Newspaper Classifieds VS Free Classified Ads Online

Online vs. Offline Classified

In the early phase of advertising, magazines and newspapers were generally the two methods used by companies for any kind of marketing and promotional activities.  To post free ads in newspapers has been common for many years, but since everything is going online these days free classified ads are no different.  As compared to traditional newspaper ads, online classified ads have proven to be much more successful.  Think about a few years back, when the only modes of advertising were newspapers and magazines.  The advancement in technology has evolved advertising into various other forms of communication.  In this tech savvy age, there are literally thousands of different ways to advertise and get business.  Free classified ads are one of the most common forms of online advertising.

In the early phase of advertising, magazines and newspapers were generally the two methods used by companies for any kind of marketing and promotional activities.  To post free ads in newspapers has been common for many years, but since everything is going online these days free classified ads are no different.  As compared to traditional newspaper ads, online classified ads have proven to be much more successful.

The first and the foremost reason is that they cost you less or sometimes nothing at all.  Back then, there was no option to post free ads in newspapers, but now online space gives you an opportunity to advertise for free.  Now that people tend to spend most of their time online, it has become easier to reach not only local audience, but audiences around the world.  As compared to the newspaper ads, online free classified ads are less time consuming.   It takes only a few minutes to join and place the ad online which is certainly not the case with newspaper ads.  There you have to approach officials to post ads.

In comparison to traditional ads, free classified ads are much easier and quicker to come across.  Traditional ads are likely to reach limited readers, however when you post free ads, they allow much greater targeting.  For example – if someone is looking for a holiday flight, they might also be looking for a car rental or hotels.  In this case newspaper ads will woefully grasp the market late as compared to the online ads.  Newspapers offer traditional but inefficient “reach” model of advertising which happen to the major difference between the two.  This is the difference that makes online classifieds ads have an edge over traditional ads.  Since almost everyone prefers to do marketing online, digital advertising is facing challenges with new class of competitors.

Since you don’t have to pay anyone any money while posting free classified ads - the profit that you will make from the ads will be all yours.  No one else can claim any percentage of the money you make.  Unique content is by far the most important thing - both in traditional and online ads.  Irrespective of what you advertise about, reader will be only interested if it will offer them something different than the rest.

To cope up with the competition, it is vital to know your audience. You should invest in the technology that not only lets you know about your unique visitors, but also lets you know what they are reading and what their interests are.  It certainly makes more sense to post free ads online instead of newspapers because of their key benefits.  For print media, it is important to understand the gap between the two and adopt technology that helps them to reduce the dropdown.