Alexis Kestler
Hey there! As a fellow marketing geek, I know how confusing and overwhelming it can feel trying to navigate the constantly evolving world of advertising. With new formats and technologies emerging every year, it‘s hard to keep up.
In this comprehensive guide, I‘ll break down 14 of the most important advertising mediums and methods that every modern marketer should understand. My goal is to help you become an advertising expert so you can develop fully-informed strategies with total confidence.
What Exactly is Advertising?
Before we dive into the types, let‘s quickly level-set on what advertising actually is.
At its core, advertising is paid messaging that communicates your brand, product, service, or cause to an audience for marketing purposes. Businesses use advertising to achieve objectives like:
- Increasing awareness and visibility
- Educating and informing
- Shifting perceptions
- Driving website traffic
- Generating leads and sales
Unlike organic content, you have full control over the placement and messaging with advertising. It allows you to reach new consumers en masse to drive business results.
While specific goals vary, all advertising utilizes media channels to distribute visual, textual, and audio content to influence its audience. Where, when, and how you advertise largely depends on what you need to accomplish.
How Advertising Fits Into Your Marketing Strategy
Advertising is just one powerful weapon in your marketing arsenal. It‘s important not to confuse it with marketing itself.
Marketing refers to all the strategies and tactics used to promote your business overall. It encompasses everything from product development to pricing, distribution, market research, PR, social media, and of course, advertising.
Advertising specifically focuses on paid media placements to get your brand and offers in front of prospects. Other marketing disciplines like search, content, and social can help you reach audiences organically.
To maximize results, effective marketing strategies utilize both paid advertising and organic channels in harmony. Together, they expand your reach while reinforcing messaging across touchpoints.
So in summary:
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Marketing is the strategic planning for the entire business across multiple areas.
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Advertising is the tactical execution of campaigns specifically within paid media channels.
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Great marketing strategies integrate advertising and organic efforts seamlessly.
Now that we‘ve established advertising‘s place in the grand scheme, let‘s explore some of the top mediums and formats.
Traditional Advertising Methods
Even with the rise of digital, traditional formats still play an important role for businesses large and small. Here are some of the most utilized:
Print Advertising
This refers to any print-based paid advertising in magazines, newspapers, directories, brochures, and more.
Pros:
- Broad reach, especially with major publications
- Targeting by geography and demographics
- High credibility and engagement
Cons:
- Declining readership for newspapers
- Limited audience data and measurability
Use Case: Branding and awareness campaigns, localized targeting
In 2021, the U.S. print advertising market was valued at $31 billion dollars. So despite digital disruption, print remains a significant channel.
Direct Mail Marketing
Direct mail leverages the postal service to send brochures, catalogs, postcards and sales letters to specific mailing lists.
Pros:
- Extremely targeted based on demographics, interests, etc.
- Personalized messages and offers
- Drives calls-to-action and conversions
Cons:
- Volatile postal delivery system
- Considered "junk" by many consumers
Use Case: Hyper-targeted, localized lead generation
Around 44% of direct mail gets opened, so it can be a cost-effective driver of leads and sales.
Broadcast Advertising
Broadcast refers to TV, radio, and streaming commercials. This is what people typically think of when you say "advertising."
Pros:
- Broad reach, especially for major networks
- Dynamic sight, sound, and motion
- Drives brand familiarity through repetition
Cons:
- Very expensive production and airtime
- Fleeting exposure easily ignored
- Limited audience targeting options
Use Case: Building brand awareness with mass audiences
TV advertising spend was over $70 billion in 2021 in the U.S. alone, so it remains a major channel.
Out-of-Home Advertising
Out-of-home (OOH) includes billboards, transit advertising, posters, and digital signage in public spaces.
Pros:
- Flexible formats from posters to giant digital billboards
- Captures audiences "on the go"
- Drives brand awareness where people congregate
Cons:
- Creative constraints from short view time
- Difficult to track direct response
Use Case: Reaching consumers outside the home; effective for local businesses
The global OOH market is forecast to grow to ~$33 billion by 2024 as digital displays enhance flexibility.
Product Placement
Product placement subtly integrates branded products or messaging into entertainment like TV, movies, video games, music videos, and more.
Pros:
- Increased brand awareness and association with content
- Viewers engaged with organic, natural integrations
- Cost-effective compared to writing custom scripts
Cons:
- Little control over specific placement and presentation
- Risk of improper use damaging brand image
- Difficult to quantify impact and value
Use Case: Building brand familiarity; especially effective for consumer product companies
When done appropriately, product placement significantly boosts brand recall. Around 1 in 4 TV shows feature product placement today.
Now that we‘ve covered the traditional landscape, let‘s explore some of today‘s popular digital advertising formats.
Digital Advertising Methods
Digital channels provide advanced targeting and measurement capabilities to advertisers. Here are some of the most common:
Paid Search Ads
Search ads appear alongside organic results when you search keywords on Google, Bing, YouTube, and other search engines.
Pros:
- Reaches users already searching for your keywords
- Pay-per-click (PPC) optimized spending
- Top placements get high visibility
Cons:
- Rising competition makes keywords expensive
- Optimizing and testing ads takes expertise
Use Case: Laser-targeted demand generation; crucial for ecommerce
Search ads generate over 40% of clicks for the average website.
Social Media Advertising
Social platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn let you buy ads targeted to specific demographics, interests, and more.
