Last Updated on February 25, 2025 by Freddy G. C.

Advertising is an art form that continues to evolve along with the time’s technological growth.

The modern marketer has a broad range of choices and tools at his disposal.

These tools are used to get their brand’s message across their audience, through different media platforms.

The modern marketer has a broad range of choices and tools at his disposal.

These tools are used to get their brand’s message across their audience, through different media platforms.

Successful advertising campaigns effectively attract new customers to your products and services.

They are the kind of ads that work. This fact remains true regardless of advertising medium.

Whether you are trying to sell an existing product or launch a new service, you can choose from a lot of advertising mediums.

There is no foolproof advertising scheme for your business.

The best advertising solution for your brand lies on your target audience and your product’s niche.

You must know how to reach your audience at the right time and place.

If you want to be more frugal, you can go for traditional print materials, or if you’re feeling a bit bold, why not go for ambient media?

You have lots of options.

But to get you started, here are five of the most effective advertising platforms.

Digital Advertising

All sorts of advertising you see on the internet falls under digital or ‘online’ advertising.

Online ads come in different forms.

What used to be static images floating across your browser are now full-fledged animated banners of flash pop-ups. Digital ads also come in a variety of different visuals, such as:

Search Marketing

Also known as Search Engine Marketing, or SEM, search marketing focuses on optimizing your website for it to be search engine friendly using paid search listings.

Paid ads can either be through PPC (Pay Per Click), CPA (Cost Per Action), or CPM (Cost Per Mille).

You can also invest in unpaid listing through Search Engine Optimization or SEO.

Display Ads

Display ads are visual cues that appear in the form of third party websites.

They are also one of the most affordable types of online advertising.

Rates usually vary from website to website.

Display ads originally started as banner ads and have now evolved to flash pop-ups, video, wallpaper, and even text ads.

Video ads currently top the list, with 87 percent of online marketers favoring the medium.

Displays ads are great for catching the user’s attention, since marketers usually adorn them with bright and flashing colors, and they jump out the screen suddenly.

Social Media Ads

Social media ads incorporate display ads into social media platforms.

Using tools integrated into the platforms, such as Facebook Insights and LinkedIn Analytics, you can tailor your ads according to your user demographic.

Social media advertising comes in two forms: organic and paid.

Organic reach comes from the word of mouth and audience feedback, while paid ads push promoted ads to approach a particular audience.

Not only is it one of the most effective means, but it is also, arguably, the most cost-effective.

With 93 percent of online marketing specialists focusing their attention on social media, we can see that social media platforms are the fastest growing digital advertising mediums as of the recent times.

Retargeted Ads

Have you ever wondered why the same ads keep on chasing you throughout your browsing experience?

This form of advertising is called Retargeting, also known as Remarketing.

When your customers visit your website, their browser drops ‘cookies’ or virtual breadcrumbs so that when they continue to browse the internet, your product ads will keep on appearing.

This type of advertising is inexpensive and increases conversion rates more than PPC methods.

Facebook Remarketing and Google Remarketing are two of the most popular remarketing services.

Print Advertising

In today’s digital age, it would be easy to overlook the importance of printing business cards.

You would expect the medium to run out of new design and concepts over time, but fortunately, that’s not the case.

Print media solutions are as accessible as ever.

You can even print cheap business cards or promotional flyers at the comfort of your own home!

You can typically see print mediums in the following categories:

Periodical Advertising

Publications such as magazines, newspapers, and newsletters are called periodicals.

---

---

If it comes out at scheduled intervals, then it’s periodical advertising. Periodicals are the pioneers of print advertising.

They are a good way to keep your customer’s updated with your company’s latest updates and product launches.

Business Cards

When it comes to business, a little does go a long way.

Business cards serve as the perfect keepsakes to offer your clients after a business meeting or a casual chat at a cafe.

You might see them as traditional and outdated, but they’re an excellent way to get your business noticed.

Styled with your company logo, company name, and contact details, you can be sure to make an impression on your customers.

The good news is that you can now order cheap business cards online without having to leave your office.

Learn from Vincent Van Gogh when he said, “Great things are done by a series of small things brought together.”

Promotional Materials

Brochures, flyers, leaflets, and all sorts of print ads that come in smaller sizes belong to Promotional Materials.

They are an excellent way to gauge the consumers’ response and feedback towards your product.

They can have coupons and feedback forms so that they can evaluate your brand’s performance.

Guerrilla Marketing

Elegantly dubbed as ‘ambient media,’ guerrilla marketing is unconventional.

It focuses on placing ads in places where you wouldn’t usually see an ad. You can find guerrilla ads anywhere and everywhere.

The secret to successfully create clever ads lies in the ability to choose the best medium for your message.

One great example is Bounty’s life-sized paper towel campaign.

Guerrilla tactics are the best means to spread the word about your product.

It provides a fresh and interactive experience for the viewers, just like what Sharpie did, with their drawable cast campaign.

Out-of-Home Advertising

As the name implies, it refers to media arrangement that you can find outside of your home.

This niche includes billboards, outdoor furniture, transit, and alternative outdoor venues.

According to Darcy Keller of Financial Times, “The objective of outdoor is not to go viral on social, it’s to build awareness and increase engagement.”

The primary goal of OOH advertising to educate the masses, increase engagement, and communicate the brand’s purpose.

Broadcast Media

Broadcast media, or ‘on-air advertising,’ refers to tv and radio commercials.

They cater to a wider audience when compared to print advertisements.

The role of broadcast media is to convince the viewer’s about the benefits and advantages that they can get if they purchase or avail of a product.

While it caters to a larger audience, tv and radio ads can be costly especially for small business owners.

How Do I Know What’s Right for My Business?

Now that you’ve heard of the different advertising platforms, you now have to choose the most suitable one for your business.

The best piece of advice you can keep in mind is that the best marketing strategy depends on your business goals. So then, how do you know which one to choose?

Establish your goals.

Good marketing strategies know that in advertising, your final goal doesn’t only reside in coaxing consumers to buy your product. It also lies in gathering sales-generating leads. As you choose a marketing strategy, define your goals beforehand.

Scope out your audience.

Where can you usually find your customers? For instance, if you run an outdoor sports equipment shop, you might want to center your attention in parks and outdoor recreation centers.

You wouldn’t hand out veterinary service flyers at a hair salon, would you? Know when and where to meet your customers.

Gauge your budget.

Marketing can be extremely costly. Not only regarding money but also regarding the time and effort you put in.

Let’s say you want to start a Youtube channel. How often will you post content updates? How will you manage production costs and think about audience engagement at the same time? Set a budget right from the start.

Go through trial and error.

As we have heard over and over again, no sure-fire marketing technique produces guaranteed results.

What works for others might not give you the results that you hoped for, and there’s nothing wrong with that.

What you need to do is play with different advertising mediums.

Start with something you think you can use. Flyers, perhaps? Or Instagram posts?

Master at least one and evaluate your results. And from your data, decide on your next step.

Takeaway

In a nutshell, there are a lot of different ways to get your product out there.

You can employ a variety of tactics and strategies to help you gain more brand exposure and increase conversion rates. Know your customers and know your product.

Plan wisely, set your goals, and know your limits. Be realistic in facing your market and face the hard facts and figures.

And with that, comes the perfect content marketing strategy that will help you meet your audience at the right time and place, and in the right environment.