Which advertising channel is right for your event?

Tv? Radio? Internet? Newspaper? Magazine? With thousands of advertising channels available, choosing the right one has become increasingly difficult. This is a major concern as the wrong channel will fail to deliver your message to your intended audience and will hamper your event's success.

Here are a few questions that you should to ask before selecting an advertising channel for your event:

• What is your event size?
• Where is your event located?
• What is your audience type - fixed or diverse?
• What is your budget?

As you answer these questions, you slowly but steadily eliminate channels that will not work for you. For example, if you are organizing a doctor's conference for doctors practicing in Mumbai, buying a TVC spot on popular channel is both pointless and expensive. You will deplete your budget without seeing an impressive rise in conversion rates. A better channel for a medical event would be a medical magazine as it will reach your intended audience for a cost effective rate.

To simplify your decision-making process further, here is an at-a-glance look at some popular advertising mediums and their pros and cons:

Strengths Weakness TV Versatile medium that uses both sight and sound to communicate Promote events on a national, regional or local level Reach out to fixed and diverse markets based on your channel choice Prime time spots receive maximum viewing audience but are expensive TV ads are short in duration and so, are easy to miss or ignore There are limited spots available Not suitable for event with a set audience e.g. pilots Radio Promote on a local or regional level Target specific markets or large, diverse markets Excellent way to reach commuting audiences Radio ads are short and can be missed easily Each channel has a specific audience and you may have to purchase spots with multiple channels to deliver your message effectively Newspapers Promote on a national, regional or local level to both select and diverse markets Newspapers are published daily and are a great way to generate instant response / action Publish detailed messages Long lasting impact (people keep the entire paper or clip ) Readers are selective, they might not read the page your ad is on National newspapers are expensive and are not feasible for small or local events Magazines Reach selected markets easily and effectively Large audience (multiple readers read a single magazine) Permanent as readers keep acquired magazines to re-read Only approximate readership figures available Strict deadlines to place ads Difficult to make changes once ad is placed Reader may forget about the ad beacuse of the time lapse btween magazines published and event date Internet Promote on a global level for a cost effective rate Communicate to fixed and diverse audiences easily Interactive 'Youth' friendly medium Instant changes possible at any time Language Barriers Time Differences No very effective to reach a 60+ audience Audience needs to have at least a basic level of computer skills

To summarize, all channels have their pros and cons; ultimately, you need to decide which channel will best promote your event. By choosing the right a channel, you will spend less money and will retain a bigger budget for other essential activities.