Pros:
- Precisely target users with advanced data
- Massive reach on popular platforms
- Interactive and engaging creative formats
Cons:
- Algorithm changes impact reach and performance
- Audience fatigue from overload
Use Case: Brand awareness and video views; demand generation; retargeting
Social ad spend surpassed $135 billion globally in 2021 and continues rapid growth.
Native Advertising
Native ads match the natural form and function of the media format where they appear. Examples include sponsored content, influencer marketing, and brand stories.
Pros:
- Less intrusive, "feels" less like an ad
- Contextual placements drive engagement
- Brand safety being integrated into content
Cons:
- Relies on opacity and user not recognizing as paid
- Difficult to scale broadly
- Requires skill creating quality content
Use Case: Highly engaging demand generation; advanced branding
Native ads generate over 60% higher click-through rates compared to banner ads.
Video Advertising
Video ads play before, during, or after streaming video, audio, and game content on sites like YouTube, Spotify, Twitch, Pandora, and more.
Pros:
- Dynamic sight, sound, and motion
- Popular streaming hubs offer broad reach
- Skippable formats reduce annoyance
Cons:
- Production costs for quality video
- Audience irritation over interruptions
- Viewability challenges on certain platforms
Use Case: Branding and video-focused product demonstrations
Youtube alone draws over 2 billion monthly viewers, making it a massive platform for video ads.
Display & Programmatic Advertising
Display advertising places visual ads on websites through programmatic ad exchanges which target users based on data and browsing behavior.
Pros:
- Broad reach through ad exchange networks
- Automatic optimization through algorithms
- Advanced targeting and remarketing capabilities
Cons:
- Banner blindness causes low click rates
- Complex technologies require expertise
Use Case: Blanketing target audiences for mass reach; retargeting site visitors
Programmatic ads are projected to make up 86% of total display spend by 2022.
Retargeting Ads
Retargeting drops cookies on site visitors then shows ads to users across sites and devices later to drive them back.
Pros:
- Targets previous visitors with proven interest
- Persistent reminders convert abandons
- Optimizes spend on most likely buyers
Cons:
- Can feel invasive and annoy consumers
- Reliance on unstable cookies and IDs
Use Case: Bringing back and converting lost prospects
Retargeted prospects convert 70% more than new prospects.
As you can see, today‘s marketers have an incredibly diverse array of digital advertising formats at their disposal.
Based on your specific branding and performance goals, you can laser target audiences in personalized, data-driven ways that were never before possible.
The key is picking the right channels and approaches to reach your customers.
Developing an Effective Advertising Strategy
Hopefully this overview gives you a sense of the expansive advertising ecosystem available to marketers today.
With so many options to navigate, the key is developing a cohesive strategy that optimizes your budget and channels for maximum impact.
Here are a few best practices that I‘ve found helpful:
Set Concrete Goals & KPIs
Get very clear on what success looks like. Do you want to increase brand awareness? Site traffic? Conversions? Be as specific as possible.
Define quantifiable KPIs so you can accurately track performance and optimize efforts.
Research Your Audience(s)
Analyze who you need to reach and how they consume information. Create detailed buyer persona profiles.
Look into audience research tools to uncover demographics, interests, behaviors, and values.
Prioritize Channels & Formats
Map the formats that best align with your goals and audience.
Prioritize options that make the most long-term strategic sense. While trendy new social apps come and go, search remains a constant.
Allocate Budget Intelligently
Divide budget across the high-potential options you identified, keeping lifetime campaign value in mind.
Continually optimize spend based on performance. Pause lower-performing placements and double down on what works.
Integrate Holistically
Sync messaging across channels to reinforce positioning consistently.
Make assets modular and reusable. Connect insights between efforts to inform optimizations.
Track Everything
Implement robust analytics across all aspects. Continuously gather learnings to enhance targeting and creative.
Analyze performance by channel, asset, audience, and more to determine ROI.
Following these steps will help you maximize advertising effectiveness and become a marketing rockstar!
Why Advertising is Critical for Business Growth
With so many options to consider, you may wonder if advertising is really necessary for your business.
In my experience, it unquestionably provides a massive competitive advantage:
Multiplies Reach
Paid advertising expands your audience exponentially compared to organic only. You can move the needle in months versus years.
Increases Awareness
Strategic placements rapidly build brand familiarity and visibility.
Gets You Noticed
Cut through the clutter by putting your brand in front of people at key moments.
Drives Conversions
Dynamic creative and messaging motivates desired actions.
Accelerates Growth
Efficient advertising provides one of the highest ROIs across all marketing activities.
Builds Authority
A strong advertising presence communicates you‘re an established industry leader.
When aligned to your business strategy, advertising has the power to transform brands and companies.
Approached strategically, it‘s an investment well worth making.
Key Advertising Takeaways
We‘ve covered a ton of ground today. To summarize:
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Advertising utilizes paid media placements to achieve marketing objectives by connecting brands with target audiences.
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Traditional formats like print and broadcast maintain effectiveness especially for branding.
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Digital channels allow precise audience targeting and optimization through data and analytics.
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An effective strategy defines clear goals, allocates budget to high-potential placements, and continually optimizes efforts.
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When coordinated holistically, advertising accelerates reach, awareness, and growth.
Navigating the sprawling world of advertising is no easy task. But I hope this overview provides a solid foundation to build from.
Feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat advertising nerd talk!
