A Complete Guide to the Different Types of Advertising

About 85% of consumers check online when searching for local businesses. With the right forms of business advertising, you can start reaching customers online. However, both traditional and digital marketing can help you maximize your reach.

Here are a few different types of advertising to consider for your business this year. Discovering different ways to advertise can help you generate brand awareness, traffic, and sales.

Read on to learn more about your various advertising options today.

Print Advertising

First, let’s consider a few traditional ways to advertise your business. Print advertising is one of the oldest forms of business advertising. You can advertise in newspapers, magazines, and other print mediums to generate brand awareness for your business.

Other forms of print advertising include promotional brochures, fliers, direct mailers, and catalogs.

However, how people design and consume print ads has changed over time. While print advertising is still effective, many businesses have moved over to digital advertising, too. Unlike digital advertising, it’s more difficult for businesses to track the results from their print advertising campaigns.

The inability to track and analyze the data from these campaigns can make it difficult for businesses to improve their campaigns over time. As a result, more businesses are incorporating print advertising into their larger digital marketing campaigns.

The price for each print ad can vary based on the publication, its readership, circulation, and ad size.

Billboards

As part of your print advertising campaign, you might want to consider advertising options like public transit ads and billboards, too.

Billboard advertising allows you to advertise on a larger scale. Billboards are different from other forms of print ads due to their:

  • Size
  • Design
  • Placement
  • Cost

For example, these ads usually display fewer words than a flier or brochure. People in cars or other forms of transport need to read these ads quickly. As a result, it’s more effective to use eye-catching, memorable imagery.

Radio and TV Ads

You can also use radio advertising and TV commercials to generate brand awareness.

TV commercials are developed to capture a TV or network program’s existing audience. Businesses have used TV ads since the invention of the TV. Even with streaming services, TV advertising is still an effective way to reach audiences.

Unlike other forms of advertising, TV ads allow you to develop a multi-sensory ad experience to capture and reel in customers. However, it’s sometimes difficult to use precise targeting through TV advertising.

Radio ads, on the other hand, refer to spoken advertising spots. These ads air between music programs or podcasts. You can create ads for both local and regional advertising.

Paid Search Advertising

As part of your search engine marketing (SEM) strategy, consider creating paid search ads. For example, you can use platforms like Google Ads to get started. Google Ads appear in both text and display formats on Google search engine result pages or websites on Google’s Search Network.

You can learn more about search engine advertising here.

Pay-per-click (PPC) ads are exactly as they sound. You’ll pay each time someone clicks on one of your ads. With PPC, you can generate brand awareness, website traffic, leads, and sales to boost your ROI.

In fact, 65% of consumers already click on PPC ads. PPC also generates twice as many website visitors as SEO. Meanwhile, paid advertisements can help you generate a 200% ROI.

Your eye-catching display ads can appear as videos, animations, or HTML-5 ads.

With PPC advertising, you can use precise targeting to ensure your ads appear in front of your ideal customers. For example, you can target consumers based on their location, age group, or gender. You can also create campaigns so ads appear based on the keywords consumers use during an online search.

This form of business advertising will ensure you reach ideal customers—people who already want and need your products or services. You could have an easier time converting website visitors into sales as a result.

However, it can take time and experience before you create effective Google Ads campaigns. Consider hiring an experienced PPC advertising agency to manage your campaigns for you. With their help, you can reach your ideal customers and generate more conversions.

Then, you can boost your ROI to help your business grow.

Social Media Advertising

You can also use PPC advertising on social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and LinkedIn. Each social media platform has its own version of PPC advertising. Your social media ads can blend in with organic content.

Then, consumers can discover your brand, view your account, or even shop straight from their favorite social media app.

Social media sites are now prioritizing ad space over organic content. You can appear in front of your ideal customers to generate brand awareness and sales. You can even start generating more followers.

Your ROI will improve as a result

Native Ads and Sponsored Content

Sponsored content refers to article or blog content that’s subsidized by a business. They’re able to coexist with surrounding content to blend into the nature design. As a result, you can avoid disrupting the consumer’s online experience and buyer’s journey.

You can use sponsored content to promote your business through content your target audience already reads and loves.

Banner and Display Ads

Display and banner ads are an extension of digital search ads. They follow a model similar to pay-per-click advertising. Instead of a text ad, the consumer will view a visual ad.

For example, a banner ad can appear in a horizontal box on top of a web page or within a blog post. A display ad, on the other hand, is smaller. They usually appear on the side of blog content.

You can use a combination of traditional billboard ads and online banner ads to reach ideal customers.

Start Using These Different Types of Advertising Today

Don’t miss your chance to start reaching more customers than ever before. Instead, consider these different types of advertising for your business. These forms of company advertising will help you generate brand awareness and sales.

Then, you can expand your business and start experiencing lasting growth.

Hunting for more tips? You’re in the right place.

Check out our latest guides for more useful advice.