Advertising online and in person both have their own advantages and disadvantages and it can be hard to know which option is the best for your company. This is especially true for new businesses, those with a small operating budget, and those with both online and in-person sales. Many companies prefer to stick to one or the other option, while others will use both online and traditional advertising to target different people. Here are some of the key points to consider:
Advantages of Advertising Online
There are many advantages of advertising online either alongside, or instead of, advertising locally in newspapers, billboards, and on the radio. One of the biggest advantages is the potential to reach a large audience. This is particularly true for social media platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn, which have millions of users worldwide. In addition to reaching more people globally, many advertisers find that they also reach more members of their local communities when advertising online. Some demographics, such as younger generations and professionals are especially likely to be exposed to online advertising.
In addition to having a greater reach, online advertising can be more cost-effective than traditional advertising methods like print, radio, or TV ads. This is because online ads can be targeted more precisely to the people most likely to become customers. For example, google ads for attorneys can be targeted to the demographic most likely to need and be able to afford legal representation. Also, the costs of producing and distributing online advertisements are generally lower than print or broadcast advertising because the end product is strictly digital.
Another advantage of online advertising is the ability to track and measure results in real time, allowing advertisers to optimize their campaigns and get insights into the effectiveness of their advertising efforts. It is much easier to evaluate data from online advertising than it is from traditional advertising, and that makes it easier to focus time and money on the most effective campaigns and platforms.
Finally, online advertising allows for greater flexibility in terms of creative content, targeting options, and ad formats, which can help to maximize engagement and conversions. The ability to communicate with customers directly on social media posts and ads, adjust ad type, and delete negative comments are just some of the reasons that advertisers may prefer the flexibility of online advertising.
Disadvantages of Advertising Online
One of the disadvantages of advertising online is the availability of ad-blockers, which can keep people from seeing your ads at all. Online advertising is also vulnerable to fraudulent activity, such as click fraud and bot traffic, which can skew the performance metrics of an ad campaign and make it hard to know what is going on with your advertising campaign.
Another disadvantage of online advertising, especially in some localities and markets, is the fact that the online advertising space is becoming increasingly crowded, making it harder for advertisers to stand out from the competition. Unless marketers are especially creative and talented and have a good understanding of marketing and their clients, they may find it hard to get their ads noticed. If they cannot get noticed, their ads may not grab users’ attention, and they may be skipped or ignored altogether.
Advantages of Traditional Advertising
There are several advantages of traditional advertising methods, especially for local or regional businesses. Traditional advertising can reach a large local audience, particularly in the case of television, radio, and print ads that have high circulation or viewership. Depending on the age, profession, and lifestyle of your customers, you may have much better success with traditional advertising. For example, if your customers are older or you are advertising a local service you might find that local traditional advertising methods work better.
Traditional advertising has been around for a long time, and consumers are familiar with its formats and messages. People are likely to trust companies advertising in local newspapers or on the radio, especially if they use consistent, recognizable brand imaging. Customers automatically recognize these advertisements as being from “one of us”, especially in small towns.
Traditional advertising can lend credibility to a brand or product, particularly if it is associated with established media outlets or print publications. Advertisements in well-established newspapers and magazines are sometimes viewed as more longstanding than those seen online. The same is true of advertisements on well-known television channels.
Disadvantages of Traditional Advertising
Of course, there are also disadvantages of traditional advertising, one of the greatest being cost. Traditional advertising can be very expensive, particularly for television and radio ads that require airtime and production costs. Creating, producing, and running these ad campaigns can be very expensive, especially if you want them to be played during prime time.
In addition to being more expensive, traditional advertising can be less precise in terms of targeting compared to online advertising, which allows for more granular audience segmentation. With conventional advertising, such as billboards, newspapers, and radio, you have very little control over who sees and hears your ads, other than choosing the channel or publication they will appear in.
Traditional advertising can also be difficult to track and measure compared with online advertising, making it harder to optimize campaigns or gauge effectiveness. If you have several ad campaigns running at once, it will be almost impossible to tell if your customers are responding to certain ads. Of course, you can run surveys or ask where they heard about you, but in general, these methods are hit-and-miss and customers don’t really enjoy being questioned.
Traditional media consumption, such as TV and print, is declining, and younger audiences are increasingly turning to digital media for their content consumption. For this reason, if you are targeting specific audiences that are less likely to respond to, or even see traditional advertising, you may not receive a good return for your advertising efforts.
Conclusion
Choosing between online and traditional advertising is not an easy choice and many factors must be weighed before a conclusion is reached. For many businesses, a combination of the two will be the best approach, while other companies will find that they get the best results from using one or the other method alone. Your target audience, their needs, and the availability of local traditional advertising will have to be considered, as well as your budget and whether or not you have a dedicated advertising staff available to help create content. For many companies, hiring a marketing company will be the best approach and the most efficient advertising solution.