Types of Advertising: Finding the Right Strategy For You

Advertising has become a must-have for every business wanting to stay in the minds of their customers. It’s a strategic way to get your brand out there and tell people how you can improve their lives.

Learn about what it is, the different types of advertising, and strategies you can implement. We will also discuss some notable examples of advertising campaigns to inspire you!

The father of advertising, David Ogilvy, defined it best. He said, “Advertising is not an art form. It is a medium for information, a message for a single purpose: to sell.”

Advertising has grown from traditional mediums like TV, radio, and newspapers. As people rely on digital tools, we now have digital and virtual advertisements via email campaigns, digital billboards, AI-powered kiosks, personalized apps, etc.

Now, anyone—with or without the help of professional branding and marketing professionals—can run advertisements in various formats on different platforms, online and offline.

Marketing and advertising are essential in building brand value. But they function differently.

Marketing is a strategic business tool that aims to understand the target audience to anticipate and meet their needs. It has a broader scope, encompassing branding, nurturing a healthy customer relationship, working with other departments to align values and goals, and managing your marketing strategy with tools like email marketing, social media marketing, automation, etc.

In contrast, advertising is a vehicle that helps attain your marketing goals. It utilizes market research to determine the best advertising strategy for maximum results. In short, advertising is just a slice of the marketing pie, focusing on promoting and selling products and services.

Now, let us tackle the different types of advertising.

A combination of traditional, digital, and emerging types of advertising could be key to your campaign's success. Check out how they differ from each other.

1. Traditional Advertising Methods

Before the dawn of the digital age, businesses relied on ATL or above-the-line advertising and BTL or below-the-line advertising.

ATL refers to media with a massive reach, namely television, radio, and print. On the flip side, the BTL approach is more niche. It includes events, brochures, in-store promotions, etc., targeted at a specific audience.

Television Advertising

First on our types of advertising list is television advertising. It has ruled the industry for more than 50 years, thanks to its reach. It also encourages creativity, resulting in engaging and memorable commercials that help brands build value.

TV ads can be tricky to craft. You must cut through the noise and stand out before viewers change channels. You can begin by investing in writing a compelling storyline that evokes strong emotions.

Print Advertising

Since ancient times, people relied on print advertising to post about their businesses. That has evolved into magazines, newspapers, and catalogs. Print ad prices depend on their positioning and the size of the page they occupy. The higher the visibility, the stronger the impact. Of course, the heftier the price, too!

Radio Advertising

Radio advertising is not dead. According to Nielsen, about 90 percent of Americans ages 18 and above spend more time listening to the radio than podcasts.

In a visual-first market, radio advertising provides a respite from the screen. It can yield a high return on investment if utilized with other platforms.

That said, it is crucial to choose the radio spot wisely. Research which stations your audience listens to. Keep the ad simple yet memorable with creative script writing. You can even make catchy jingles!

Outdoor Advertising

Out-of-home or outdoor advertising is a great strategy for interacting with your target audience. It also serves as a creative playground, challenging brands to be original, whether through eye-catching billboards, vehicle wraps, kiosk stations, or posters. You can opt for guerrilla advertising using unconventional methods like street art and flash mobs.

Other types of traditional advertising include telemarketing, direct mail, and events like roadshows, advertising product launches, and pop-ups.

2. Digital Advertising Methods

With the steep competition, Statista data reveals that businesses worldwide are investing in digital advertisement, garnering over $417 billion in value. Below are online advertising methods you can tap into.

Search Engine Advertising

Everyone relies on search results to find the information they need online. Interestingly, though, less than one percent check out the second page of the search results. The need to increase online visibility has paved the way for search advertising or paid search. They are often at the very top of the search list with an ‘ad’ tag.

Search engine advertising entails bidding on specific keywords that target your audience and leveraging them to get on top of the page. Note that not all expensive keywords translate to achieving the best results.

Social Media Advertising

With advanced branding and business tools, social media platforms let business owners and branding professionals create highly targeted campaigns. They can reach specific demographics by filtering users by age range, gender/s, interests, and location. They can also customize landing pages, ecommerce shops, and ads within the platform.

Social media advertising is one of the cheapest ways to get your brand out. Not to mention, effective when done right! Catchy and relatable ads influence the buying decisions of social media users.

Display Advertising

Display advertising is the digital version of billboards, only that they are online. Display ads are in video, graphic illustrations, and image formats containing a compelling copy about your product and a powerful call to action.

It’s an effective passive method to draw attention, spark curiosity, and raise awareness about products with a long lifecycle while users browse websites, watch videos, or engage in social media. Display ads are also great for retargeting customers.

That said, make your display ads responsive to different device screens. Use landing pages to capture and engage your audience. And follow image guidelines to a tee to ensure optimal performance.

Email Advertising

Email is still among the top go-to mediums of marketers when communicating with customers. Why? It’s inexpensive and gets the job done!

