The terms advertising and marketing are often used interchangeably, but they are actually two different concepts.

Marketing refers to the broader process of promoting and selling a product or service. It includes activities like market research, product development, branding, pricing, distribution, and customer service. Marketing is concerned with creating and delivering value to customers and satisfying their needs and wants.

Advertising, on the other hand, is a specific type of marketing activity that involves promoting a product or service through paid messages in various media, such as television, radio, print, online, and outdoor advertising. Advertising is focused on creating and disseminating messages that will persuade potential customers to take a specific action, such as make a purchase.

In short, marketing is the overarching strategy that a business uses to promote and sell its products or services, while advertising is a specific tactic that a business can use as part of its marketing strategy.

 

Why is advertising important for a business?

Advertising is important for a business because it can help to inform potential customers about the business's products or services and convince them to make a purchase. Advertising is a key component of a business's marketing strategy, and it can help to build brand awareness, improve customer engagement, and drive website traffic and sales.

Advertising allows a business to reach a wide audience and target specific demographics. For example, a business can use broadcast radio to target a specific demographics in a specific geographic location. Radio stations have formats they present for listeners that form specific audiences. For instance Rewind 99.1 is a classic rock station. Songs are played from the 70's up through the 90's. The audience for classic rock are men ages 45-64 with a secondary audience of men ages 18-35 who are returning to the 'nostalgia' of the classics.

Another example is social media advertising to reach customers in a specific age range or location. Both broadcast radio and digital advertising can help to increase the effectiveness of the business's marketing efforts.

Advertising can also help to build trust and credibility with potential customers. By consistently promoting a business and its products or services, a business can establish itself as a reputable and trustworthy provider. This can help to convince potential customers to choose the business over its competitors.

In short, advertising is essential for a business to succeed in today's competitive market. It helps to inform potential customers, build brand awareness, and drive website traffic and sales. Without a strong advertising strategy, a business may struggle to attract and retain customers.

 

What are the most important advertising platforms to consider?

This is a loaded question. Your business type, geographic location, and target audience are all considerations for defining the 'most important' advertising platforms for your business.

Some of the most common types of advertising include:

1. Broadcast Radio and television advertising: This type of advertising involves placing ads on radio stations with specific formats and in specific television programs. Television and radio advertising is a powerful way to reach a large audience, but television in particular can be expensive. Radio remains one of the most cost effective platforms, but in larger markets can become costly to be effective (many stations means too much noise for smaller/shorter campaigns to have effectiveness). Both mediums have also seen streaming cut into their audiences but radio remains resilient with more than 85% of Americans listening every week. As of 2022, broadcast television reaches less people than streaming video (OTT/CTV) does.

2. Paid search advertising: This type of advertising involves placing ads on search engine results pages (SERPs) based on specific keywords that users search for. Paid search advertising can be an effective way to reach potential customers who are actively looking for products or services like those offered by the business. It is very effective at catching potential customers late in the sales cycle, but without a strong brand awareness can struggle to translate into real sales.

3. Social media advertising: This type of advertising involves placing ads on social media platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Social media advertising can be a powerful tool for reaching specific demographics and interests and engaging with potential customers, but many social media campaigns struggle to connect 'engagements' with actual sales.

4. Display advertising: This type of advertising involves placing ads on websites and other online platforms such as apps and games. Display advertising can be an effective way to reach a wide audience and drive website traffic and sales, but it is today's most popular form of advertising making a businesses attempts to 'cut through the clutter' difficult.

5. Print advertising: This type of advertising involves placing ads in newspapers, magazines, and other printed materials. Print advertising can be a effective way to reach a specific audience, but it can be limited by the reach of the publication. The cost of print advertising has risen in recent years despite it's circulation falling.

6. Outdoor advertising: (also known as out-of-home (OOH) advertising) this type of advertising reaches consumers when they are outside of their homes. Outdoor advertising includes a wide range of formats, such as billboards, street furniture, transit ads, and other forms of "ambient" advertising. OOH is a great complement to other forms of advertising such as broadcast radio, digital advertising, and video/TV.

Again, the most important types of advertising to your business will depend on the specific goals and objectives of your business, your target audience, geographic area, and more.

 

For more information on best practices and applications of the different types of advertising, contact JT Scarpelli at Big Rapids Media: scarp@bigrapidsmedia.com