Traditional and digital advertising - which one is better?

When you manage a business, to earn money, first, you need to spend them. Without a doubt, investing in advertising is essential. Fortunately, it pays off. But what kind of advertising is more effective - traditional or digital? Take into consideration the benefits and the problems connected with these two options and choose what is best for your company.

Traditional advertising

Sometimes operating online is not enough. Such is the case with hosting special promoting events. Only in real life, your guests have an opportunity to use their senses to familiarise themselves with what your company has to offer. Operating locally, you can take care of maintaining strong business relationships with your loyal clients. Face-to-face interaction is a vital issue. Additionally, not everyone uses the Internet, and there still is a big group of people left to whom you should aim traditional advertising. If your target audience is, for example, the elderly, it is better to use traditional advertising, such as an ad in a newspaper.

Unfortunately, not every one of the traditional forms is durable. Look at billboards, for instance. They can be easily destroyed by the weather. Leaflets, on the other hand, are often treated as rubbish.

Digital advertising

Promoting your services or products on the Internet is very beneficial. Online, your advertising can be widespread easily. Then, there is a greater chance of being noticed and remembered. Since so many people are constantly using social media, digital advertising on such platforms helps you engage with a greater number of consumers and reduce costs. Moreover, it enables you to interact with clients faster. You can also tell the world more about your company, the employees and the values you cherish.

Running a blog is a good way to promote yourself online too. Due to a company blog, you can take care of your image as a professional in your field. You can show commitment by sharing your knowledge with your clients and giving them advice. This way, you will gain their trust. To encourage potential customers, you can insert the links to your blog entries on social media platforms.

Managing many social media accounts and a company blog may be demanding. New content should be added regularly. You need to stay relevant so that internet users won't forget about your brand. However, it's worth the effort.

What type of advertising is better for your company in particular? It depends on its characteristics, needs, and circumstances. Both traditional one and digital one have their pros and cons. In general, nowadays, digital advertising is necessary to keep up with the competition. Nevertheless, you shouldn't limit yourself to only one option. It will be best to advertise using different methods to increase your chances of success.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Advantages of online advertising

Everything goes online these days, and there is practically no place for good old tools of marketing. Alright, let’s not be dramatic, there are still ways of advertising that are as ancient as the newspaper itself. Nevertheless, successful online advertising is an undisputed ruling king. If you want to be seen, you better be seen on the Internet. If you don’t feel encouraged (yet) to make a digital shift in your business, here are some reasons why you undoubtedly should.

Hit the bull’s eye - all around the world

Online advertising has one great advantage over traditional ads. It’s global. Access to the Internet is easy in the USA, Europe, or Asia, and it’s the same network. That means that your ads will reach potential clients all around the world. If you’ve never thought about expanding the business abroad, this will give you a chance. The best part is that, although you reach people worldwide, you might only get to those who are your target audience. Online advertising allows more accurate targeting of the ads, as it filters and selects the recipients based on their preferences. For you, it means more clients, earned money, and less spent on missed advertising.

Sit back and measure your successful online advertising.

Advertising in an online world gives you a chance to measure and track how the ads serve (or not) their purposes. There is a number of different tools you can use to make sure that the money was wisely spent. Analytics tools show you which of your ideas were brilliant and what part of your advertising is a waste of time. As a result, you invest right where you should and save time (and obviously money) for something more productive. It is a win-win situation because you invest less (in comparison to traditional advertising), and you lose less (because you avoid missed campaigns).

Get rid of the distance

A traditional ad tells the consumer that there is a company that does or sells this and that. Eventually, where to buy their product. In other words, it’s read and forgotten. Successful online advertising helps you get closer to your clients. When posting ads on Facebook, Instagram, or other social media, you can add links, clickable elements that move the users from site to site, directing them straight to the place where your product is available. Being online also means that you can interact with the consumers there and encourage them to choose you over your competitors.

Those are not all advantages of online advertising, but a few to make you realise that it is the future. If you haven’t invested in an online world yet, now’s the time. With an advertising agency or all on your own, but just do it.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Advertising agency - can it really help your business?