You can use email advertising to gather information about your customers. It is an excellent way to engage with them at every touch point through promotional emails, newsletters, and transactional emails. Loyal customers appreciate receiving deals and products, too.

Finally, email advertising has a higher ROI than social media. A study done by Litmus shows that brands gain $36 for every dollar spent on email marketing.

3. Emerging Advertising Trends

So, what’s next in advertising? Below are emerging types of advertising you shouldn't miss.

Influencer Marketing

Influencer marketing has boomed in recent years, creating a separate industry. In the quest for building authentic connections with consumers, brands have partnered with social media figures called influencers. They share the values and beliefs of the target audience, making them even more relatable and trusted.

Millennials and Gen Zs take purchase advice from influencers they follow online. About 74 percent of US shoppers bought a product because of them.

Programmatic Advertising

Programmatic advertising is a breakthrough strategy that uses advanced digital tools to automate media buying. It bypasses the manual process of proposals and negotiations.

By analyzing data, programmatic ads yield more accurate and efficient digital ads for your products and services. You can rest easy knowing your ad is in the right location, targeting your intended audience to increase gains.

While automated, programmatic ads rely on your overall strategy and the information you feed. That said, make sure that you have a deep understanding of your audience’s needs and behaviors.

AI-Powered Advertising

AI has changed the way we do things, including advertising. With the help of AI tools, marketers can now generate advertisements that fit your needs and goals. As a result, you get personalized ads.

An example is Google’s ACA or Automatically Created Assets. It gathers content and information from your existing ads to generate a better headline and copy that would drive more traffic.

Artificial intelligence has become a powerful tool in gathering and analyzing data to mine valuable insights. It is also helpful in managing ad performance, letting you make data-backed investment decisions on strategies with guaranteed high returns.

With a strategic product placement, advertising efforts are more likely to be successful.

Let’s look back at some of the most memorable advertising campaigns in the last decade, strategically combining different types of advertising.

Coca-Cola Lunar New Year Campaign

Lunar New Year is a traditional holiday celebrated across Asia. Intending to connect with multiple generations, Coca-Cola launched its Lunar New Year, Year of the Rabbit Campaign in eight Asian countries, including China, Malaysia, Singapore, and Cambodia.

The Campaign

Centered around a short film entitled “Grandma’s Jiaozi”, Coca-Cola has successfully shown how the old age tradition has transcended generations. Sure, changes to practices were made to adapt to modern life. But, the Lunar New Year still has the power to unite people despite varying beliefs.

See the film below.

It is customary to give and receive ‘angpao/hongbao’ or red envelopes filled with cash gifts. Coca-Cola added a twist by introducing AR-powered virtual greeting cards they can personalize and send to their loved ones. The campaign included billboards and an interactive AI mini face tracker for family pictures.

The ad campaign mirrors Coca-Cola's core values, promoting togetherness between friends, families, and strangers despite differences.

KFC ‘FCK’ Campaign

It wasn’t too long ago when KFC’s Chicken Crisis made news. Because of supply chain challenges, KFC, a fast food chain known for its fried chicken, ran out of…well, chicken. Over 900 stores in the UK and Ireland were forced to close, angering KFC customers even more.

This could have completely shut down the brand. But KFC turned it into something amusing while issuing an apology. The Campaign The brand did not hide its frustration over the incident. It acknowledged the disaster it caused due to poor oversight.

Offering sympathy to its customers, KFC rearranged its name to spell out “FCK” on a print ad—a cheeky yet humble response, echoing what everyone was thinking at the time.

Much to the amusement of consumers, the expletive anagram of KFC went viral. It also made consumers accept the public apology of KFC and eventually forgive the brand.

Red Bull Stratos Campaign

Red Bull is known for pushing boundaries through extreme sports events. It encourages people to conquer their fears and achieve what everyone would think impossible, like freefalling from the stratosphere.

That’s right. The fearless brand sent a man into space to jump off an aircraft.

The Campaign

Ten years ago, the world held its breath as it watched professional skydiver Felix Baumgartner freefall from outer space.

The goal?

Red Bull shares, “The aim was for Felix to become the first human to travel at Mach 1 or the speed of sound without an aircraft. It took Felix just 34 seconds to go supersonic, reaching a top speed of 844 mph (1,358kph).”

The video shared online garnered millions of views and replays across the globe. Everyone was talking about the brand and Felix. But beyond achieving high numbers, the campaign has inspired and motivated many people to reflect, dream, and pursue bigger goals.

Felix reflects, “We were a very ambitious group of people with a vision that we turned into reality. And after so many years of hard work, we were successful. I think we left a legacy—all of us—because everybody played an important part [in turning] Red Bull Stratos into a successful mission.”

Do you want to make a huge impact like Coca-Cola, KFC, and Red Bull? Create your next integrated advertising campaign and learn how to integrate the different types of advertising with our help! Check out what our brand strategy agency can do for you.