Choose the right media—here's how

So you have a marketing and advertising budget but you're not quite sure where to spend the dollars to get the best results. It's a common problem and there are a lot of choices. Here's a rundown on different types of media and how they work.

Newspaper ads – use them to reach Adults 35+ with a complex, detailed message or to advertise item and price.

Consumer magazine ads – use if you want to create, build or change an image. Magazines are highly specific in their reach, and are excellent vehicles for prestige products and image-building campaigns.

Broadcast TV spots– good to reach large, mass audiences. Not as effective for products or services that target tight, specific groups of people.

Radio ads – reach a narrowed segment of the population and hit them over and over again with the same message. Run ads frequently. It is best used to draw traffic into a place of business.

Cable TV ads – considered radio with pictures and reach small, narrowed groups of people with a single exposure within a chosen geography. Cable TV is a frequency medium, where the same message is delivered over and over again to a small group of people. It offers the power of geographic targeting.

Outdoor – designed to reach adults 18+ with a “reminder” message or “directional”.

Internet – offers fast, around-the-world access to information. A mass medium to reach all ages, all races, all languages of people who have Internet access. An excellent fulfillment vehicle.

Direct mail – will touch a highly targeted group of people within a specific geography as cost efficiently as possible.