Digital and Physical Presence: Advertising Needs
DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL
Space and place in terms of business refer to online and brick-and-mortar presence. Many organizations today enjoy both since website presence has become exceptionally critical for reaching a wider audience and more customers. Marketing has become easier with online presence but at the same time, it also needs to be used effectively in order to reach the right set of customers. We must understand that marketing done online as well as through regular channels may require different kind of preparation since the market segments targeted through differ and also the techniques required are not the same.
Regular marketing channels include print and electronic media such as newspapers, magazines, television and radio. These have a wide reach but the reach is significantly limited to one set of customers. For example print media works for older and more learned group of people. Youth may not be very much interested in newspapers and to reach them through print media, marketing planners need to advertise in specific youth magazines. Similarly, television and radio may have a large following too but again planners need to closely study the available slots for advertising and how they would work since not all television shows are watched by all groups of people and hence the market segment an organization is trying to reach may not be interested in a certain show at all so advertising during that show would produce no significant results. For example to advertise a new washing detergent, it is important to reach women 22 and above. It would be better if they are married and preferably have kids because they would better understand what makes a good detergent.
For this reason, marketers need to understand the markets they are trying to attract in order to see how each medium can be used to reach the right kind of customer and audience. We can better understand the use of each medium when we know the markets we need to reach. Online marketing is now just as effective as print marketing because everybody is wired these days but still it is important to know which markets need to be reached so appropriate online websites and channels can be utilized. For example a company that wants to sell new electronic gadgets would first need to know which the right target market segment is. For such products, the most appealing segment is younger generation because they are early adopters. Then it would need to see where that segment is most likely to read ads. Such people can be found on social networking sites more often thus Facebook advertising and such other places would be the most appropriate one (“The Role of,” Communicus.com). Secondly these people may not be highly interested in reading newspapers or magazines because they usually do not have the time or patience to read hence the better channel would be radio that most would tune into while driving.
It is thus very important not to forget that correct market segmentation is needed to use the right medium. Online was once a trendy place for the young and chic but over the years, it has been adopted by all segments of the society and hence there is no specific segment that can be targeted through it. However segmentation helps in finding the correct websites and techniques to use online so that only the most appropriate segments can be reached. Physical media like print and television are still the most effective ones for marketers and cannot be ignored because no one can depend solely on online advertising. However since times and tastes have changed and many people may no longer check advertisements in print media, it is hence very important to utilize modern technologies as well. A study done for Dove bar advertising showed that internet is now a very powerful medium and can be as effective as TV or print media and it is also highly cost efficient compared to more traditional means. Users can effortless move from TV to online once they learn about websites in print or TV (Burton). The transition is seamless and easy and it must be known that when using the two media, users who need more information about a certain service or product will quickly check out the advertised website. Marketers can save a great deal by advertising the website on TV or in print as they do not have to buy additional TV time to advertise details and can ask viewers to simply visit the website and get more information. This saves money and makes transition effective and seamless.
References
“Internet is powerful complement to traditional advertising media” 2002. http://www.iab.net/about_the_iab/recent_press_releases/press_release_archive/press_release/4473
Burton, J. A Marketer’s Guide to Understanding the Economics of Digital Compared to Traditional Advertising and Media Services. Accessed online from http://ams.aaaa.org/eweb/upload/catalog/pdfs/MG18.pdf
The Roles of Traditional Advertising and Branded Social Media in a Successful Marketing Communications Campaign. Accessed online from http://www.communicus.com/pdfs/Communicus-Branded_Social_Media.pdf
