The goal of advertising is to boost sales of products and services through persuasive communication that influences human behavior.Traditional means of advertising caters to the mass audiences with its direct approach through mass media.The two most capable mass mediums are Newspapers and Radio.
Being the mediums with the widest reach and following,it’s sometimes difficult for advertisers to choose.However, if we have a detailed look it can be helpful in deciding which medium is better.
Newspaper advertising: Also known as print media, it has these pros and cons;
Pros:
- Newspapers are an essential item in every household.It provides news,entertainment,information.Therefore it’s a very effective medium for advertising.
- Newspapers have a very wide and extensive reach, specially because they are available in various regional languages and not just in English.This expands the audience base exponentially,thus giving advertisers a chance to showcase their product.
- Newspapers are faster and more direct in their appeal to the reader.An early morning daily can provide major impact as people’s minds are fresher as compared to the later part of the day.
- If newspapers are stocked,it’s easier to revisit certain details and information even if it’s few months old.It’s good for frequent exposure.
- Printing an ad in a newspaper is much cheaper than placing ads in other mediums.
- A message read through newspapers stays more in the minds as visual images and information are more efficient in creating the recall factor than audio messages.
- Newspapers have a wider coverage for advertisements.The categories for advertisements in newspapers is very vast.
- The possibilities of keeping a cut out of an important message or advertisement are very real.
- Numbers,E-mail id, and certain information are easier to keep the record of through newspapers.
Cons:
- The readership among the audience is very limited as it caters to a certain age group.
- Advertising space may be expensive in few newspapers.
- The newspapers after being read can be discarded by the reader.
Radio Advertising: The audio medium of advertising,its pros and cons are;
Pros:
- Has the capability to target a specific set of listeners at a specific time,for example, teenagers at night,old people during the afternoon,and its own prime time slots.
- For small business houses, it is a perfect platform to launch their ads in a cost effective way.
- Radio has an advantage of listeners irrespective of their age,newspapers require the reader to be old enough to read and understand.
- Radio ads can sharply focus on the advertisement as a time limit of 20 seconds can compact and make the ad more direct with no useless information.
- Radio advertisements if well written and voiced and with the added music can imprint itself in the listener’s mind very efficiently.
- Audio advertisements give advertisers liberty to create any kind of creatives which will entertain the listener.Nobody wants to listen to dull ads.
Cons:
- Prime time is the best time slot in radio advertising,but it’s expensive too.
- The tendency of people to switch stations during ads make it a risky bet as the advertisement can be missed altogether.
- The listener might feel mislead as they can only hear about the product.
As we can see from the above-discussed points, advertising in both Radio and Newspaper has its own pros and cons.It depends solely on the advertiser which medium they choose to promote their brand.They can even seek assistance from releaseMyAd which specializes in online Newspapers and Radio advertising.
