print advertising is not dead!
Don’t let anyone tell you printing is dead. Even in the age of smartphones and the Internet, your potential customers still pay attention to the printed word, and you can increase your sales by advertising in magazines and newspapers, as well as direct mail.
Here’s why these old-school mediums are still important and how you can be successful with each one.
print ads get attention that online ads don’t
The era of digital media has not ended with the printed magazine. If anything, it has highlighted the impact that print advertising can have compared to online advertising. For one thing, print ads attract attention that online ads don’t.
Our brains are literally built to remember print ads better than digital ads. even millennials, the first generation to grow up with the internet, are far more likely to pay attention to print ads than digital ads.
Print ads also offer a permanence that online ads don’t. a banner ad disappears once the user clicks on another page; even a viral video or meme only grabs attention for a few seconds or a few minutes. on the other hand, print ads can literally live forever. flip through magazine pages from 1, 5, or 10 years ago, and the ads will still be there.
print advertising means great credibility
Another advantage of print is that it offers a strong credibility factor: consumers trust print ads much more (71 percent) than they do television (41 percent) or online advertising (only 25 percent).
Of course, digital ad sales are growing and will continue to grow, but print advertising isn’t dying. if anything, it is leveling off after a period of decline. That means it’s here to stay, and the truth is that the most effective advertising strategies will probably combine print and digital media. often if you buy one through one media outlet, you’ll also get the other.
related: tips to improve internet advertising
print can be a cheap and surprisingly effective way to advertise your business and attract new customers. In this article, we’ll look at some best practices on how to advertise in magazines, newspapers, and direct mail.
magazine ads
yes, people still read magazines. In fact, most people who read online also read print magazines, and those could end up being some of your best customers. social media advertising may reach more potential customers, but the impression is more likely to reach the right ones.
Of the three categories of readers (those who read both print and online, those who only read print, and those who only read online), print and digital readers have the highest average income, followed by readers only in print. online-only readers have the lowest average income of the group.
how to write a magazine ad
As for how to write a magazine ad, remember to keep it simple. no one flips through the magazines to see the ads. your best bet is relatively little text, a catchy headline, and a stunning image. however, there is a reason that advertising assistants are paid for what they do to create the images you see in magazines. it’s surprisingly hard to do! Don’t worry if you can’t create ads that look like the ones the pros produce; not many people can do it.
still, you can use the principle of simplicity to your advantage. remember that the attention span of the average reader these days is about 140 characters, the maximum length of a tweet. If you’re using more text than that, not counting your company name and contact information, you’ve probably typed too much. You can even run your text through an online letter counter to see how far you’ve gone and decide what to cut out. a sentence or two is enough.
Above all else, be sure to mention what your product or service is and how people can get in touch with you. If there’s something that makes your business unique (“the only lawn care service that washes windows too!”), mention it. just be brief.
where should you place your magazine ad?
Once you develop an ad, you’ll need a place to put it. don’t worry if you can’t pay the rates on time or newsweek. Those types of publications may not be what you need anyway, although some publications (such as Sport Illustrated) offer regional editions with discounted ad purchases that will only be distributed in the area where you choose to advertise.
Very few media are as specific as magazines. there is a print publication for virtually every hobby and profession out there. Do you make collectible dolls? there is a magazine for that. starting a small farm stand at home? here you have. there is even a magazine about chickens. there are also many magazines of regional interest. If you still don’t know where you’d like to advertise, try typing a business idea or region into Google followed by the word “magazine” and see what happens. chances are you’ll find something aimed at your customers.
make sure to test first
A word of caution: You don’t need to jump into magazine advertising with both feet. see how it works for you at first. Take out a small ad, maybe a quarter page, in a magazine of your choice. if you can afford it, try posting another one in a similar post.
Magazine ads don’t have the built-in analytics that digital ads do, so you may want to test them yourself. Promise a discount or other special offer to customers who mention your ad or bring it to your place of business, if you have one. If you advertise in more than one place, check to see which magazine is attracting customers. Also, be sure to track your sales figures over the period of time the ad is running (a week or a month, typically) and see if you notice an increase.
don’t forget to negotiate
Also keep in mind that magazine ads don’t exist in a vacuum. Some publications practically give away their print ads if you advertise online (and vice versa: a print purchase can lead to free digital ads). feel free to negotiate a print package when possible when purchasing other forms of advertising. you may get better results with your free print ad than with your digital ads.