Are you wondering if hiring an advertising agency is a good solution? Or maybe you know it is, but you just seek some reassurance? Whatever your reasons, below you will find out why is it worth hiring an advertising agency and how can it benefit your business. Do not doubt it, it truly can. See what a good advertising agency can do for you.

What does it do? Good advertising agency in action..

For smaller businesses, especially new ones on the market, hiring an accountant is an obvious choice. But a marketing agency? Who needs that? Well, it turns out, you. Every business needs an advertising strategy, and if you are new in the business, or not-so-new but inexperienced in the field of marketing and advertising, such an agency is there to help. It can not only take care of your advertising strategy but also create brand identity, improve content and website optimisation. In other words, a good advertising agency will help your brand to be seen, noticed, and remembered. It will make your business stand out and earn for itself.

A marketing strategy expert - when it’s not you

As we like to point out, a marketing strategy is vital, and so is an advertising strategy. If you do not know how to create one, an expert from a successful agency will give you a helping hand. Such a strategy requires thorough research and thinking through the goals and operations of a company. It takes not only knowledge and understanding of marketing and advertising, but also time. Quite a lot of it. You can’t possibly spare enough time to do it right, especially if your business is on the verge of rapid growth, and that’s what you need to take care of. A good advertising agency will help you save this time by doing all the work for you.

An expert will share his knowledge with you, and you will, no doubt, benefit from it. They have years of experience, they follow the trends on the market and among the customers, and they truly understand their job. Is there still any doubt as to why hire an advertising agency? Here are other benefits - they take care of every detail, of social media ads, display ads, commercial and printed advertisements, PR, budget management, and whatnot. It is saving time and making money by expanding a brand at the same time. So, should you hire an expert from an advertising agency? Oh, you know well the answer now.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Brand Awareness - why your Brand should be a celebrity?

The general notion of brand awareness is actually simple, and there is nothing twisted about it. To explain it as plainly as possible - it refers to the consumers’ familiarity with a given brand. It describes who, and how, remembers and associates this particular brand and, as a result, what are the chances (if any) that a consumer will become a customer.

Recognising and recalling - what is brand awareness?

Brand awareness is often interchangeably used with brand recognition and brand recall. These two notions are not the same, as they are narrower terms than the idea of awareness itself. Brand recognition is related to the so-called aided awareness, which means that a consumer can name a brand on the top of their head when asked about an example. Brand recall refers to the situation when a person has recognised a brand, but only when shown on the list.

Make yourself known

Building brand awareness is crucial when entering a new market but, sorry to disappoint, the effort never ends. Even if your business thrives for some time, you need to take care of increasing awareness. Why? The answer is the same as always - more customers, higher profit, expanding business. The more people recognise you, the more of them trust you and buy from you.

Brand awareness can be, and is, built entirely from scratch. Here are some key elements that will help you understand, how to increase brand awareness:

Your brand is their friend - people tend to trust and choose those brands that they find appealing. How to make it attractive? It’s best to give it a face, present the brand as something more than just a money-making machine. There are many ways to do that. Be active in social media, comment, post, intrigue. Make sure that your content is not only about products or services, but also informs, gives advice, or entertain. Engage people to interact with your brand, and they will be more willing to stay.
A story behind everything - everyone, and everything, has a story to tell, and people generally like to hear some good narrative. Don’t be coy and share the history of your success, the anecdote or the tale. The choice is yours, but storytelling is an invaluable marketing tool.
Be associated - the well-remembered brands are the brands associated with something. If you want to be recognisable, engage in sponsorship, social actions, or other events. Find something that corresponds with the message and idea behind your brand and stamp it with your logo, so the participants of the event will keep the brand in mind.

Is it fame yet?

How can brand awareness be measured? It is a tough task, but not impossible. The easiest ways are traditional surveys (although in a modern, online form), in which you can ask respondents if they recognise your brand among others. You can also ask them which brand comes to their minds when they think about a given product or service (so-called aided brand awareness). Other tools might be helpful, like site traffic statistics or social engagement notifications.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Why should you have a good marketing strategy?

