10 Best Types of Advertising | Promote Business Online and Offline

Over the years, the types of advertising have become more numerous and sophisticated. In addition to the usual advertising methods such as flyers, newspaper ads, and television commercials, modern advertising methods such as social media marketing and performance marketing on social networks or Google have established themselves precisely through the Internet. In this blog entry, you will find out what distinguishes the individual types of advertising, which ones you should rely on, and whether classic advertising can still keep up.

Types of advertising – Classic types of advertising

There are many different variants of the classic types of advertising. There is something for every budget in every industry, and with clever planning, your campaign will succeed.

Television commercials

Since the triumph of television and especially since the expansion to include private broadcasters, the (frequently) annoying commercial breaks have become indispensable. Then as now, television is a mass medium and is particularly suitable for reaching as many people as possible. That's why you rarely see niche products on TV, but rather those relevant to as many people as possible (vacuum cleaners, vacation trips, cornflakes, etc.).

So if you have a product you want to reach the widest possible audience, then television advertising is for you. A major disadvantage of commercials on television, however, is the enormously high costs. It is usually less worthwhile for smaller companies.

Radio

Radio advertising is used similarly to TV advertising, but with important differences. In general, it also applies here that radio is a mass medium, and you can address a broad target group. The costs are lower than on TV, but there is no visual channel to reach the listener. Regarding radio, it's important to focus on repetition and entertainment. True to the motto "catchy - stays in the head," the connection to a product can be increased and repeatedly recalled to the listener's mind. Another important point is the locality of the radio. Many stations do not broadcast throughout Germany but in a certain area.

Radio advertising is perfect for you if you have a product that targets a broad audience. Also, your product should be easy to understand. Your radio campaign is fine if you combine these points with a pleasant, memorable advertising message that doesn't get annoying despite the repetition.

Outdoor advertising – posters, shop windows, printed vehicles, etc.

Outdoor advertising generally refers to all types of advertising in public spaces. This can be, for example, printed/painted vehicles, poster advertising, advertising pillars, or even neon signs. Not only some types are equally worthwhile for some companies.

Although the attractiveness of outdoor advertising decreases due to a large number of alternatives, it still has a good return on investment in the long term. Permanent advertising measures such as car paint can pay off in the long term. Once painted, the advertisement will remain for a long time.

Outdoor advertising is interesting for your company if it has a high local reference. Outdoor advertising can also be used as a guerrilla marketing tactic and draws the attention of passers-by to your company.

Print advertising – newspapers, magazines, etc.

Advertising in magazines or newspapers is also slowly being used less and less. This type of advertising can't keep up that well anymore. Advertising in newspapers is too easy to ignore, and due to the (mostly) fixed formats, it isn't easy to stand out. In contrast to TV and radio, however, it is relatively inexpensive. It is of interest to your company. Such advertising can be particularly worthwhile for small, local companies. Craftsmen, flower shops, and other shops can draw attention to themselves in this way.

Types of Advertising – Online Advertising

Online advertising offers the advantage that it is usually easier to measure than traditional advertising. It can be determined exactly from which source a customer came, and the success can be attributed to one measure (performance marketing). Similar to advertising on TV, advertising on the Internet has become indispensable. Here it is even the case that the most successful companies are only financed through advertising, and the end user is thus provided with a free service.

Social Media Ads (Facebook, Instagram, etc.)

How do Facebook, Instagram, and YouTube make money? Correct! They sell advertising space. Most social networks are free for end users to use. In return, however, these networks use your data to display the appropriate advertising. For companies, this data collection has a great advantage in that you can target exactly who should see the advertising - "Please only show this advertising to people who are interested in cat food and who are between 25 and 35 years old." That sounds good now may be strange, but that is exactly what is possible.

Another advantage for companies is the accurate measurement of results. With classic types of advertising, it isn't easy to trace which customers came through the advertising measures. With social media ads (and SEA and banner ads), I can later determine which customers came through the ads.

Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Search engine optimization(SEO) is related to SEA, like social media marketing is related to social media advertisements. Optimizing your website allows search engines to show your page first. The best part is that your investment pays off in the long run. Once you invest in SEO, the results often last a long time.

SEO is suitable for most of all businesses nowadays. Whether it is a service or a product, search engine optimization provides you with a sustained and constant flow of visitors. For these visitors to become customers, your website must be structured accordingly. I will show you exactly how in the blog article "What does a good website need?".

Only companies with very innovative products should focus on something other than SEO. The search volume here should be higher to make an effort worthwhile.

Search Engine Advertisement (SEA)

SEA is essentially paid SEO. You pay the search engine to show you the first results. One of the biggest platforms for this is Google Ads. This is mainly because Google is the largest search engine, but other search engines also offer you this option, such as Bing. The following image may look familiar to you. The first results on Google often look something like this. Note the small "Ad" notice above the title, which marks the search result as an advertisement.

In addition to the obvious SEA options, there are others, such as Amazon and eBay. You can also have your products displayed higher up in the results for a fee. Of course, this type of advertising is only suitable for companies if they sell products and not services.

If you want to dig deeper into Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Advertising (SEA), I recommend my post on Search Engine Marketing (SEM), where you will learn all the details.

Types of advertising – banner ads

Banners are the ads you see on other websites. Large platforms mostly provide these. To do this, the website operator registers with the platform and can display advertising on his site. On the other hand, companies sign up to advertise. The platform in the middle then only conveys the advertisements.

This principle is one of the oldest in online marketing but remains popular. The only problem is that we need to be trained to ignore such ads. It is an interesting learning curve that has taken place. This type of advertising used to work very well - today, it is less attractive.

I recommend other types of advertising as a first contact. However, banner ads can be a good addition to the customer's radar.

Types of Advertising – Social Media Marketing

Social media marketing is one of the very modern types of advertising and only emerged with the big social networks like Facebook and Instagram. The difference to social media ads is that there is no payment for placement on the networks. You simply create an account on a platform and start feeding your target group with content. Nowadays, many companies already use this possibility for themselves.

This type of advertising is very suitable for you if you have a product that needs to be explained. However, social media marketing can also be interesting for building trust in the target group. Furthermore, it is suitable for viral products that trigger a real movement. The roofer next door will usually benefit less.

Types of advertising – influencer marketing

Influencer marketing is like social media marketing if you want it to go fast. You do not build up your followers here but buy from people you already know. The approach is similar to paid advertising but with a subtle difference. Influencers already enjoy a lot of trust from your target group. In this way, it is much easier to sell something to your customers because the influencer holds for you and works for your company with his name.

The downside compared to paid ads, however, is that you can't scale them as well. You have to choose the influencers and are limited by their reach. Especially at the beginning of an advertising campaign, influencer marketing is perfect for building awareness.

Types of Advertising – Is Classic Advertising Dead?

The answer is: yes. You were probably hoping for a clearer answer, but I can't give you that. The fact is: Many classic types of advertising continue to deliver good results. But the truth is, the Internet offers many enticing new types of advertising that are worth trying out.

Let me explain a little more: In the past, the success of advertising was difficult to measure. You needed a lot of budgets to start. The target group took a lot of work to reach. In all of these areas, new types of advertising can help. Performance marketing lets you see exactly where customers are coming from. Furthermore, you can start with a small budget.

Due to this change in the market, the old top dogs can no longer rest on their laurels. More types of advertising, therefore, mean better prices and more opportunities. You have to find the right kind for your business.