Difference in Print Media Vs. Television Advertising
Print media and television advertising are two different forms of advertising platforms that have evolved greatly with the advancement of technology. Both of these have capabilities to promote businesses to higher levels. This is because they are both widespread and entail the visual aspect that enables them to reach target groups effectively, yet remain independent of each other.
Other People Are Reading
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Print Media
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This group consists primarily of newspapers, magazines and yellow pages, among others. With newspapers, an advertisement can reach many people within a particular area, which is preferable since the message can be read many times over. However, the advertising space is expensive and ads compete with several others on the same paper.
Magazines can be used to target specific audiences, have better print quality and often feature color. However, they tend to be fairly expensive and they are produced weekly or monthly rather than daily. Also the advert space is higher in cost compared to that of newspapers.
Yellow pages are widely used to look up telephone numbers and thus the ads therein are generally cheaper. The ads are easily coupled to telephone numbers and locations and hence responses can be easily rated. However, the ads are not as colorful and they tend to be cramped into the small spaces.
Effectiveness of Print Media
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Print media easily penetrates over 50 percent of the local market. The ad gets to the masses unchanged thus becoming seemingly permanent. Print media ads are not viewed as an interruption, but as part of everyday reading.
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TV Advertising
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This is a powerful tool that has the ability to reach a mass audience at a national level. The ability to combine visual and audio communication makes it a very attractive advertising medium. Reaching people in a short amount of time is both an advantage and disadvantage. Whoever misses an ad, misses it completely and vice versa. The temporary nature of advertising on television requires the advertisement to be aired several time, although the high cost may be prohibitive. The high costs accrue from the creativity involved, production costs and the amount of airtime. Many television viewers tend to change channels when ads are being aired. Ads on television are often considered a nuisance, and so creativity has to be at its peak for ads to work on TV.
TV Advertising Considerations
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Several factors should be considered while using TV as a medium of advertising. These include the number of television stations in the market, the number of people watching a particular station and the television viewing mannerisms.
Overall Assessment
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Both print media and television advertising have the potential to reach the masses and influence their opinions and buying habits. Therefore, the primary differentiating factors when choosing one or the other are cost, time to reach the masses, and permanency of the ad in the viewers' or readers' minds.
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References
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- Photo Credit stack of magazines image by Chad McDermott from Fotolia.com
