Plain English · Named Benchmarks
What Are the 7 Main Types of Advertising?
The seven main types of advertising are paid search, social media, display, native, print, broadcast, and outdoor. A local business usually needs two of them.
Guides disagree on the labels — some split direct mail out of print, some fold native into display — but the seven below cover nearly every ad a business can buy. More useful than the list: what each one costs in published benchmarks, which ones make sense for a local service business, and the one place no ad can buy you into.
The seven types, and who they’re for
| Type | What it is | Reaches people who… | Fit for a local business |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paid search | Ads on Google or Bing results pages | Are searching for you right now | Best — intent is highest; avg click $5.42 (WordStream 2026) |
| Social media | Ads in Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn feeds | Weren't looking, but match a profile | Good for awareness and offers; cheaper per click ($1.88 lead-campaign avg, WordStream) |
| Display | Banners across websites and apps | Are reading something else | Weak for direct response; okay for retargeting past visitors |
| Native | Sponsored articles and listings styled like the page | Are reading related content | Rarely worth it under a regional budget |
| Newspapers, magazines, mailers | Live in a defined area | Direct mail to a tight service area can work; hard to measure | |
| Broadcast | TV and radio | Everyone in a market | Regional budgets only |
| Outdoor | Billboards, transit, truck wraps, signage | Pass by | A wrapped truck is the cheapest outdoor ad most trades will ever buy |
Lists compared: Branded Agency and Indeed. Cost figures: WordStream 2026 Google Ads benchmarks (13,474 US campaigns) and WordStream Facebook benchmarks (updated September 2025).
Which types should a local service business actually use?
Two, maybe three. Paid search, because it catches people at the moment of need. Social, for offers and reminders to people in your area. And outdoor in its cheapest form — your own trucks and yard signs. Display, native, and broadcast are built for budgets that can afford to be ignored most of the time. Before any of them, run the math on our $20-a-day page and read PPC vs SEO.
How big has digital advertising become?
US digital ad revenue hit $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9% year over year, according to the IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report released in April 2026. That’s the first four types on the list — search, social, display, native — plus streaming. The report doesn’t state digital’s share of all ad spend, so we won’t invent one.
The eighth channel: the one you can't buy
When a customer asks ChatGPT or Google’s AI “who’s a good electrician near me,” none of the seven types puts you in the answer. It’s assembled from your website, your reviews, your listings, and what else mentions you. No ad product exists for it. That makes the organic foundation the one channel worth finishing before you buy any of the other seven — it’s what Get Recommended does, for $97 a month flat.
Order of operations
Foundation, then paid search, then the rest
Ads send strangers to your website and your phone. If the site doesn’t plainly say what you do and nobody answers, every type on this list is a way to lose money faster. Finish the foundation — clear site, complete Google profile, reviews, consistent listings — then buy search, then social. Check where the foundation stands with the free audit below.
Before you buy ads, see if the free channel is working
Free audit: whether Google’s AI and ChatGPT name your business when customers ask. No signup.
Types of Advertising — FAQ
What are the 7 main types of advertising?▾
Paid search (ads on Google and Bing results), social media ads (Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, LinkedIn), display ads (banners across websites and apps), native ads (sponsored content that matches the page it's on), print (newspapers, magazines, mailers), broadcast (TV and radio), and outdoor (billboards, transit, signage). Different guides shuffle the labels — some fold display and native together, or split out direct mail — but those seven cover nearly every ad a business can buy.
Which type of advertising is best for a small business?▾
For a local service business, paid search first, because it reaches people at the moment they need you: someone typing 'emergency plumber' is a customer, not an audience. WordStream's 2026 benchmarks put the average Google Ads click at $5.42 across 13,474 US campaigns. Social ads are second, cheaper per click (WordStream's Facebook lead campaigns average $1.88 a click) but reaching people who weren't looking. Outdoor and print work for brand-building in a tight service area. Broadcast is rarely worth it below a regional budget.
What's the difference between advertising and marketing?▾
Advertising is the part you pay for placement. Marketing is everything that gets you customers — including the free parts: your website, your Google Business Profile, your reviews, and being named when someone asks Google or ChatGPT who to hire. Most small businesses overspend on the seven paid types before finishing the free foundation, and then pay to send clicks to a site that doesn't convert them.
How big is digital advertising compared to traditional?▾
US digital ad revenue reached $294.6 billion in 2025, up 13.9% year over year, according to the IAB/PwC Internet Advertising Revenue Report released in April 2026. That's paid search, social, display, native, and streaming combined. The report doesn't publish a share of total ad spend, so we won't guess one — but the direction is not in doubt.
Is there a type of advertising that gets me into ChatGPT's answers?▾
No. None of the seven types buys a place in the recommendations ChatGPT or Google's AI give when a customer asks who to hire. Those are assembled from public information — your website, reviews, listings, mentions — and there's no ad product for them. That's why we treat the organic foundation as the eighth channel: it's the only one you can't buy and the only one that keeps working after the budget stops.
More honest answers: The 4 types of digital marketing · Is PPC better than SEO? · Is $20 a day good for Google Ads? · All guides