Advertising Services

As an advertising agency, one of the main questions our clients ask first is what sort of advertising services we offer.

Advertising is a very broad field that can cover multiple aspects such as campaign planning, content creative, video planification, media buying or just creating strategies.

Similarly, there is also another factor to take into account such as channel, there are several advertising media channels to take into consideration depending on the advertising services that you might need;

Let’s start with the basics, what does it mean advertising services? It generally means

According to Wikipedia, advertising is a marketing communication process that utilizes a sponsored message to promote or sell a product to the public.

Sponsors of advertising are usually companies but this could include non-profit organisations, governmental entities or other institutions.

1. What constitutes advertising?

Even though some people still venture themselves into advertising by promotion their services by themselves, advertising requires professional assessment.

As it can be very delicate legally speaking. In the United Kingdom, The Consumer Protection from Unfair Trading Regulations regulates advertising to ensure it compels with the law to protect citizens by ensuring that no advertising or promotional material contains any of the following:

including false or deceptive messages
leaving out important information
using aggressive sales techniques

For more information, visit the government’s advertising and marketing regulatory website. Or else feel free to send us a message using our contact form.

2. Advertising Services List

Below I have listed all the major advertising services an agency offers, it is important to take into account that when an organization hires an advertising agency usually delegate to this one the entire advertising process from creation and strategy to the process of purchases slot within a media channel.

There are multiple advertising services an ad agency can offer from campaign creation to planification or even market research, to keep this simple, I will outline the main services and but will list all the other options.

2.1. Creative ideation service

Any part within the advertising process take a significantly important role, it is true that the creative process of an advertising campaign could change the entire outcome of that one in particular.

As traditional media buying has been perceived as a simpler task often decided by data and statistics, it still could be decisive in the success of an advertising campaign.

Even so, some company or organization decide to delegate the creative process to an ad agency while they themselves handle the rest of the process.

The creative process usually involves:

Market research – it could include social listening, understanding audience data.
Establishing goals and objectives.
The Brainstorming and experimentation loop to come up with ideas that will deliver the most effective message to an audience.
Test the creative message or content and optimise if necessary.

2.2. Media buying service

Media buying services involve mainly a company devising a strategy and handle the process of acquiring media advertising slots.

To put it simply, an advertising agency will act an intermediary and negotiator to get their clients the best possible rates for their advertisements.

Agencies usually maintain close ties with media providers – television, radio or any media channels – which helps them and makes the buying process smoother.

In case you are wondering what a media channel, it refers to a particular medium by which an advertiser’s campaign will be released.

Traditional channels include billboards, radio station and mail among many others.

Choosing the right media channel would play a crucial role in the success of a campaign as different channels have different audiences and depending on advertisers goals and audience, for example, a sports company would probably choose to advertise on a sports magazine or website. The main principles of media buying:

Marketing research to estimate which media is optimal for the campaign needs.
Process of acquiring and negotiating media time or space lots.
Calibrating the outcome of the campaign and adjust accordingly.

To finally makes this section as clear as possible, I would outline the five steps within the buying process:

Market research to identify the target audience,
Set Objectives
Planification containing specific outlets, prices, allocated budget.
Negotiating
Launch
Measure results

2.3. Planning service

On rare occasions, an organization might hire an advertising agency to plan their entire campaign while they will actually executive themselves by completing the main tasks of buying themselves while all the leg work will be carried out by the agency.

2.4. Full advertising service

Full service mainly refers to the process by which an advertising agency manages and optimizes an advertisers entire campaign including planification, market research, media buying and creation.

This is probably the most popular type of service as it is what people are more familiar with when it comes to what advertising agencies do.

This process will include all the advertising services mentioned above together.

2.5. Full list of advertising services

As I mentioned above, the following list includes a full and comprehensive selection of the major advertising services offered by advertising agencies, please bear in mind that some agencies specialised in particular channels, services and industries.

For example, media buying agencies have proliferated significantly in the last few decades and we can find more and more social media advertising agencies which only and exclusively dedicate themselves to social media. Below there is a list with the major advertising services:

Strategic creation.
Planning.
Buying.
Creation.
Paid Search.
Television advertising.
OOH and Billboard Advertising.
Radio.
Print media advertising.
Social Media advertising.

3. What are the main advertising channels?

Online

Online advertising has become extremely popular over the last few years, partly thanks to its versatility and its relatively easiness to monitor and track results but also because in its early days it was significantly cheaper compared to traditional media and it has little entry barrier as anyone can start advertising for as low as fifty cents.

Many marketing agencies and freelancers offer this kind of advertising services but it is important to rely on the right agency, not just an amateur.

Needless to say that online advertising should have an article of its own due to the fact it is so broad and complex but just to keep things to a minimum, I will outline the major online digital advertising channels:

Google search ads
Bing Search Ads
Google Shopping
Facebook for business which includes Instagram and Facebook
Pinterest
Online video and digital television

Print Media

Print media including mail marketing (letters, leaflets and brochures) enjoy great popularity during the 80s and 90s however since the beginning of the digital era, marketers and advertisers have focused their efforts on digital channels.

However, print advertising statistics (see the full article on print advertisement effectiveness) have proved that it is very effective.

It has a better reputation than email marketing and a higher opening rate than its electronic counterpart.

Outdoor channel

It refers to street furniture, billboards and any advertising format consumers find while they are out of their homes. I have written an entire article on outdoor advertising.

75 % of travellers and commuters have seen a digital billboard in the last 30 days
Statistic – Fact

Television and cinema

Television advertising ( I will leave smart television apps and online television on the side ) refers to non-on-demand television formats where viewers are exposed to ad while watching audiovisual content.

Cinema advertising could be both direct or indirect. Direct refers to any commercial released right before screening the motion picture whereas indirect applies to any promotional propaganda added subtly to the content of the film.

There facts about television advertising to understand this media better:

When a TV commercial showed people chewing two pieces of gum at one time, sales doubled. As people also started to chew 2 at a time, just like they’d seen on TVs
Statistic – Fact

U.S. TV ad spending was up by 3.1% in 2018, finishing the year at $72.4 billion.
Statistic – Fact

Radio

Radio advertising comprises any media involving audio message intended to be listened to via a private reception such as a phone, radio receiver or a computer. Examples of radio media include podcasts and radio channels listened to via a computer.

Online radio consumption has increased over the last years and nowadays it accounts for 20% of the total
Statistic – Fact

There are more country music stations in America than any other type with over 2,000. News/talk follows with 1,375 stations
Statistic – Fact

If you need any help planning or creating your next advertising campaign, get in touch now. Just click here!