Essay Sample on Innovative Media Coverage and Promotion

Introduction

The choice of an advertising medium is determined by its effectiveness, target audience and costs. In this digital age, the youth are spending most of their time on online platforms. According to research conducted by the Pew Research Center, 92% of US-based young adults in the ages of 13-17 visit online platforms on a daily basis (Anderson & Jiang, 2018). 56% of these young adults visit various platforms severally and 24% of the same population are constantly found on online platforms (Pew Research Center, 2018). Such statistics illustrate that advertising should be targeted to such platforms. Young adults in the range of 18-29years also spend a significant amount of their time on online platforms. Research provided by the Pew Research Center indicates that 87% of them use Facebook as their most preferred social media interaction platform. A significant number of prospective students can be found in this age group. Reaching them would therefore require strategic advertising on platforms most frequented by these youth.

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Internet Advertising

Effective advertising is that which aligns with the trends and styles of the young adults (Leonard, 2010). One innovative way of creating positive exposure of the program to young adults is to advertise on the most frequented online platforms. Facebook is the most effective tool for advertising to the target audience since it is the most visited social media platform among adults in the given age bracket (Ohlheiser, 2018). Facebook advertising is advantageous in various ways. First, it allows targeted advertising. Using the platform, an ad can be tailored based on features such as geographic area, marital status, age and income (Celebi, 2015). Facebook advertising is also flexible in terms budget. The platform allows advertisers to choose various advertising options based on their budget. For instance, Facebook has advertising packages that cost as low as 10$ per day. Even though larger advertising packages tend to be more effective, the ability to choose a given package depending on one's financial ability and preferences is a great advantage. Lastly, advertising through Facebook is advantageous because of the fact that it allows tracking and analytics. It is important to gauge the effectiveness of an advertising campaign. It makes it possible to change strategies in case one fails to produce the desired results.

Another way of promoting the program would be to advertise on other social interaction sites such as Instagram, Twitter. Snapchat and YouTube. These sites are frequented by individuals in the given age bracket and also provide flexible and effective advertising options. Social media advertising is the most effective form of internet advertising. Many individuals across the world have access to smartphones which they use to access the internet from their respective locations. Research conducted by the Pew Research Center (2018) indicates that 88% of teens in the United States own smartphones. The young adults who do not own smartphones have other ways through which they access the internet. Even though internet advertising is beneficial in various ways, it also has a few disadvantages. Some people find this type of advertising complicated. The complications stem from the fact that there are various choices when it comes to internet advertising. For instance, there is the option of choosing search advertising whereby ads are directed to specific audiences whenever they conduct searches that are related to the product being offered. There is also the option of choosing native advertising and remarketing advertisement. Apart from choosing among various advertising choices, advertisers also have to choose from various methods of paying for their ads. For instance, for pay-per-click ads, advertisers only pay whenever an internet user clicks on a specific ad. There are also other payment option such as Cost per a thousand Impressions. These various options can be confusing and many advertisers struggle to grasp how they work.

Television Advertising

Apart from internet advertising, television advertising is also another effective way of creating awareness of the program. This type of advertising can be expensive if certain measures are not followed. One way of cutting the costs of television advertising is to use it minimally. Television ads can be run at specific times and also need to be short. Research indicates that a significant number of young adults are turning to reality programs as opposed to other types of programs on television (Mellinger, 2011). Advertising through such programs is therefore an effective way of reaching prospective students. Like internet advertising, television advertising is advantageous in that it allows advertisers to target specific audiences. For instance, to reach young adults, the institution can buy airtime on reality television channels. The other advantage of television advertising is that it perfectly makes use of sight and sound. Unlike other mediums of promotions, it is intrusive in nature and forces the audience to pay attention to the message being put across. The major disadvantage of television advertising is the prohibitive costs involved. It is also difficult and costly to introduce changes to the ad since it involves various processes.

Out of the various media options and means of promotion, internet advertising is the most effective means of creating awareness of the program. It makes it easy to target specific audiences, allows tracking and analytics and provides good advertising packages even for low budgets. The prohibitive costs involved in television advertising make it an unsuitable medium of advertisement.

References

Anderson, M., & Jiang, J. (2018). Teens, Social Media & Technology 2018. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/05/31/teens-social-media-technology-2018/.

Celebi, S. I. (2015). How do motives affect attitudes and behaviors toward internet advertising and Facebook advertising?. Computers in Human Behavior, 51, 312-324.

Leonard, K. (2010). The Advantages of Advertising on the Internet. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-advertising-internet-4028.html.

Mellinger, B. (2011). Advantages & Limitations of Television as an Advertising Medium. Retrieved from https://smallbusiness.chron.com/advantages-limitations-television-advertising-medium-26148.html.

Ohlheiser, A. (2018). Forty-five percent of teens are online 'almost constantly' - and they don't know if it's good for them. Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-intersect/wp/2018/05/31/forty-five-percent-of-teens-are-online-almost-constantly-and-they-dont-know-if-its-good-for-them/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.c358291ef513.

Pew Research Center. (2018). Social Media Use 2018: Demographics and Statistics. Retrieved from http://www.pewinternet.org/2018/03/01/social-media-use-in-2018/.