# 6.2 Media selection

Figure 13 It is important to select the right media for your audience

You have learned a variety of marketing communication tools in previous sections. The the next stage of creating a marketing communication campaign is to developing a media strategy. The purpose is to identify the specific media classes and media vehicles that your campaign will use based on your objectives. Broadly speaking, media falls into one of two categories:

1. linear, which refers to one-way communication
2. interactive, in which there is potential for two-way communication.

Sometimes you may see these categories referred to as traditional and new media or offline and online media, respectively. However, these categorisations refer more to the underlying technology rather than the medium itself. Here, you will use the linear vs interactive demarcation. Table 4 gives examples of media types, classes and vehicles within each category.

## Table 4 Media Selection

Media Category | Media Type | Media Class | Media vehicles (in the UK)
--- | --- | --- | ---
Linear Media | Broadcast | Television | The X Factor, Coronation Street
Radio | Capital FM, Heart FM
Print | Newspaper | The Sunday Times, Daily Mail
Magazine | Good Food, MacFormat
Out-of-home (OOH) | Billboards | 96-, 48-, 6-sheet posters
Transit | Underground, buses
Ambient | Litter bins, disposable cups
Other | Cinema, exhibitions and events | Odeon, Cineworld, Ideal Home Show, Good Food Live
Interactive Media |  | Websites | Brand sites
Social media | TikTok, Snapchat
Apps | Mobile games
Banner advertising | Pop-ups
Email | Newsletters
Search engines | Google, DuckDuckGo

(Adapted from Baines and Fill, 2017, p. 259)

OpenLearn - Marketing communications in the digital age
Except for third party materials and otherwise, this content is made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 Licence, full copyright detail can be found in the acknowledgements section. Please see full copyright statement for details.