What Is Advertising?

Types of traditional advertising

While digital advertising is becoming increasingly popular, traditional advertising isn't showing any signs of stopping. With the right budget and purpose in mind, traditional types of advertising can be just as effective as digital. Traditional advertising refers to delivering promotional messages through mass media.

Print

While the field of advertising has evolved, the goals have remained the same: to influence the opinions and buying decisions of consumers. Advertising through print media was once the dominant form of advertising. Today, it exists among the millions of digital advertisements and it's just as important.

Print advertising includes advertisements in

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  Newspapers and magazines
  
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  Brochures
  
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  Directories
  
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  Flyers and posters
  
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  Direct mail (postcards and letters)
  

Understanding your audience and your own business are crucial when making the decision regarding whether or not you'll be using print advertising. What age group are you advertising to? Is the message something we can all understand or is it local?



Source: Surfrider Foundation

Broadcast

Broadcast advertising is sharing promotional messages about your product or service via television or radio. This type of advertisement is a risky investment considering how easy it's been made for us to skip or change the channel completely.

Infomercials, network spots, national spot advertising, local spot advertising, and public service announcements are all forms of broadcast advertising. While broadcast is not the marketing tool that it once was, it has not reached a point of complete extinction, either.

For companies with a larger budget, buying a broadcast spot is an excellent way to build brand awareness and communicate their value to consumers. For businesses that can afford the high price tag associated with broadcast advertising, the potential attention it brings is a brand is a worthwhile investment. However, without a direct path to sales, broadcast is a tool for awareness, not a sales-driver.