Radio and print media no longer reach as many people as they used to. Yet the costs associated with them are still very high when compared to the reach that is possible with online advertising. A study carried out in 2012 by PEW Research centre shows that since the year 2000, the amount of people who read newspapers has halved. They also found that the number of people listening to the radio has fallen from 54% to 33% in a similar time frame. On the other hand online advertising is in a stronger position than ever. The purpose of this article is to show you why you should advertise online instead of newspaper & radio advertising. Here are just some of the many advantages:
1: Targeting & Segmentation
Online advertising has a huge advantage over radio and newspaper when it comes to targeting specific markets. Radio and newspaper allow you to advertise broadly to potential customers in a very impersonal way. However with online advertising you can choose your exact target market, showing them ads that are specifically designed for them. This means you have the ability to target only the customers that you want to target as well as targeting multiple different consumer segments easily.
2: Quantifiable Results
With radio and newspaper advertising it’s impossible to see exactly how effective the ad was. You may have seen a spike in sales, but it can’t be attributed just to the ad as their is usually several factors in play. However with online advertising you can measure the exact amount of success your campaign is having. You can see how many people visited your website, how long they stay there, how many people have seen your ad and how many people have clicked on it as well as a wealth of other information you can gather. All of this helps you to find exactly what works and weed out the weaker parts of your ads, meaning you can fine tune ads as they are running to get the most conversions possible for your money.
3: People Live Online
People are spending an increasing amount of their lives online. According to The Telegraph young adults & teenagers (16-24) are now spending an average of 27 hours a week online. This figure has doubled since 2005 and looks to keep increasing. This shows the huge potential to reach possible customers online. Online advertising can target them in a non intrusive way with ads specifically designed for them. Taking this into account can give you a huge advantage over your competitors.
4: Cost Effectiveness
The costs of advertising with radio or newspaper can be quite daunting for a small or medium enterprise. However online advertising allows you to decide your budget, increasing it if you are seeing good results or decreasing if you aren’t happy. You can even pause ads if you want to go a new direction, that’s something that’s impossible when advertising with radio and newspapers. You can be in complete control of your budget while still getting incredible results.
5: Less Competition
Newspapers and radio are flooded with advertisements which makes it very hard to get noticed. Most of the ads you are competing against aren’t even targeting the same type of people as you. This leads to a huge amount of competition and a much higher chance of your ads simply being ignored.
Online advertising is more effective than ever and with young adults spending an average of 27 hours a week online, it looks as if it will continue to assert its dominance. Online advertising is also far more accessible for businesses due to its flexible nature, in both pricing and the ads themselves. Google Adwords, Display ads & other methods of online advertising are crucial parts of business today and if it goes unused it is a huge waste of potential sales for any company. These days it’s extremely difficult for a business to flourish without it and its cost effectiveness just makes it all the better.