Product advertising: Benefits, types, examples, and strategies

Reading Time: 10 minutes

Most businesses think brand and product advertising are the same thing. But the truth is they are poles apart.

Product advertising focuses on what you offer, while brand advertising focuses on who you are as a brand.

So if you’re looking for ways to advertise your products and create demand, look no further.

This detailed guide will cover everything about product advertising: the benefits, the many types, real examples, and step-by-step strategies.

What is product advertising?

Product advertising is a marketing strategy that attempts to create product demand through promotions across channels, such as email, SMS, television, print, ads, radio, and social media.

A well-executed product advertising strategy can reach the right target market and educate them on various benefits and features of your products, and why they stand out from the competition.

Product advertising entails:

• Educating customers on what features your product has
• Showcasing how the product can be used
• Educating the target market on the many product benefits 
• Reaching customers on the right marketing channels

Now you may be wondering how product advertising is different from product marketing.

Product marketing aims to develop and define products with the brand’s identity in mind. It involves identifying customers’ needs and tailoring market-ready products to meet them.

Meanwhile, product advertising is a subset or a tool of product marketing that helps you promote products so they reach the right people through the right channels.

From newspaper adverts to digital marketing, product advertising has constantly evolved with trends. Today, there’s a great focus on weaving in emotional storytelling and personalizing user experiences based on their psychology, behaviors, and preferences. Digital channels like emails, SMS, SEO, and social media have made this much-needed perspective shift possible. 

Why is product advertising important?

Product advertising can be a key catalyst for increasing sales, whether you’re a new small online business or an established one. Below are some reasons to implement a product advertising strategy right away:

Improve brand recognition and visibility

Product advertising helps reinforce brand recognition and visibility through your products. L’oreal’s “Because you’re worth it” and Apple’s “Think different” are some of the best examples of brands advertising products using slogans, brand colors, or logos, thus letting people remember the brand and what it stands for.

Enable better customer connections 

Using product advertisements to convey product benefits that solve their pain points lets you establish customer connections based on trust and understanding. Further, learning about your customers’ preferences and personalizing product features that align with their needs can boost brand loyalty.

Hyper-target customers

The quick and direct nature of product advertising lets you target and reach the right audience. This way, you can hyper-target product promotions across channels.

Get a competitive edge

Many brands selling the same product do not mean you can give up establishing your unique product narrative. Product advertisements give you the creative freedom to create an experience that potential customers can resonate with and choose over competitors.

It’s safe to say advertising plays a vital role in increasing brand recognition and overall sales figures easily, thanks to various technical tools at our disposal.

For example, Snatcher, an ecommerce brand based in South Africa, offers various products across segments like beauty, electronics, and more.

The brand made over $120k and 74% more revenue using Omisend’s email automation solution to target customers who abandoned their shopping carts. All they did was use Omnisend’s pre-made abandoned cart automation workflows and email templates to advertise to customers most likely to finish their purchase.

Read the full case study here.

Types of product advertising

Marketers and business owners have various channels at their disposal to successfully spread the word about their products. Let’s discuss the 10 main types of product advertising you can explore:

1. Digital advertising

This form of product advertising is all about using online channels to promote your products so they reach audiences across various online platforms like social media, search, display ads, and email marketing:

Online display ads

Display ads are targeted ads that appear as website banners, popups, and sidebars on websites for your preferred user segment, for example, specific demographics like age group, gender, location, etc.

Online display ads contain a mixture of product images, text, or your brand logo with a URL that links to a landing page so potential customers can learn more or purchase a product.

Social media

Social media ads are paid product ads appearing on your target audience’s social feeds on networks like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and X.

Search engine marketing (SEM)

SEM refers to running product-specific ads like Google Ads. They can help you reach new customers who are browsing the internet for specific product features and benefits.

Email marketing

Email marketing involves setting up and sending direct email campaigns to advertise a product and offer exclusive benefits on purchase. For example, you could send a product launch discount campaign to re-engage subscribers.

Content marketing

Another potent form of digital product advertising, content marketing involves educating customers about your products through valuable content like blog posts, infographics, case studies, videos, and more.

