Offline Advertising Methods

By Julian Webster

The pros and cons of offline advertising options vary - here is a summary of 4 of them:

NEWSPAPER

Pros:

• Fast - you can have your ad booked and printed within a day
• Reach large numbers of people, but you can also advertise in local papers to target a specific region.
• You can attach coupons and order forms to your ad
• You can reference your contact information
• You can advertise in the classified section
• Reasonably cheap compared to other media.

Cons:

• Tend to attract an adult readership, so no good if you wish to target children or teenagers
• Not a very targeted audience
• Your ad will appear only once in a daily publication
• You will be competing with a lot of other clutter on the page
• Large space is expensive.

Summary: Good if you have a product which is broadly appealing and immediately available, but not so much if your offering is related to a special interest or group.

RADIO

Pros:

• Fast turnaround and can reach both national and local audiences
• Ads can be repeated endlessly during 24 hour period
• Specific channels attract specific audiences so you can target people more likely to be interested in your product
• You can reach people who don't read much.

Cons:

• You must first write, record and produce your ad, so it's a little more labor-intensive
• People tend to switch on the radio for the music, and only "half-listen" to ads, so you have to play your ad more times to get the message heard - this translates into buying more radio slots.
• Once it's finished playing, it's gone. This means it's not so good if you require people to remember specific information, such as a phone number or address. If you do, make sure your message is super simple to remember.

TELEVISION

Pros:

• You can use visual, aural and written aids to communicate your message - giving you the best opportunity to connect to the largest number of people.
• You can target audiences by purchasing slots inside channels and alongside programs your market would enjoy
• Offers both national and local reach
• Ads can be repeated endlessly
• Lots of people watch television, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Cons:

• Expensive production cost (script, filming, actors, production design, etc)
• Production time can be long (2-4 months)
• Good ad slots (e.g. prime time) are highly coveted and therefore expensive
• People can mute or fast-forward through ad breaks now, so your audience is not necessarily guaranteed.

Summary: While the potential effectiveness of a television advertisement is high, you need a bit of money behind you to produce a commercial - even the "cheap ones" can cost thousands. If you're considering television, consider creating one that you can reuse, rather than for a single promotion, to get the most out of your investment.

MAGAZINES

Pros:

• You can attach coupons and order forms to your ad
• You can reference your contact information
• You can target specific interest groups through specific publications
• Magazines are considered a leisure activity, attracting people looking for a positive experience. This put readers in a good frame of mind through which to view your ad
• Magazines are purchased for personal use and are more expensive than newspapers, this makes the reader more likely to invest time and energy consuming all its features
• If the magazine is weekly or monthly, you have a longer run during which to appeal to your audience.

Cons:

• Production time is lengthy - sometimes up to 3-4 months before your ad appears
• Higher production quality means the ads are more expensive to print.
  

Julian "Jules" Webster is a staff writer for Simpleology, which has provided a more detailed report on the subject available here at no charge: http://www.simpleology.com/courses/advertisingoptions