Every marketing method has its pros and cons. While you can find a lot of people gushing about digital marketing, the fact remains that it is hard to beat classic marketing methods like running ads on television or in print. Let’s look at the advantages of TV advertising versus print advertising.
The Advantages of TV Advertising
TV ads can reach a lot of people at one time. Advertise a sale on television on a widely viewed channel, and it could be seen by hundreds of thousands or even millions of people.
Repetition is important when you’re building brand awareness. TV commercials are often replayed, creating the repetition you want and without any extra work on your part. The same ad may appear at every commercial break for a TV show, or the ad may air every day that week at that same time slot. This creates the repeated contacts you need to connect with the customer. That’s hard to achieve with printed advertisements unless it is tied to a practical item like a calendar, shopping list or sports schedule.
The Disadvantages of TV Advertising
Perhaps the biggest issue with TV ads is the price. The cost of the average TV commercial is several thousand pounds for a 30 second spot on British television. The price is dependent on how many people are watching that channel in that time slot. That’s why the cheapest ad slots are late at night and on cable TV.
When you pay for a TV ad, everyone in the broadcast area sees it, if they’re watching that show. Print advertising can be much more location-based. For example, you can paper a neighborhood with flyers or send printed ads to everyone in walking distance of your store.
The Advantages of Print Advertising
Print advertising is one of the cheapest marketing methods available. It is an option for startups and sole proprietors. You have to really grow your plumbing business or your retail store to be able to afford TV ads.
Print advertising can supplement other, existing marketing materials. When you order sticker labels online, you’ll receive custom labels you can put on anything. You can put them on shopping bags and shipped orders, creating branded packaging for a fraction of the price of branded packaging material. You can add branded stickers to generic items you’re selling at conventions and flea markets, reducing the risk of theft and enhancing overall brand awareness.
Print advertising can be eco-friendly. You could order printed flyers on recycled paper. Or you could use stickers to highlight items that are locally produced, made from recycled materials or made from organic materials. Putting stickers on a number of items costs less money and uses fewer materials than printing massive signs or creating printed ads in mailers to promote the fact that you’re selling green products.
The Disadvantages of Print Advertising
Print advertising can be difficult to maintain and sustain. Printed flyers are washed out by the rain and fade in the sun. They’re ripped up by the wind and can be torn down by those putting up new flyers. Old flyers in the window look old, and this can hurt your image with consumers.
Print advertising takes time, unless it is at the point of sale. For example, it can take days or weeks to send printed advertisements to people in a given area, though anyone can print out flyers and hand them out before a meeting or during a sale.