Advertisements play a major role in business. The business world is competitive, and advertising is used to introduce a business, build a brand and position a company, product or service against the competition.

Advertising delivers strategic messaging and elevates awareness within the given market. Several advertising media are used to deliver the advertisement to the market.

Advertising Media

Businesses can access audiences by advertising via a variety of media. Radio, television, print and digital are the big outlets for advertisers. Numerous creative options also exist, such as gas pump ads, ads in bathrooms and other eye-catching media. Radio, television and print are considered traditional media, whereas digital covers everything online. Within the digital space, ads arrive via streaming radio and television, paid search, social advertising and display or banner ads. All of these media enable a business to deliver their advertisements and to measure response and sales increases as a result of the ad. Some digital media offer extremely granular data to measure not only the response but also how those respondents behave. This data is then used to improve the selling platform to increase conversions based on successful behavioral traits.

Brand Awareness

Advertising drives brand awareness and builds trust with potential customers. Simply seeing your business name more often than you see that of the competition will help in the long run. As an example, many Fortune 500 brand advertisements do not focus on their product. They buy so much exposure that simply pushing their logo and name has a positive return. Partnering with non-profits in advertisements is another method of increasing awareness and positive associations. Even donating to local organizations that show your brand on their media in return, is a form of positive brand association and unintentional advertising.

Influence Buyer Decisions

The major influence of advertisements on business is the ability to influence buyer decisions and drive purchases. Advertisers introduce their product or service in a credible and influential manner to educate their potential customers. Unless a business has a high traffic physical location, advertising is required to simply let potential customers know they exist. In addition, advertisements can educate about a product or service, make consumers aware of pricing or challenge the competition by showing how their features are more beneficial.

B2C and B2B

Advertising happens on two levels. Business-to- consumer advertising is selling a product directly to the public, whereas business-to-business sells among various business. The advertising processes are more aggressive in the B2C world, whereas B2B advertising focuses heavily on sales and education.

An example of B2B business is a credit-card processing machine or POS system that’s sold to retail stores.

Roles of Advertising

Marketing Role – Marketing is the process a business uses to satisfy consumer needs and wants through goods and services.

Communication Role. – Advertising is a form of mass communication.

Economic Role – Improves standard of living and the economy by generating material consumption.

Societal Role – Informs us about new and improved products, teaches us how.