What is Advertising? Types of Advertising

What is Advertising?

Advertising is defined as the act of making known or creating awareness to the end users and general public concerning goods, products or anything that is for sale; in addition to any services that can be offered.

The goal of advertising is to make people buy goods and require services rendered by the advertisers.

Please read on the principles of marketing here.

Advertising is a core part of any successful business. For this reason, we see it in every part of our society; from handbills to posters and throughout the entire media (radio, television and social media).

As a matter of fact, Google recorded the following revenues from advertising; as shown in the table below:

Advertising can be achieved through a variety of means. Some of these means include physical communication, magazines, news papers, billboards, television, radio, social media and the internet at large.

Types of Advertising

Below are explanations on the various types of advertising:

• Relationship Building Advertising

As the name implies, relationship building advertising focuses on establishing a form of relationship with the customers, rather than making immediate sales. As an instance, some companies may offer free samples of their products to potential customers in order to get their phone numbers, email address and physical address respectively.

Please read on consumer rights and protection here.

A typical example of relationship building advertising is seen when one buys a new SIM card. Such a person may be given some 'mouth watering bonuses' on calls and data which could span for months.

The main goal of the network providers in the above example is to build a relationship with the customers over a long period of time.

• Brand Advertising

Large companies indulge in brand advertising. Brand advertising will not normally result into the instant sale of a product; rather it shows the customers and general public the goodwill of the brand.

Such brand may sponsor educational competitions, sport games, festivals, musical shows, television and radio programmes and even a website.

In Nigeria, production companies like Peak milk, Milo, Bournvita and Cowbell are known for their brand advertising through the promotion of academic activities; especially at the primary and secondary levels of education.

You can test your knowledge on Len Academy here.

• Informative Advertising

Informative advertising is a type of advertising that informs the prospective buyers about the availability of certain products.

Please read on the meaning and scope of commerce here.

Normally, informative advertising is done when a new product enters the market; or a new service has been made available. As an instance, a telecommunication company could make advertisement on a new package concerning calls and data tariffs. The goal of such advertisment is to inform their subscribers and non subscribers about the availability of these new tariffs.

• Fairs and Exhibition

Periodically, trade fair exhibitions are organized within different communities. During the exhibition, different producers, manufacturers and traders come along with their products in order to display and sell to the people.

Please read on production here.

The products sold in trade fair exhibition are quite cheaper and this makes it an excellent platform for marketing or advertising a new product from infant industries.

An example of a market in Nigeria where trade fairs and exhibitions are popularly carried out is the Trade Fair Complex along Lagos-Badagry road.

Meanwhile, understand that we may also have an international trade fair exhibition where manufacturers, producers and traders from different countries converge for the purpose of marketing, promoting and selling their products to prospective customers around the world.

• Persuasive Advertising

The goal of persuasive advertising is to convince the consumers of a product or make them see reasons why a particular product or service is good for their consumption.

A convincing trial from persuasive advertising may earn the company new customers.

From a personal experience, I have been persuaded by some marketers to give their product a trial. I initially declined but due to this nature of advertising, I was persuaded to buy the product even though I didn't need it at that point in time.

Please read on the agencies of consumer protection here.

• Direct Advertising

Direct advertising is focused on a specific group of consumers. Google Adsense sometimes uses this kind of advertising.

As an instance, when one reads an article about God on a web page, Google Adsense may pop up adverts on spiritual books, churches or other things that relates with God.

Also, some companies achieve direct advertising by sending targeted email advertisements to certain people after their interest had been researched.

When we hear phrases like: 'smokers are liable to die young' and 'not to be sold for persons below 18 years of age', such advertisements are direct and straightforward.

You can read on how to consume less data on your phone here.

• Outdoor Advertising

Outdoor advertising requires an open area to showcase or promote one or more products. When large posters are plastered on cars, bus or trains, it should also be considered as outdoor advertising.

We see outdoor advertising in technologies like neon signs, electric displays and sky writing.

Please read on the internet of things (IoT) here.

Outdoor advertising helps the advertiser to catch the attention of every class of people living and working around a neighborhood.

An instance of outdoor advertising is seen when a very tall building (let's say a hotel) utilizes beautiful and attractive neon signs to display its standard and international delicacies.

• Competitive Advertising

A competitive advertising is done to show or tell the consumers that a product is better when compared to other similar products.

In competitive advertising, a company may indirectly expose the weakness(es) of their competitors in order to give their products or services a competitive edge.

Please read on the meaning and scope of business studies here.

You may have listened to competitive advertising on radio; or seen it on television.

• Social Media Advertising

The world we live in was once considered to be very big. As it stands now, the world is a global village; all thanks to social media through the internet.

Social media advertising are used on a variety of social media platforms like facebook, twitter, whatsapp and instagram.

Please read on the differences between the internet and world wide web here.

Companies and people display their products on their respective social media pages in hope that a potential customer will click on it or contact them via their email or telephone number.

• Email Advertising

Nowadays, it is very common to see sponsored emails in our mail box. Often times, the word 'ads' are written on these emails in order to inform the reader of its purpose.

On the flipside, unsolicited mails or spam mails may be sent to our mail box for the purpose of advertisement, phishing (a type of email that gets one to click a dubious link) or another kind of criminal activity. In this regard, one has to be very careful when clicking links from unsolicited email advertisements.