You’ve probably already come across the idea of marketing strategy multiple times, but if you haven’t thought of creating it yet, now is the time. More like a wake-up call. A marketing plan is essential to establish financial stability and flow of income and the customers. Advertising a bit here and a bit there is no marketing at all. A consistent, long-term plan is what you need.

When having ideas is not enough

Having and implementing good ideas concerning marketing and advertising is crucial, no marketer can doubt it. But what’s more important is that this implementation is going according to the PLAN. A long-term one, preferably. A marketing strategy allows you to target the right group and spend money on advertising that can actually be beneficial. There are a few elements that can be included in such a plan — brand values and the company’s vision, goals, target audience, channels of advertising activity and implementation time. Systematising all those aspects will prove to be more helpful than you could expect. What’s important is that you revise the plan once in a while as the industry and the market constantly expand.

Benefits of a marketing strategy

Even though you know, at least in theory, how to make a marketing strategy, you might wonder whether do you really need it? Can’t you just try something different every month and see what suits you? Seems like a plan. Except, it’s ridiculous. That way, you spend more money that is necessary on a marketing channel that might not benefit you. Instead, it’s better to think over your aims and target audience and find THE channel. Different groups of customers require different measures. A marketing strategy allows you to focus on your business and stay ahead of the competition. A well-made plan is also a point of reference when expanding business and means of communication with your audience. As you see, creating a relevant, achievable marketing strategy brings clarity, consistency, and transparency to your business. Even the potential investors and banks want to know a marketing plan before entrusting you with their money, as it helps them understand your vision and whether you’re really going places with the idea.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Find your place — Brand Positioning

Even the ideally-planned brand is not profitable if it is not well-positioned. The process of brand positioning is probably the most crucial element of the whole business strategy. The potential buyers will not choose your product or service if they don’t associate the brand with any positive values. The right image in their minds is what really sells your offer.

Distinguish yourself

The goal of brand positioning is to make the company and its offer visible among other businesses operating in the same field. The market is fierce, as is the competition. If you want the audience to see and remember you, you need to work on that. That is when the brand positioning steps in. Its main aim is to place your service or product in the mind of the audience, so when a person needs to buy what you offer, they instantly remember the right brand — your brand.

You can’t force them to bear in mind that your business exists, and they should choose it from the vast possibilities of the market. The audience needs to believe and engage with your idea. The whole brand strategy works on putting this idea in the mind of the audience. If the message is simple, clear, and identifiable it will intertwine with the brand, and in the moment of buying, will spring to the customer’s mind.

Brand positioning requires creativity

The process of brand positioning is not an easy one. It demands thorough research of the market, a creative approach and deep thinking. Before you start expanding and promoting the idea and the brand itself, you need to find the right gap, a niche for your operations. It requires three steps:

Understanding of the audience — create an audience persona, an average consumer, and try to follow their way of thinking. Get to know them intimately to determine what they really need.
Understanding of the competition — take a closer look at those brands that proved to be successful. Find the feature that distinguishes them. Then don’t repeat that feature.
Creative process — when you know what your audience expects and what your competition offers, fill the gap between these two.

Think definitely outside the box and find something that will distinguish you from other brands. Fulfill the needs and desires that are yet to be satisfied. That is your niche and idea that will position the brand.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Websites built to sell

A website is to your online business is as physical shop front is to your offline business. It is one of the most essential parts of your online success. The key is to leave a lasting impression on the visitors who land on your page. If your website doesn't demonstrate professionalism, credibility and attention to the smallest details like high end memorable branding or thoughtful font selection, clients might be scared away. You don’t want to create an impression that your website is one of those sites created hurriedly for scam purposes, do you? Not to mention that 75% of your web visitors will judge your credibility based on web design. Apart from the products or services you offer, a professionally designed website can be one of the differential areas of the business. Remember that the online world is immersed with a huge number of sites. While the majority of these sites are bogus, there are a huge number of others which are marvellous; therefore, you are up against a very stiff competition. If you can get a moderately priced web design that looks professional and which is of high quality, then you would have conquered one obstacle to competing online.