Mobile advertising

This refers to product ads appearing on mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. These product ads are mobile-optimized and can also appear on apps and websites. For example, promotional SMS, web push notifications, and in-app notifications.

Influencer marketing

This is when you collaborate with a popular influencer in your industry to promote your product to their audiences and boost sales.

2. Product advertising via television

Television advertising has been around for decades and is still a preferred promotional channel for a few online businesses due to its capability of reaching diverse audiences across the globe.

There are three major forms of TV advertising:

Commercial spots

Commercial spots are traditional TV commercials usually lasting 15-60 seconds and appearing between TV programs.

Sponsored programs

You can sponsor a certain segment of a TV show or program to feature your product and its features and benefits subtly. For example, naturally weaving your product into a scene in a TV show.

Infomercials

Infomercials are longer in form compared to regular commercials. You can air a standalone infomercial if you need more time to advertise a product and discuss its features and benefits in detail.

3. Radio advertising

Radio advertising is another traditional yet most sought-after product advertising type and is categorized as:

Radio commercials

Online businesses can pay for a spot on a popular radio show to feature their product. These spots are mostly between 15 to 90 seconds long and can be paired with attractive voiceovers and background music.

Sponsorships

With radio sponsorships, you can sponsor a segment just to advertise your product and increase its awareness.

4. Print advertising 

Print advertising is promoting products across print media, such as:

Newspapers and magazines

Ads in daily newspapers or weekly/monthly magazines that your target audience subscribes to or is interested in.

Brochures and flyers

These are distributed at events or direct mail and intend to capture the reader’s attention with product images, slogans, and exclusive discounts.

5. Outdoor product advertising

Outdoor advertising intends to reach vast audiences and is strategically displayed in high-traffic public spaces. There are three major forms of outdoor advertising:

Billboards and posters

These are displayed in public spaces and occupy a larger space than other product ads, for example, on highways, popular hangouts, etc.

Transit advertising

These are product ads displayed across public transportation vehicles and stations like metros, bus stands, and airports.

Street furniture

These are ads on public furniture, such as park benches, kiosks, and bus shelters.

6. Direct marketing

Direct marketing involves one-on-one communication with a target audience. The two most common types of direct marketing to advertise products are:

Direct mail

Use personalized letters, catalogs, or handwritten postcards to capture customers’ attention to your products and their benefits.

Telemarketing  

Telemarketing relies on direct selling using phone calls to engage prospects and push them to learn more or purchase your product.

7. Event marketing

Event marketing lets you create a more immersive and personalized customer experience by allowing you to interact directly with potential customers. It can be broadly classified into two types:

Trade shows and exhibitions

You can set up booths or displays to showcase your products and interact with potential customers within your industry’s trade shows and exhibitions.

Sponsored events

Sponsor community runs, sports, cultural, or local events to boost product and brand visibility. Doing so can also give your brand media attention and exposure.

8. Point of Sale (POS) advertising

POS advertising is great for online brands looking to attract potential customers in a physical retail atmosphere. Below are two types:

In-store displays

These product ads are strategically placed inside a store where your target customers are likely to shop. For example, you could position ads as standalone floor stands, on shelves, or touch screens inside a mall.

Product demos and sampling

You could send over a sales representative to demonstrate your product in person or set up a booth to distribute product samples for prospects to try and buy.

9. Product advertising in cinema

Cinema ads for products are short, engaging ads appearing before screening or displayed as posters across hallways. For example:

Pre-show commercials 

These are engaging video product ads shown to the audience before movie screenings.

Lobby promotions

These are standalone posters on product promotions displayed in a cinema’s lobby.

10. Experiential marketing

Experiential marketing involves advertising products by creating unique experiences for audiences instead of promoting your products through traditional channels. Two examples of this form of product advertising are:

Interactive campaigns

You could host interactive events offline or online, targeting potential customers who may be keen on using your products. Use a mixture of email and event marketing to capture their attention and keep up interest.

Popup shops

Online brands can get a taste of in-person selling by setting up popup shops and inviting customers to check out products.

