A business cannot be successful if customers are not aware of the business's products and services. Businesses often attempt to create awareness of their products and services through advertisements. Companies may employ a variety of different advertising techniques to inform and attract customers.
Market Research
Market research describes collecting information from potential customers, such as their preferences and needs. Market research is often conducted by giving surveys to consumers. Market research is a preliminary step that can help business managers make more effective advertisements. For example, if survey results show that a certain company's target customer -- the type of consumer it expects to purchase its products -- prefers to use the Internet to get information rather than television or reading newspapers, it might decide to pursue online advertising.
Online Advertising
Web advertising or online advertising describes placing information about a company's products and services on the Internet. Common web advertising techniques include sending emails directly to customers, paying to place banners or pop-up ads on other websites and paying for text ads that appear in the text of content on websites. Online advertising can be a cost-effective way to advertise to a large audience.
Print Advertising
Print advertising describes placing ads in printed materials such as newspapers, magazines and journals. Print advertisement is a way to reach a large audience and offers the potential to attract customers by including coupons with advertisements.
TV Advertising
TV advertising involves producing and paying for commercials that air on television. TV ads can allow the advertiser to communicate a large amount of information quickly and have the benefit of engaging consumers with both audio and visual content. Infomercials are a form of TV advertising that last longer than normal commercials and provide more detailed information about products. Infomercials may attempt to convince customers to order products immediately by citing special short-term discounts or other limited-time incentives.
Other Types of Advertising
Any action a company takes to convince customers directly to buy its products or services is a form of advertising. Companies can advertise using many other mediums besides the Internet, TV and print. Other types of advertising including placing ads on billboards, paying for radio commercials and creating products with logos and hiring workers to advertise on the street by holding signs or speaking.
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