What is Advertising? 

Advertising is defined as the marketing communication to create awareness about the product or service to ultimately influence the customer to reach to the purchase decision. It is primarily a promotion tool of the business to market anything and everything under the roof.

There are several facets of advertising which can be broken down much further. Advertising is always present around us; we may not be aware of it. It is an effective process to reach or build brand awareness of a product/brand/idea/service . Organic advertising is done through the word of mouth publicity. Paid advertising is done using various mediums. 

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What are the Forms of Advertising?

Advertising is undertaken in various forms such as TV commercials, product placement, newspaper/ magazine ads, billboards, internet/ online, radio ads, wall murals ads, posters, even people in the form of endorsement and much more. It aims to inform the target audience about the business or event that is being promoted with an intention to create awareness among broader audiences. 

Mostly seen in the advertising, the product USP's are highlighted in subtle ways, so that people get the idea about what the product will be when they use it. There must be tons of shoe brands in the market which come under the same product category and usage. It makes a difference in the minds of the audience in the way marketers promote the product USP. 

Many times, we have experienced marketers using emotional aspects while advertising, maybe a social angle or breaking stereotypes or health aspects, or even a festive feel. During the Christmas holidays, we see the same products being advertised differently to make it more attractive in terms of appeal and usage.

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What are the Key Ways to Effectively Advertise? 

There are various ways and methods to advertise effectively. A stand-alone ad can also achieve the same results as a big-budget campaign if it's done effectively.

These days with the rise of social and digital media, we often see a video or a piece of information about a service or a product or even an idea which gets 'Viral', meaning it creates sensation and organically reaches to the masses without putting a lot of money on it. Along with them, digital and mobile advertising has also received significance in recent times. 

Below are some of the standard methods of advertising: 

• Outdoor Advertisements: This form of advertising is done to promote products or services in the exact geographical area. Billboards, bus shelters, pole kiosks, and gantries advertisements have been very powerful for the small-business owners. Even small location signage is also considered an ad, as it talks about your business and where it is located. 

These advertisements are location-centric and target a specific audience. A billboard at the traffic signal will target people travelling from that particular road every day. A standee placed at a famous cake shop promoting another business will target the customers visiting the cake shop or locals walking from the sidewalk. 

• Print Media Advertisements: This strategy is typically used in a physically printed form of ads. Newspaper and magazine ads target the audience, which are the readers of that particular publication.

Marketers have a wide range of options, such as local/regional or national publications. They could be daily, weekly, weekend or special editions. While, newspapers target distinct readership from age group to gender to ideologies; each newspaper has a different readership and marketers analyse the data and target the specific audience.

There are also various dedicated sections in the newspaper capturing varied interests of the readers. Some people only buy a newspaper to glance through daily news, while others to read the editorial page. Advertisers publish the ads on the specific pages depending on their target audience and budget. A front-page ad is way more expensive than an ad printed somewhere in the middle pages. A full-page ad will cost differently than a small size or half-page ad.

Magazines offer advertisements to a broad target audience as well as a niche target audience. There are only fashion magazines, and you will not see a sports equipment ad in it, but you will see a sportswear brand ad in it. A business magazine will have ads from various businesses. 

Another way to advertise in the print medium is publishing paid content in the form of an article. It is also a fruitful way to promote your product or services subtly. A reader gets to read not only about the product but also about the company and the people behind it. 

• Other Traditional Media Advertisements: It incorporates many strategies of advertising and marketing. Print, radio, television and outdoor are traditional advertising media forms which have been long successful in achieving the purpose. 

Though print media is the oldest form of marketing, advertisers wonder how many more years it has left to survive as print mediums are slowly dying with a sharp rise in electronic and digital media.

• Digital Advertisements: The rise of digital and social media has created a huge platform for advertisers. Many marketers have reduced the spending on traditional advertising and opting for online marketing. It is turning out to be less expensive and equally or more effective in some cases.

The world has moved online and especially in the times of the current health crisis, marketers have shifted their focus on digital and social media marketing to target the audience sitting at home spending time on digital devices. Ad, content marketing, influencer marketing are some of the latest trends in the digital space. 

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What is the Purpose of Advertising?

• Advertising’s sole purpose is to sell - a product, a service or even an idea.
• Advertising creates awareness but also helps to convey the motive of the product. 
• Most importantly, effective marketing through advertising creates brand loyalty in the long run. 
• With adequate advertising strategies, marketers create an impression in the minds of the target audience.
• Effective advertising promotes sales, and drives return on advertising.
• Successful advertising eventually gives the confidence to the business for product diversification or geographic expansion.
• When we see an ad and if it relates to us, we eventually buy the product or services. The purpose of advertising is achieved then.
• If the audience needs energy, there is Redbull, if they want to eat burgers, there are Hungry Jacks if they wish to utilize low-cost airlines there is Jetstar. There is a product promoted for every need of human beings.

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