Professional website will make your advertising effort much simpler in light of the fact that you won't be disappointed with high bouncing rates—since Google uses your bouncing rates statistsics against your with regards to search engine ranking. This is because professionally designed site generates confidence and interest. It also assures the potential clients that you are serious with your business, and you are there to stay-who wants to deal with a scam website that can disappear overnight?

Thus, a professional, quality, and credible website forms a basis of your longevity. It also ensures that your brand identity is noted.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Think Branding

New brands don’t just come from nowhere. They work hard to get the recognition they desire. They’re smart about appealing to their target demographics. Before a product or service launch, they take the time to think deeply about their brand identities: the colors, fonts, and other stylistic choices that make them who they are. In short, they engage in smart brand advertising. Smart brand advertising – Delivers a clear message ‘a brand identity’ – Establishes and confirms brand credibility – Connects with prospects intellectually and emotionally – Motivates prospects to take action – Inspires customer loyalty Brand Identity A brand identity is just what it sounds like: the character and personality of a brand. A brand identity is defined by the brand’s logo, web presence, product or service offerings, copy, and other visual elements that face the public. It is important that the company really thinks this through. Because these elements identify the brand, they should be strong and consistent. The brand identity can say a lot about the company as a whole. The logo, in particular, communicates volumes. The old adage “a picture is worth a thousand words” applies here. Carefully matching the logo to the brand is the first step towards smart brand advertising. Brand Credibility Good brand advertising builds brand credibility. It inspires trust. Customers feel comfortable buying from a brand they trust. It also works to establish a brand as a leader in its industry so it can out - compete other brands. You can accomplish this in many ways, and a combination of approaches will probably be the most effective. Connecting With Prospects Brand advertising is about connecting and reaching out to potential customers to offer solutions they need. These solutions may make intellectual sense but they should make emotional sense too.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

The more I advertise the more successful I become

Uncertain times makes individuals careful, particularly with money. Clients decrease their spending, businesses have less, so they consider reducing expenses. So what then to cut? Numerous companies decide to cut the Advertising budget first. They consider Advertising to be an optional expenditure, when in certainty it should be considered as essential. Here are a few reasons why:

Strengthen Your Reputation
What are you telling your clients concerning your business and what do you represent, and how are you letting them know? Eliminating your communication can convey a negative message. In the event that your Brand Image lessens in the marketplace what impression will that leave in the minds of your clients? In the midst of vulnerability you have to keep your Brand Image noticeable and bolster its strength. If people are more inclined to shop around for deals because they are feeling cautious about spending, then it’s not the time to reduce your visibility in the marketplace. Your clients watching out for bargains, and you most ensure they discover you through your #Advertising

Continue Moving Forwards
Positive thinking can be difficult to maintain in uncertain times, yet business relies upon forward movement. For a business to develop it needs to generate new business, and Advertising is a key method for doing this. You need to guarantee that your Brand Image is still out there and in if you cut back on your Advertising, you are less likely to be able to do this.

Hold onto the Initiative
Each activity can offer ascent to a response, and with vulnerability comes opportunity. You can step up to the plate with your Advertising to increase a competitive advantage. Be prepared, in light of the fact that putting resources into a downturn is an Advertising major – this is key and it's tied in with remaining ahead and winning a bigger share.

Business experiences cycles, yet in the event that you've kept up your Advertising during a downturn, you're better situated to receive the rewards toward the beginning of the recovery or upswing. You're as of now ahead of the race, before the starting pistol sounds.

Questions / Enquires - hello@radkaadvertising.com

Advertising is content. Content is advertising.

What do we talk about when we talk about “advertising”?

1. Advertising is content. You can't think of ads as separate things any more. Without a captive audience, there's no such thing as "advertising" any more. It's just content. And it needs to be good/interesting/relevant content if you want to get anyone to pay attention to it.

2. Content is advertising. Might sound like a repeat of the point above, and in some way it is -- but it's highlighting the flip side. Any content is advertising. It's advertising something. Techdirt content "advertises" our business even if you don't realize it. Every bit of content advertises something, whether on purpose or not.

