Newspaper and Magazine Advertising
How to Advertise Effectively in the Right Publications
Jun 15, 2008
Anyone could be forgiven for thinking that newspaper or magazine advertising is a sure-fire way of achieving enquiries and sales. A quick glance though any publication shows the massive volume of advertisers. It’s tempting to think; ‘place an advert, and they’ll come’.
Unfortunately the reality is very different. Look through that same newspaper and think about how many adverts are actually noticed. Of those noticed, how many are read and subsequently acted upon? Very little.
That said, if done correctly it can be a very useful source of advertising. The UK’s Advertising Statistics Yearbook quotes press advertising as attracting 39.8% of all UK advertising expenditure in 2007. The same survey reports that online advertising occupies 15.6% of advertising and is growing rapidly, but press still remains supreme. For now.
So how do you take advantage of it?
There are a number of questions that need to be asked first.
- Is it an appropriate form of advertising for you? Read Using Customer Buying Processes to find out if it is worth considering.
- What are the most effective titles to use?
- Do I promote the brand or products?
- How large and colourful should the advert be?
Choosing Titles
Your choices fit into the following broad categories;
- Local publications, normally covering a small geographical area or community.
- Regional or national newspapers, more suited to national brands than local companies.
- Lifestyle magazines, generally focused on ways of living or enhancing your life. Many women’s magazines fit into this category as do home styling magazines.
- Interest-based, which are usually focused on a particular industry, e.g. accountants, or hobbies, e.g. anglers and woodworkers.
Don’t just pick the most obvious title. A bit of lateral thinking can sometimes work wonders. Perhaps your product has most appeal among the 55-65 year old age group. Rather than advertising generally you might be better advertising in an interest-based publication where the predominant readership is in that age-group, e.g. gardening titles.
Promoting Brands or Products?
Brand awareness advertising makes the general public aware of a product or company. It may not make them buy immediately, but when they are next in the buying cycle they may look in a directory, see a company that has advertised regularly and go there because they recognise the name.
Product promotion, or direct response advertising, is aimed at getting someone to buy or enquire immediately. A direct response advert will have the website address or telephone number displayed prominently and may also have an offer encouraging prospects to buy now, e.g. ‘Sale this weekend’.
Your buying process will indicate what type of advertising you are best to focus on.
Size and Colour
Bigger doesn’t always mean best, but colour usually performs better than black and white. All businesses will have an optimal size but this will only really be found by testing. Set a budget and then try out various sizes, formats and colour arrangements using the techniques in Can Advertising be Measured? until you find what works best. Then, keep testing in case things change or you find something better.
Where to Position the Advert
The main point to consider here is whether it should be in the Classified section or ‘run-of-the-page’. Classified is always at the back and contains lots of adverts, possibly grouped into categories. Run-of-the-page is in the main body of the publication and costs more.
Classified adverts may be more likely to be spotted by a searcher who is looking for something specific, whereas run-of-the-page could be spotted by all readers, potentially appealling to a much larger audience.
Don’t forget to analyse the results of your advertising using the technique in Measuring Advertising Results.
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