Vice President of Marketing
Web Based Co. LLC
New York
Dear Mr. Chong
The attached report which you commissioned on January 4, 2013 gives our finding on the advertising mix that you should employ at your newly created company.
Our report includes a review of the available channels that the company can use for effective advertisement and gives its recommendations based on findings in regards to cost, coverage, and other factors.
I look forward to a discussion with you on the recommendations and will gladly oblige to a meeting with you and your staff regarding this report.
Sincerely
Introduction
Marketing for the company is very essential to the ultimate financial success of the company. There are several options available for the company to use, and their appropriateness will be determined by the cost implications of each and the capacity to reach the targeted audience. Online marketing is recommended for the bulk of the company’s marketing needs since it has lower costs and can reach a large number of the target market. However, the company should also consider alternatives such as advertising in local television and radio channels, local newspapers and magazines. This report will advise on the best advertising channel that the company can adopt to help it register a high level of marketing success.
Discussion
Online Advertising
The most appropriate method of advertising that the company can use is online advertising. The company is web based, and the use of technology for their advertising will be important to reinforce the confidence of potential customers that it can indeed deliver. The internet has become an important channel of communication, and it offers various platforms which can be utilised for effective advertising (Clow & Baack 2007).
One of the methods that the company will need to employ is to advertise through other popular websites. It would be important that such advertisements be placed in websites that are likely to be visited by the target market. In this case, it would be prudent to place such advertisements on websites that the local community which the web company intends to serve. In this case, advertisements can be placed on the websites of local schools, hospitals, businesses and other institutions which serve the local community (Clow & Baack 2007).
Another method of online advertising that the company will utilise in a most cost effective way is the use of social media platforms. Social media such as Facebook and twitter will offer an almost free platform for advertising. Developing a twitter handle and a Facebook page will likely be the most effective and cost friendly method of advertising that the company will undertake. It can then through these make inroads into the target market (Clow & Baack 2007).
The use of online advertising is recommended because it will give the company’s advertising a wider coverage and thus reach a large audience. It is also possible to make it very targeted, and reach a particular segment of the population or a certain geographical area. The method is also affordable and its costs are much lower when compared to other forms of traditional advertising. Other advantages associated with online advertising are the speed with which it operates, and the ability to track and measure effectively through online advertising analytics tools which are currently available.
Radio and Television advertising
The second method of advertising that can be effectively employed by the company to its benefit is through the use of television and radio advertisements. Television is still a major channel of communication that reaches a very wide audience. Placing advertisements on television will contribute to creation of awareness of the existence of the company and the services that it offers. Television advertising is also recommended because it can easily monitored to reach a particular geographic area, mostly by the use of local television channels whose coverage is limited to a particular geographical area. The timing of the advertisements can also be used to gauge the number of audience reached, with prime time advertisements used to reach the largest audience (Altstiel & Grow 2006).
One major disadvantage of using radio and television advertisement is the high costs involved. It is known that advertising on television is most expensive since the rates are given per second. There are also other secondary costs involved in the production of television and radio advertisements such as actors, special effects and video or audio footage, and for a start up company like this, radio and television advertisements should be limited to the minimum possible level.
Newspaper and magazine advertising
The company should also make use of newspapers and magazines in its advertising. Newspapers usually have known circulation numbers which the company can use to estimate the level of coverage that it receives. Newspapers also have an advantage over other methods of advertising in that they offer a good element of repeat exposure. It has been established that readers will need to see an advertisement for an average of eight times before they can respond to it (Kerin 2012).
Newspaper advertisements are cheaper compared to radio and television advertisements. The rates offered by newspapers are much lower and the cost of production of those advertisements is much lower. It is also an established fact that newspapers have a better local market penetration than other forms of advertising. It is also possible to have more options in terms of availability of space and advertisement configurations. Newspapers also reach non readers who will form a secondary target market (Kotler & Keller 2012).
Business to Business directory
The local business to business directory can also be used for advertising. Since most local business to business directories are updated frequently, they will provide an exposure of the company to other businesses. In most cases, a listing in the local business directory will provide a means of verification of the existence of the company to customers who want to respond to advertisements made in other media platforms. Such a listing would also have low cost compared to other forms since payments for such are made periodically (Mirzoeff 2002).
Recommendations
It is recommended that the bulk of the advertising for the company be conducted through online marketing. This is because such a method involves considerably lower costs and has a wider coverage. It is also possible to use web analytics tools to objectively monitor the performance of the online advertisements that are placed. For a web based company that relies on technology, the use of online marketing will also be the most reasonable since it is expected that the company will be conducting its business online.
Newspapers should take the second largest portion of the advertising budget. Just like online advertising, it is possible to objectively measure the circulation figures of newspapers and thus be able to gauge the audience that is reached. Its cost is also reasonable to a certain degree, and it offers repeated advertising and potential customers are thus more likely to respond to it.
Television and radio advertising will be ranked third in the allocation of the advertising budget. The high cost involved means that its use will be limited to a few advertisements during prime time intended to create awareness of the company and the services that it offers among consumers. The advertisements will not run for a long period of time and the minimum rates for advertising should be found among the local television and radio stations.
Business to business Directory advertising will take the minimum budgetary allocation. This is not reflective of its expected impact, rather because the mode is cheap and the payments are made for specified periods of time. The business to business directory listing will act as a method of verification of the company’s address to those businesses or customers who wish to conduct business with the company by providing physical address and contacts.
Conclusion
Based on the recommendations outlined, it is suggested that the advertising budgetary allocation for each mode of advertising be as follows.
Budgetary allocation for advertising
This mix of advertising will be the most appropriate for the company and will result in the most optimal and the company will most likely recoup its investment in the advertising of its business.
References
Altstiel, T. & Grow, J. (2006). Advertising Strategy: Creative Tactics From the Outside/In. CA: Sage Publication Inc.
Clow, K. & Baack, D. (2007). Integrated advertising, promotion, and marketing communications. 3rd ed. New York: Pearson Education.
Glen, D. (September 2006). "Consumer Research and Semiotics: Exploring the Morphology of Signs, Symbols, and Significance". The Journal of Consumer Research 13 (2): 196.
Kerin, A. (2012). Marketing: The Core. New York: McGaw-Hill Ryerson.
Kotler, P. & Keller, L. K. (2012). Marketing management. New York: Pearson Education Limited.
Mirzoeff, N. (2002). The visual culture reader, New York: Routledge.