An important tip to keep in mind: Don’t assume that just because you advertise in a magazine, a reporter will write a story about you in that publication. journalists go to great lengths to stay separate from advertising vendors, and journalistic ethics dictate that reporters should never pay attention to who is advertising in a magazine when writing their stories. so don’t ask for coverage… but if it happens, and the truth is that sometimes it happens when you buy an ad, all the better.
newspaper advertising
If there is any type of media that has become the symbol of the disruptive nature of digital media, it is the newspaper. The days of people reading newspapers on the train to work or at the breakfast table seem to be over, but newspapers, even print, are far from dead.
newspapers are far from dead
Nearly 70 percent of Americans read a newspaper, and 50 percent of those readers consume it only in print.
In fact, some of the major newspapers in the big cities are hiring because they are doing very well. and newspapers serving smaller cities and rural areas have never suffered much from digital competition. they remain the best source of information in those areas. In general terms, the more hyperlocal the newspaper, the more important it will be among its readers.
newspaper ads are shocking
Of course, many people who read newspapers read them on tablets and smartphones. And that’s fine, as is the case with magazines, your print and digital ad purchases are likely linked. but people still get their hands dirty reading the newspaper, and when they do, they pay attention to who is advertising in it. A study of the political arena shows the power of newspaper ads:
“Local Sunday papers reach half of registered voters during a typical week, and all local newspaper outlets (including online) together reach 64% of registered voters. respondents reported that political ads seen in local newspapers were just as likely to affect their voting decisions as ads on television,” the study found.
newspaper ads are usually cheap
You can bet those newspaper ads were also cheaper than the TV ads. however, that does not mean that they are always cheap. Ads in large-circulation newspapers can be very expensive and are probably not necessary for a new business. When choosing where to advertise, stay local. Again, the more locally focused a document is, the more likely it is to be read in the community it serves. (In other words, don’t advertise on the boston globe if it would be cheaper and more effective to advertise on the chelmsford independent.)
how to develop a tour advertisement in the newspaper?
When developing your newspaper ad, depending on the size of the ad you purchase, you may be able to use more text than in a magazine ad. That’s not to say you have to be wordy, but newspaper readers are more likely to read closely than magazine or online readers. People who commit to buying a print newspaper generally want to get the most out of it and are likely to be more avid readers than their counterparts.
if you think explaining your product or service in a few paragraphs would help sell it, and if you’ve bought enough space, go ahead and do it. just be sure to point out a legitimate competitive advantage. Don’t worry so much about the images either. you don’t need to catch people in a newspaper like you do in a magazine. Sure, images can help, but they can also be distracting in this format (unless you can pull off something like this, which is unlikely). however, create a catchy headline. you will compete with many other words for attention.
design your ad yourself and start small
Tip: If the newspaper offers to design your ad, politely decline. you’ll almost certainly get a better job, even if your design skills are limited. Newspapers don’t spend a lot of resources designing ads for clients. however, be sure to obtain and adhere to the paper specifications.
You’ll probably start with a small ad, so you’ll want to limit your text to what’s absolutely necessary, and possibly skip images altogether. Newspaper ads sell by the column inch, but ads placed on commonly read pages will be more expensive than those buried in the back of every section of the newspaper.
You won’t be able to control the editorial content that surrounds your ad (most newspapers sell ads first and then flow around them), but you can control where your ad will appear. the sports sections and the editorial and letter sections tend to attract the most readers, after the cover, of course. on smaller jobs, there may be only a couple of sections or none at all. In larger ones, the section where your ads are posted can make a big difference in how many people notice you.
