertising than others, but in order to get your business out there and generate profit, your audience needs to know who you are, what services or products you provide and why they should do business with you instead of your competitors.

That’s where advertising comes in.

What is advertising?

Advertising is a promotional activity which aims to influence the behaviour of targeted consumers by persuading them to buy, hire or use your products or services. For businesses, the ultimate goal of advertising is to attract more customers and increase sales. By creating advertisements with tailored messages, businesses can target niche or large audiences to attract new customers. 

Advertising is one of the oldest and if not most ancient forms of business. As soon as the trade industry got into full swing and multiple people started selling the same thing, so did the need to stand out from the pack. 

Since the birth of the Internet and consumers’ transition to the online world, advertising has been categorised into two areas: 

• Traditional advertising, also known as offline advertising
• Digital advertising, also known as online advertising 

What is traditional advertising?

Traditional advertising involves TV, radio and print advertisements which typically target an audience directly such as an ad in a local newspaper or a news time commercial. Traditional advertising is generally more expensive than digital advertising, but it can provide a great return on investment (ROI) and is still popular with many businesses today. 

What is digital advertising?

Digital advertising is any type of advertisement which is displayed online or on a digital device, such as social media ads or pay per click advertising (PPC). Digital advertising tends to be cheaper and it’s much easier to measure the performance of ads.

How can advertising help small businesses?

Advertising helps small businesses in many ways, but the underlying point of all of these benefits is business growth. Whether it's attracting new customers, sales, brand awareness, advertising accelerates your customer base, size of the business and revenue. 

What are the different types of advertising?

There are many types of advertising that are used to promote small businesses. We’ve broken these down to keep things simple.

Traditional (offline) advertising methods

Some examples of traditional advertising methods include:

• Newspaper advertising
  Newspaper advertising is one of the oldest forms of advertising and it’s still relevant. You can either use display ads throughout the publication, or classified listings in a specific section.
• Magazine advertising
  Magazines and newsletters help you reach specific demographics with a common interest.
• Radio advertising
  Radio advertising is widespread and can be done locally, nationally or internationally to reach your target market. Nowadays, podcast advertising is picking up momentum as more people tune in to their favourite podcasts.
• Television advertising
  TV ads have incredible reach and versatility, although the costs can be high for small businesses.
• Directories
  Directory advertising covers publications like yellow pages or online listings, which can be a viable form of advertising for small businesses, especially locally.
• Direct advertising
  Direct advertising involves mail-outs, flyers and catalogues which can be distributed en masse or to specific customer lists or areas.
• Outdoor advertising
  Think billboards, signages and vehicle advertising. Outdoor ads range from cheap to pricey depending on how visible they are to passers-by.

Digital (online) advertising methods 

There are many types of digital advertising methods, including:

• Social media advertising 
  Social media ads are shown on social media platforms including Facebook, LinkedIn and Instagram and are targeted to audiences based on user demographics. You can target ads based on age, location, interests, job title and more.
• Mobile advertising 
  Mobile adverts appear on smartphones and tablets and can include SMS, website banner ads and app ads. People are glued to their phones nowadays, so it’s no surprise that many ads are aimed at mobile users.
• Search and display advertising 
  Search and display ads are shown in search engine results pages (SERPs) based on your keyword searches. This can also include retargeting and remarketing to people that have visited your website in the past. 

Although the field of advertising is vast and multi-faceted, all advertising methods are underpinned by three key objectives.

What are the objectives of advertising?

There are three key objectives of advertising to persuade consumers to purchase your good and services.

Objective #1: Inform

The inform phase is where you create awareness of your brand, products and services so that consumers know you exist. A seed is planted to let people know your business has a solution to peoples’ wants and needs.

Objective #2: Persuade

In the persuade phase, you convince your audience why your product or service offering is the best. It works at changing people’s perceptions and habits to influence the decision to try a new brand, switch to a brand they have trusted for some time or stay loyal to an existing brand.

Objective #3: Remind 

The remind phase is all about nurturing consumers to remind them why they need a product or service and what benefits they will gain once they purchase it again.

So that’s the objectives covered, but the question is… how do advertisers do it?

What are the most common advertising strategies and techniques?

Some of the most common advertising strategies and techniques include: 

• Emotional appeal
• Promotions and rewards
• Bandwagon advertising
• Facts and data 
• Unfinished ads 
• Weasel language 
• Endorsements
• Repetition 
• Personification

How to advertise your business 

If you're feeling inspired to create a new advertising campaign or want to explore new advertising channels, see our Q&A section below or get an answer from an advertising expert. 

You can also post a project, and we will introduce you to the best matching local advertising agency who can help.