Advertising Pros & Cons

by Neil Kokemuller Google

Advertising is a major component of any company's marketing plan. It includes messages that are paid for and delivered to targeted customers via mass media. TV and radio commercials, print ads, billboards and a wide array of support media are used to delivering advertising. While advertising helps communicate your brand's value, it does have some drawbacks and limitations.


Relative to other marketing and communication methods, most specifically public relations, advertising messages are largely in the control of the advertiser. When you pay a medium to place your message, you typically have ultimate control over the position, timing and construct of your ad. This allows your business to strategy well in advance what values it wants to project, how to develop the right messages, and which media best reach the intended audience. PR has limited control because it is unpaid for messages.


As noted, you have a number of media options in delivering advertising. Essentially, any communication channel where multiple people congregate is a possibility. Additionally, you can present messages one time, multiple times or tell a long-running story through an ad campaign. This allows you to evaluate the effectiveness of your ads and make ongoing adjustments. You can also choose between long-term, brand messaging which helps you develop an image for your brand, or short-term promotions to attract immediate traffic and sales.


The most obvious drawback of advertising is the costs. PR is free, but again the tradeoff is message control. Still, large companies invest millions of dollars a year in advertising. Television ads are very expensive. Production costs range from $100,000 to $500,000 for national ads, and placement can be as much as $500,000 for a 30-second prime-time spot on a national network. Small companies are usually even more limited. Budgets of a few thousand dollars are typical for some small, local companies. This immediately eliminates TV options and leaves companies hunting for inexpensive media such as local newspapers and radio.


Companies have become increasingly concerned with accountability and return on investment in advertising. This is especially true when they hire ad agencies to develop and deliver campaigns. A challenge lies in the lack of ease in evaluating results and the temptation for advertisers to go for approaches that are easier to track. This may not always product the best results. Additionally, ads, no matter how creative, only work if customers accurately interpret the message. To succeed, companies often spend even more money in market research.

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