When a marketing strategy is drafted for a specific brand, more often than not, one of the objectives will be increasing publicity/brand awareness. With this objective in mind, you will probably find advertising as one of the strategies listed for consideration.

Identifying advertising as one of the strategies that will help your brand achieve its marketing goals is just the first step towards making sure that the marketing campaign is successful. The next step is to define the brand’s target audience in detail. Finally, one needs to select an advertising channel/platform based on the audience and their preferences and the set campaign objectives.

So, what are advertising channels? According to https://www.smartcapitalmind.com/, an advertising channel is  any outlet used by a company to advertise their products and services or alert the public to some sort of promotion. In this article we take a look at a couple of advertising channels commonly exploited by brands with the aim of meeting set marketing objectives.

The first channel that is increasingly becoming popular because of its effectiveness is Social Media. Currently, there are quite a number of Social Media platforms and each are uniquely appropriate for meeting different marketing goals. These platforms attract very different audiences who have varying needs and desires with regards to consumption of content on Social Media. Social Media advertising offers brands an opportunity to build communities and increase awareness and loyalty on their products and services. This allows brands to grow revenue wise and increase in popularity among their target audience.

Outdoor Advertising also known as Out of Home advertising is yet another platform that has increased in popularity due to how effective it is in marketing campaigns. This is a type of advertising that reaches audiences out of their homes. The most common forms of outdoor advertising include billboards, street poles, mall branding, banners, transit media and digital screens. Outdoor advertising offers brands increased reach and maximum results resulting to high return on investment compared to other forms of advertising.

One of the most popular forms of advertising involved placing adverts on traditional media. For the longest time, the first line of advertising that brands considered for maximum exposure was television, radio and print media (newspapers, magazines, brochures, newsletters). Advertisers negotiate to place adverts during segments considered to be prime. These segments usually have high viewership and listenership (TV and Radio) numbers or the first few pages of print media. The diversification of advertising channels with higher effectiveness and lower costs has significantly reduced the popularity of this type of advertising.

One final type of advertising that is less popular, hugely ignored yet very effective in closing sales is the use of websites. Research has proven that one out of four people who see an outdoor advert in particular, will quickly search for the brand’s website and it is at this point that a purchase decision is made. Websites contain a wealth of information that audiences find to be very valuable especially in the purchase process. Organizations that have seen the benefit of having a well done website have hit a gold mine in terms of increased awareness and increased revenue. Some have even gone as far as commercializing their websites by hosting content from other brands at a fee.

In conclusion, the advertising sector is constantly evolving with more effective and innovative channels being developed every other day. It is important for brands to be constantly on the lookout and up to speed with the evolving trends in the sector; and to take advantage of these for business growth.

Never stop testing and your advertising will never stop improving.

  • David Ogilvy