Posted under Advertising & General
Is print advertising dead? Clients often ask me if print advertising is effective particularly in weekly publications with shorter shelf lives. There have been many efforts made to track the return on investment on a print ad from $2 off coupons to the old “mention this ad” trick. Clients often tell me that they placed an ad in the local rag and didn’t get a response.
What it comes down to is that print advertising isn’t going to drive the masses through your doors, but it helps create awareness of your product or service. Don’t think you are going to place a quarter page ad and people are going to line up to give to fling their money at you, unless, of course, you are giving something away for free—like flatscreens or cars.
It usually never registers with people how they heard about you or what brings them to your business. Also, the younger Baby Boomers and the Gen X & Y crowd aren’t big into the coupon cutting because, quite honestly, $2 off really is worth the time to cut the coupon much less remembering where you put it.
If a print ad is designed and placed strategically and repeatedly, it generates awareness. Awareness means you are on the radar of your potential customer which is laying the foundation for the possibility that she will do business with you. Staying in the back of the heads of customers is the return on your advertising investment—its up to you to close the deal.
Here are 5 strategies that may improve your results from a print ad:
- Place regularly.
One time isn’t going to cut it. You get a price break if you place for an extended amount of time. Can’t do it every week? Then place every other. Give it six weeks at least to start generating awareness.
- Keep your spot. Pick a position and stay there. This is effective if you have changing information like weekly specials. Your customer will know where to look for your information.
- Split it up. Instead of a half page, run two quarters and place them in the front and back sections. I don’t advise splitting a full page - you can’t beat that impact.
- Keep it simple. I cannot tell you enough how a simple message and clean design with good amounts of white space will be a million times more effective than an ad all jammed up with text. Just because you are buying space doesn’t mean that every centimeter needs an element. The eye will gloss over a busy ad which defeats your purpose.
- Say it with me…KEEP IT CONSISTENT! This goes back to my “Consistency is Key” post. If you are placing in multiple publications or for several weeks in one, make sure your messaging is consistent. That includes logo, tagline, color scheme, fonts, etc. Consitency is important right down to the way your print your phone number - is it 555.555.5555 or 555-555-5555?
These are my ideas for making print ads work for your advantage. They have worked with many of my clients. Weekly local newspapers are budget friendly and lay the foundation for any B2C advertising plan. Just have a strategy and have realistic expectations.
All the best!