Related: Email Marketing: Why Your Business Needs It
aim for the top corner if you have the budget for it
Keep in mind that when people first pick up a newspaper, they tend to start scanning in the top right corner of the page and then roll their eyes in an “s” shape. if you can get in or out of that top corner, your ad will be noticed before others on the page, but you’ll pay for it. newspaper ad sellers know very well where the best real estate is.
test your ads in different newspapers
If you test the ads in different newspapers and find the one that best suits your needs, you can save money with a purchase of contract ads in that newspaper. Instead of buying individual listings, you can buy, say, a year’s worth of discounted placements. just make sure you’re really ready to commit to that level. As is the case with magazine ads, testing the effectiveness of newspaper advertising is difficult. So, use some of the same tricks you use with magazine ads: have customers bring in the ad for a discount, ask them to mention that they saw the ad in a particular newspaper so they can receive a special reward, etc
direct mail
You may hate getting “spam” in your mailbox every day, but chances are you bought something as a result of reading it.
Direct mail does what its name suggests: it addresses customers literally where they live. while it may not be the most welcome form of advertising, it is among the most effective.
direct mail offers great possibilities for segmentation
Direct mail works in part because it offers consumer profiles that few other forms of advertising can match. here’s an explanation from an expert:
“have you ever stopped to consider, ‘how did I end up on this mailing list?’ ‘why do they send me these things?’
“why? because you fit the profile of the person most likely to buy that product based on past experience. Does your neighbor get the same spam as you?
“except for the mail from the publisher’s clearinghouse, probably not. why?
“because you are different from your neighbor. you have a different car model, different clothes, different hobbies and interests.
“They may get mailings about outdoor products and you might get mailings about indoor books and hobbies. they play golf, you hunt and fish. they like beer, you like wine.”
When you have this type of targeting and can deliver your message to a captive audience, you have the potential to get a massive return on your ad spend. but that investment will not be cheap. Because direct mail works so well, it can be the most expensive form of advertising per person. however, it is also the only non-digital form that target customers are guaranteed to see.
feel free to use more text and explain your product
When you design a direct mail piece, you can afford to know that your target customers are sure to look at it when they check their mailboxes. that means you can use a little more text than with magazine or newspaper ads. in fact, you can take up virtually as much space as you want to explain your product. more explanation may actually be better.
however, you should pay attention to the title and the colors you use. people will pick up your brochure, but you have to get them to read it. great discount offers, coupons and special offers attract attention. Numbers (“50% off!”) can be especially helpful for drawing attention, as can photos and other images. bright colors can help your piece stand out in a pile of white envelopes.
As with newspaper and magazine ads, you can track the success of a direct mail campaign by linking it to discounts or special offers for customers. Offer a certain percentage off the cost of an item or give something away if a customer brings your brochure to your place of business. Direct mail success rates can vary widely, even a 5 percent return rate can be big and profitable.
Consider outsourcing your direct mail
As for how you should handle the logistics of a direct mail campaign, consider outsourcing a bit. a flyer made by a professional printer on thick paper will look better than one that won’t hold up to moisture or other elements that can get into a mailbox.
More importantly, consider using a service to send your direct mail pieces. can be surprisingly profitable, and trying to ship everything yourself can be overwhelming and time consuming. Plus, a service will be able to offer the demographic and targeting information you need to get the most out of direct mail. after all, the real power of the format is how closely and accurately you can target customers.
also consider the timing of your shipments. If your business is particularly seasonal, send your emails at a time when people are thinking of buying from you. if you have a lawn care service, for example, time your mailing for the spring when the grass begins to grow and people are making plans for the summer.
Take a look at the direct mail brochures you receive and remember which ones impressed you. use them as templates for your own flyers. Also, be sure to take note of what your competitors are doing.
gutenberg would be proud
The bottom line here is that you shouldn’t give up print advertising. magazines, newspapers, and direct mail can be cost-effective ways to reach specific audiences. While printing can come with costs not typically associated with digital advertising, it also carries a permanence and credibility that digital advertising tends to lack.
The primary goal of print ads is to attract attention in a way that is appropriate for the medium. Whether it’s a magazine ad with lots of images and little text, or a direct mail piece with lots of color and copy, print gives you the power to literally get your message to people. the human mind is designed to remember printed images more easily than digital images. take advantage of our biological composition and make your business stand out in the press.
about bob adams
bob adams is a harvard mba serial entrepreneur. He has started more than a dozen businesses, including one he launched with $1,500 and sold for $40 million. he has written 17 books and created 52 online courses for entrepreneurs. Bob also founded businesstown, the learning platform for starting and running a business.