Let's learn about the essential characteristics of general advertising and advertising in the digital environment.
1) It has a promotional purpose.
Advertising is a type of communication that aimsto promote a product or service and encourage sales.
It is very common to refer to advertising as "propaganda," but in reality, these are two concepts that should be clearly distinguished. Propaganda seeks to influence the ideology and ways of thinking of the population.
2) Its main function is to persuade.
To achieve its primary objective (increasing sales of a particular product or service), advertising mustconvince consumersthat the product or service is better than the competition, that it will meet a consumer need, or that it will improve their lives in some way.
3) It is part of the company's marketing strategy.
The most visible aspect of advertising is undoubtedly creativity, but there is also a great deal of strategy behind a campaign. Advertising always responds to a specific business objective, aligned with the overall interests of the brand or company.
Thus, the advertising strategy should be framed within the general marketing plan and follow the same planning (e.g., annual or quarterly).
4) It is aimed at a specific target audience.
Traditionally, advertising has used mass media such as radio and television to reach as wide an audience as possible, but always with the intention of influencing aspecific segmentofthe public.
Every brand has a "buyer persona"or ideal customer profile that it targets, for example, "professional women between 30 and 40 years of age."
5) It has a cost for the advertiser
For companies, advertising involves investing time, resources, and, of course, money. Generally, the advertising model is based on the channel broadcasting the advertisement or advertisements charging a certain amount in exchange for its dissemination.
Advertising is expected to contribute to increasing the company's profits, and that this profit exceeds the cost invested.
6) Strive to be original
One of the most obvious characteristics of advertising is market saturation. Consumers receive hundreds of advertising messages every day in different formats, and obviously cannot respond to all of them. That is why advertising seeksto stand out from the competitionby using unexpected formats and resources.
7) Use a variety of creative resources
Videos that tell stories, striking images, unforgettable speeches, catchy jingles... If there is one thing that stands out in advertising and makes it instantly recognizable, it is the use ofcreativity. The best creative ideas are those that surprise, excite, and remain in the audience's memory, all while remaining true to the brand's principles.
8) Use repetition
Advertising seeks to generatebrand recalland the values associated with it. Generally, a single advertising impact does not achieve this goal, especially in an environment as saturated as today's. Therefore, a key aspect of advertising is to seek repetition of messages.
Ideally, each consumer within the target audience should receive enough exposure to remember the brand and its message.
9) It usually offers personalized content
To achieve maximum impact on consumers, they are no longer divided into general segments, but increasingly personalized according to thecharacteristics and needs of a particular user. For example, we haveemailswith personalized content that are activated when a user performs a specific action.
10) Advertising must be ethical.
Due to its persuasive power, advertising must be controlled to prevent misleading or unfair campaigns. There are several public bodies that regulate the ethical aspects of advertising, but it is also essential thatadvertisers and agencies take responsibility. Ultimately, honest and clean advertising reflects the advertiser's values, helps improve their brand image, and can only benefit them in the long term.
