ATL VS BTL Advertising

 Above the line Advertising

above the line advertising is advertising message that are then broadcast a large audiences in an unsophisticated way of targeting via traditional offline media such as:

- radio

- TV ads

- billboards

- newspapers

- magazines 

these messages have huge potential especially when they are they are broadcast on a popular TV channel or in a large circulation national newspaper. above the line channels are well suited to brand building for this reason. this is because there is an opportunity to potentially be in front of millions of eyes. 

however, above the line advertising has it's disadvantages for example it is largely related to cost. prime time slots demand prime rates and it can be difficult to track your investment. additionally, there is little opportunity to target in a sophisticated way but certain TV channels can be selected based on audience. 

above the line channels are 'push' channels which basically means they are channels used to push out messaging in an unsolicited way to audiences that might not have shown any prior interest in brand or product. 

example of above the line advertising:

Below the line Advertising

below the line advertising is when messages are delivered to specific audiences. the audiences specificity depends on the channel being used to deliver the message. an example of this is paid advertising services which allow advertisers to target based on various different demographics such as gender, location and age. on the other hand, SEO or PR services allows broader targeting options that typically reach wider, less targeted audiences. this means below the line channels are really useful for delivering highly targeted product messages to smaller audiences who are more likely to convert as a direct result of the advertising message. 

below the line advertising can be tracked more easily and accurately than above the line advertising. marketers can trace the precise ROI or a particular message, or campaign because of the data available. this means below the line advertising spend can be scrutinised. Below the line activities are more audience centric and the intention behind the engagement shows that there is the opportunity to convert these users.

example of below the line advertising:

written by Daniel Hagger.