Below the Line

Below The Line (Short: BTL) marketing is a marketing strategy that intends to reach people without using the classic mass media such as TV, print articles, billboards or radio. Instead it tries to reach potential customers via modern, technology driven ways of advertising such as mail campaigns, retargeting, targeted display ads or search engine advertising.

Thus Below The Line marketing is a lot more precise at the delivery of advertising inventory and also a lot cheaper than big Above The Line (ATL) marketing campaigns. Another advantage of Below The Line marketing campaigns is that companies can track the effectiveness of these campaigns a lot more precise compared to measuring the effectiveness of Above The Line marketing campaigns.

When companies try to measure the effect of ATL campaigns on the brand awareness by customers, the only way to do so is by asking their consumers and rely on their answers which might be unprecise or unreliable. Since BTL campaigns can be tracked a lot easier throughout computer software, it is a lot easier to evaluate their effectiveness.

It is not recorded where the terms Above The Line and Below The Line acutally come from. Some might say it is like the water line of a ship. Everything above is visible for everyone, everything below only to a specific audience. Others say that Above The Line Advertising used to be planned first, every remaining ad dollar left or every ad dollar that fell below the line could been spend for unconventional advertising.