3. Content needs to be useful/engaging/interesting. This simply ties all of that together. If you want anyone to pay attention to your content (which is advertising something, whether on purpose or not) it needs to be compelling and engaging #innovate

Questions / Enquires - hello@RadkaAdvertising.com

Know that advertising is key ingredient in business strategy

Businesses use advertising to accomplish varied goals, and companies place those ads in diverse media to further business goals.

1. Product Introduction and Awareness - when a business introduces a new product, advertising provides a means to make a large market aware of the product. Ads often focus on the product's solution to a common problem, such as a new cell phone's touted ability to solve the "dropped call" problem.

2. Product Sale Events - advertising provides an effective way to inform the market about limited-time product sale events. Sale-based ads can be generated by local retail outlets, or can originate from the product's national manufacturer. In many cases, the national manufacturer shares the cost of the ad with the local retailer. This type of advertising is called co-op advertising, and commonly uses manufacturer-supplied graphics and ad templates. The local retailer's name appears as the local product outlet.

3. Product Differentiation from Competitors - businesses frequently use advertising to show how their product has more benefits, or is more effective, than similar competitors' products. In some cases, the retailer feels it's necessary to advertise because the competition is blanketing newspaper pages or television airwaves with its own ads. Unless other market retailers that aggressively highlight their own products, they are likely to be overlooked in the minds of consumers.

4. Product Breakthroughs and Advancements - advertising is used to communicate dramatic product breakthroughs. Institutional Advertising to Promote a Good Image - type of advertising isn't really designed to increase sales, but is structured to promote a good image of the company or product. This perception will hopefully translate into future sales. even if the consumer doesn't buy the product right now, the company will have kept its name in front of its consumer market.

Questions / Enquires - hello@RadkaAdvertising.com

Ad success: Define. Evaluate. Activate. Repeat

Content distribution plans have never been more important than today. A content distribution plan is a strategic guide that helps an organization disseminate its content, whether it’s promoting the latest blog post or sharing a new ebook. Publishing content can only take you so far; a content distribution plan makes sure that content is seen by the world. Content distribution plans are increasingly important because of the amount of data that individuals and brands are creating each minute.

89% of marketers say awareness is their brands #1 goal therefore there’s a whole lot of content being produced each minute and it’s pretty damn noisy. To cut through the noise and grab their attention, you not only have to produce quality content consistently but also do a killer job distributing it.
Producing content is one thing - distributing it is another. Without distribution, your content won’t reach your target audience. They won’t know about your product, what it does and how it can help them reach their goals. They’ll have no clue why they should park their marketing dollars with your brand rather than your competitor. You won’t have enough leads to sell your product to.

But content distribution has always been regarded as the Achilles’ heel of content marketing. Not everyone knows how to do it right. For most businesses, content distribution means dumping links on social media, spamming forums, and running ill-planned ad campaigns in hopes of generating leads. They forget that not every content distribution channel is suited for their business, and that even if a channel works, it won’t give them the same results each time. To get consistent sales leads from your blogs, ebooks, email newsletter, podcasts, webinars, and any other content assets, you not only need exceptional content but also a solid content distribution plan. We are talking about the kind of stuff that drives brand awareness, generates leads, and opens the door to conversations with your prospects.

Questions / Enquires - hello@RadkaAdvertising.com

Early to bed, early to rise. Work like hell and advertise

Without advertising of any kind, businesses DO fail all the time.

They may resist for a few years, in the state of a “financial zombie” - nor dead, or alive - and then quietly disappear.

Because THIS is true: One can have the best product or service on the face of the planet, but if no one knows about it, it’ll make no difference - they might as well have the WORST product or service.

Why do you think Coca Cola - the company with the highest “awareness level” in the world - spends hundreds of millions of pounds a year on advertising?

To stay relevant and top-of-mind… and to make you reach for a bottle just to “taste the feeling”. We live in a busy world.

We ourselves are busy and keep endless to-do lists.

That makes it easy to forget about a product or service unless we need it right away. (The hospital is not top-of-mind unless we get hurt and need to make a trip to Emergency. And when we do, we go to the closest one available…) By advertising, you “engrave” your product or service in the mind of your prospects and clients, so when they DO need it they reach for yours, instead of the competition.

Questions / Enquires - hello@RadkaAdvertising.com