Discuss various factors to be kept in mind while selecting suitable medium of advertising andi ts is a 20 marks question so answer accordingly around 300 words
Answers
Choosing the correct medium for advertising is crucial for the success of advertising campaign. Currently an organization has to put thoughtful efforts in choosing medium for advertising when customer is well aware about everything, competition is aggressive and so many new option are open. There are many traditional and modern media options available e.g. Print media, TV advertisement, Digital media, social media etc. Therefore in order to select correct medium for advertising, one should consider following factors in mind:
- Objective of advertising: Whether you want to inform, collaborate or pursued. Some media is useful to inform then others, while some is useful to persuade. Hence , first of objective which organization want to achieve with advertising.
- Cost: How much cost is involved in each medium and how much budget does the organization have.
- Coverage that any medium offers: Higher coverage or circulation of any medium is another key factor while deciding medium for advertising.
- Buyer’s Preferences: The preferences of the audience you like to reach is another major criteria while selecting an advertising medium.
- Nature of Product: Not all the media is useful to advertise all products, therefore it is recommended to analyze the nature of product.
- Analyze competitor selection of media: It is suggested to analyze the industry and competitors actions and the results which they ripped. This helps to make a wise decision.
Therefore while choosing any medium for advertising; it would be helpful if we consider all the above factors.
1. Character of the medium: To judge the suitability of any medium, the characters of different types of media should be analyzed on a factual basis. The following aspects of the media are to be considered before choosing any particular medium.
a) The geographical coverage of the medium i.e. national, regional or local.
b) The frequency and duration of exposure of the message to the audience.
c) Method of communication i.e., visual, oral, both visual and oral, etc.
d) Power of the medium to reach special categories of audience e.g. children, ladies, business executives, etc. This is also called audience selectivity.
2. Nature of the product: Consumer goods need to be advertised with different types of appeal for effectiveness. Familiar goods of daily consumption do not require elaborate description, while industrial machinery may require technical details to be explained. The size of advertisement and the time of exposure required vary according to the nature of the products. Again, advertisement for consumer goods can reach the largest possible number of people through mass media like newspapers, radio and television. But industrial goods may be more effectively advertised through trade and technical magazines. Advertisement of garments is best done in multi-color printing in magazines.
3. Type of audience: Media habits of the target audience to be reached is one of the important factors to be considered while selecting the medium. If the target audience are illiterate, press medium (newspapers and magazines) is ineffective. Similarly, if the target customers are in villages where there are no TV sets, advertising by TV is a waste. The most effective medium to reach housewives in the urban areas may be the radio or television, and for-business executives it may be a professional magazine. Therefore, the characteristics of the target customers with respect to media are very important in selecting proper medium.
4. Coverage: How many and what percentage of the potential buyers can be approached through each possible medium are also determining factors in the choice of a medium. One medium may be able to reach more number of target customers than the other media. Therefore, medium which can reach the maximum number of target customers should be preferred.
5. Cost: The most important factor determining the choice of a medium is the cost involved. Cost of a medium may be analyzed in two ways: 1) Absolute cost, and 2) cost related to audience size. Absolute cost is the actual charge for buying a certain amount of time or space in a medium. Relative cost is a comparative cost. It is the absolute cost related to the size of the audience served by the chosen medium.