Product advertising examples

A good product advertising campaign can communicate the product’s value proposition clearly and resonate with the target market.

Here are three brands giving competitors a run for their money with strategic product advertising:

1. Airbnb – Made possible by Hosts campaign

Airbnb tapped into experiential and content marketing to educate its audience on magical experiences hosts across the globe offer.

The brand shot high-quality videos to ignite a sense of nostalgia within its customers and get them to book trips again. Despite the campaign’s infancy, Airbnb reported a spike in website traffic across customer touchpoints.

2. M.A.C Cosmetics – personalized email campaigns

M.A.C.’s email promotions include tailored product recommendations, makeup tips, introductions to new collections, and exclusive offers for products.

Evidently, the brand segments its audience based on their purchase histories and preferences so potential customers can engage with their product advertising campaign. 

3. McDonald’s – outdoor advertising

McDonald’s billboards catch attention like no other brand. One such outdoor product advertising that stood out to us was the “Breakfast menu” sundial billboard placed across locations in the U.S.

Tips for your product advertising strategies

Below are some recommendations to market a new product effectively through the right medium:

Get to know your audience

Not everyone is your target market. Identify your ideal audience, then drill down to specifics, such as their interests, location, and behaviors.

Understanding this gives you insights about choosing the right medium to communicate with them and the kind of messaging that aligns with their interests.

Define the product’s USP

Determine your product’s unique selling proposition so that you can weave it into the messaging and maintain consistency.

Research and shortlist channels

Not every channel may be a great fit for you.

So research options and shortlist how each option relates to your audiences. You could also implement a multichannel approach to product advertising, such as emails, mobile ads, and content marketing.

Keep budget in mind

Billboards, TV commercials, and a few other product advertising types are some of the costliest mediums, unlike email or Google Ads. So choose a marketing platform by considering the ROI potential and overall budget in mind.

Product advertising with Omnisend

Omnisend is an automated solution to product advertising, helping you set up personalized customer experiences across multiple channels.

Here’s a step-by-step guide to automating your next product advertising campaign with Omnisend:

Step 1: Set up your Omnisend account

You can start with the free-forever plan or choose your preferred plan that suits your advertising needs.

Once you’ve verified and activated your email, you will be redirected to your Omnisend account. Next, connect your online store (Shopify, WooCommerce, Wix, etc.) to sync customer data with Omnisend. 

Step 2: Understand your audience

Omnisend offers pre-built customer segments so you can improve your targeting. For example, you can choose from segments based on shopping behaviors, message engagement, customer lifecycle stages, and more.

Step 3: Create engaging content

Content is the heart and soul of effective product advertising.

You can choose from tried and tested email campaign templates for product promotions and edit them using Omnisend’s easy drag-and-drop editor. Further, Omnisend helps you personalize campaigns based on subscribers’ needs, purchase histories, and engagement trends.

Step 4: Utilize SMS marketing

SMS marketing is one of the most cost-effective ways to reach your customers directly.

With Omnisend, you can automatically send relevant product promotional texts to your target audience based on specific triggers, such as product abandonment, browsing history, and preference.

Step 5: Implement automation

With Omnisend’s automation solutions, you can:

• Set up automated email and SMS campaigns to win over lost customers and reignite interest
• Create automated email campaigns, such as welcome series, product abandonment, re-engagement, etc., for new and old customers
• Omnisend’s ready-to-use signup forms help you collect email addresses and phone numbers and offer exclusive incentives
• Create exit-intent popups to capture visitors’ attention before they leave your site

Step 6: Use Omnisend’s reporting features

Use Omnisend’s Sales Dashboard to keep track of your advertising campaign’s ROI and to see the full picture of your total revenue.

Conclusion

Advertising options have come a long way to cater to the audience’s personal needs.

Online brands showing product ads that people want to see and hear are at the top of their game.

But which product advertising type and strategy is right for you? The short answer is it can vary.

However, understanding your target audience, establishing a product USP, testing various channels, implementing automation, and refining results will help you identify the most effective way to boost product sales.