Social media vs Print media

SOCIAL MEDIA

Technology is continuously upgrading and evolving, therefore the ability to engage with online
customers is easier than ever. Social media advertising has gained substantial outreach over the years, it
has managed to attract billions of people around the world. Social media platforms such as Twitter,
Instagram, Facebook and YouTube are the most popular platforms now a days, hosting billions of users
every day. The birth of social media has brought with itself great benefits for businesses with new
marketing strategies. Over the past few years online advertising has grown rapidly, it has come to a
point where social media advertising is promptly taking over the advertising world.
In a world where information fits in the palm of our hands, brands are turning towards social media
platforms to advertise their products and services. What makes these platforms so appealing is the fact
that they cost considerably less than print advertisements and help reach a significantly larger audience.
Online advertisements can potentially reach more customers from all over the world e.g. Amazon helps
bridge the gap between buyers and sellers from all across the world.
Another plus point is that social media websites helps you reach your target audience based on
information, gender, interests and other personal details of users, this helps businesses strategically
plan their advertisements.
Tech giants such as Facebook and Instagram offer customization, they give you the option to choose the
budget for your ads, this prevents you from overspending moreover, they also have the ability to track
the performance of your ads as they offer insight to check how the audience is being targeted/engaged
and what sort of advertisements are performing the best. This overall helps you in improving your
performance and reaching goals.
Social media advertisement is more convenient since you are able to interact with customers in real
time, answer their queries and even offer them online discounts with a simple click!
Online ads have many options such as a pictorial ad, an animated ad, a video ad or a 3D picture ad, all
these different options along with the use of editing and music helps engage customers more efficiently
as they enjoy the experience more.

The prime idea of advertisements is to connect and convince customers for a product however, internet
users spend a brief amount of time on one web page and swipe up to the next and many users even
install ad-blockers to prevent ads popping up which overall makes it quite difficult to grab attention of
users. As social media has gotten more clever in the recent years it is flooded with business
advertisements now a days, so there is always the risk of having your ad buried beneath those of
competitors. Another disadvantage is that many people don’t have access to the internet or
cellphones/computers which ultimately deprives them of these ads. Even though social media ads are
cheaper than print ads but they certainly do not promise you guaranteed results as social media trends
happen to change constantly.

NEWSPAPER

In Pakistan, newspapers are mostly published in two languages English, and Urdu. It is quite easy for
everyone to get their hands on a newspaper therefore, it is a very common medium for advertisements
due to its cost effective nature. According to marketing reports it’s easier to read print media such as
newspapers rather than digital media, it is also reported that generally customers are more trusting of
newspaper ads. Newspapers advertisements have a wide circulation and are mostly used to target local
audiences, readers spend a few minutes trying to read each and every page of a newspaper which gives
them more time to connect and engage with ads consequently influencing their decisions. As
newspapers are printed on a daily basis, the same advertisements can be repeated in order to remind
the readers daily. In newspaper advertisements you rely on a press kit which tell you how many readers
read a certain publication, their age, location, etc. all this information helps advertiser plan.
In different regions newspapers are published in different languages, this allows the advertisers to
approach their desired market and customers.

Newspapers have been around us for generations, but are now becoming obsolete as the world is
shifting its focus towards social media. In the recent years there has been a significant decline in the
viewership and marketing of newspapers, it is safe to say that they have now become outdated.
Newspaper advertisements are comparatively more expensive than social media advertisements. As
newspapers are published every day, they have a very short life span. Most people read newspapers for
the sole purpose of news, paying almost no attention to advertisements. The foremost disadvantage of
newspapers is that they are not eco-friendly as they’re made up from paper, which comes directly from
cutting trees.

HISTORICAL ANALYSIS OF GROWTH OF ADVERTISEMENT IN PAKISTAN

Advertising is a means of communication which includes marketing tactics that involve paying for space
to promote a product, service, or a cause. Advertisements are also known as ads, their goal is to reach
the maximum amount of and to influence them to fall for a company’s products or services.

After a great period of struggle, Pakistan was formed in 1947. During this time the advertisement
industry in Pakistan was on the verge of collapse, many of the top advertising agencies were located in
Bombay, Delhi and Calcutta which became a part of India. There was an advertising agency based in
Pakistan known as Malani & Co but its owner was a Hindu. Gradually, many multinationals shifted their
focus towards Pakistan and began investing in businesses, as a result many international advertising
agencies came to Pakistan and worked together with local organizations to establish their offices in
various cities of Pakistan.
From the period of 1947 till 1964, the advertising agencies tried to create awareness amongst the local
population through print ads (newspapers, journals, and magazines) and radio. These advertisements
portrayed patriotism through different characters, pictures, and public service messages in order to
create a sentimental impact on the audience. Before this, radio advertisements were solely based on
announcements this, however later on transformed and involved poetry, music and jingles to attract
audiences.
Pakistan Television (PTV) was formed in 1964 and was the central media outlet. Formerly television was
black and white but during 1976 colored transmissions were introduced. During this time many
successful drama serials were created though the period of Gen. Zia-ul-Haq ascertained to be a
hindrance for the media industry of Pakistan due to Zia’s islamization policies.
After the arrival of Television in Pakistan, advertising trends drastically changed. Now Pakistan Television
(PTV) and Radio Pakistan, started using famous movie songs in advertisements as a means to reach
larger audience and promotion. Soon celebrity endorsements became a thing, this was a new method of
advertisement as celebrities became the brand symbol. During the time of 1970-1980 drama soaps
started to emerge and captured the hearts of audiences, this allowed the advertising agencies to shift
their concentration on developing brand new concepts for consumer behavior. The identification of
these ads during this period was based upon trademarks such as song selection, picture quality and
music of the product memory.
With the brand new era of computers in the late 1980s the advertisement industry was completely
transformed, ads were now created with the help of graphics and animations leaving the viewers
fascinated. Now advertisements were created on latest principles, they were merely a brief conceptual
work of art based on three things; product, quality and nature.
During the rule of General Pervaiz Musharraf, the media was liberalized, this saw a huge surge in private
TV channels and once again the industry was set to flourish.
“Short concepts create fames” this concept was introduced in the modern era of advertising where the
notion of visual effects was set forth. Celebrity endorsements now turned into brand ambassadorship.
During the year 2008, Indian celebrities became the brand ambassadors of Pakistani brands such as
Qmobile, Magnum, Veet, Slice etc. Modern animation techniques and Indian production created the
final shape of Pakistani Television commercials such as Safeguard soap through the character of
Commander Safeguard, and Ding Dong through the character of the cat.