When it comes to advertising your business, you have a number of choices. You can use more traditional methods, such as direct mail, radio and TV, print publications and billboards or you can go with electronic methods, which include websites, blogs email campaigns and social media. Both types of advertising have advantages and disadvantages.

One of the biggest considerations when looking to do marketing and advertising is cost. When it comes to cost, newer electronic methods provide a huge advantage. It costs nothing to set up and maintain your own social media page, and it doesn’t cost too much more to have a website or online blog. If you do most of the work yourself, it will cost you next to nothing, although it can take up a huge amount of your time. If you don’t want to spend the time or don’t feel like you have the expertise to post to a blog or social media sites, you can hire someone to do it for you, but that will raise your cost. While traditional media are more expensive than newer electronic forms, there are degrees of cost. Something customized such as custom fabric and vinyl banner printing will be much more expensive than business cards, for example. Outdoor forms of advertising such as billboards, cost much less than some other traditional forms of advertising. They cost 80% less than television, 60% less than newspapers and 50% less than radio.

While cost is a significant factor to consider, reaching the right audience is another factor. Social media sites may be cheap, but if your clientele is mostly senior citizens, then they might not be very effective. Even small businesses, which often have the least amount of money to spend on marketing and advertising, see the value in traditional mediums. More than three-fourths of them say their ideal marketing strategy involves both print and digital forms of communication. It can also make your business stand out to provide something tangible to customers and potential customers with your name on it. It can be as simple as a pencil or business card or it can be an elaborate custom fabric and vinyl banner printing item. How effective are such efforts? More than eight in 10 people say they remember a company’s name when they receive custom printed items with a business logo or name on them.