Does Advertising Work?

How to make Advertising work for you.

What advertising sales people will never tell you!

by Simon Harrup

I wrote this sometime in 2011 and had to edit it down somewhat as it was way too long and boring… It didn’t make me many friends in the Publishing world either, I even had a few shirty responses from Advertising sales people, Oh well! I’m sure they’ll get over it…

So here goes: You have the best quality products or service in town. You have years of experience and spent months/years researching, preparing to offer clients only the best. You spent thousands on a shop, showroom and stock.

Now all you need is a queue of customers going three times round the block…

It doesn’t matter how wonderful your company’s products or services are, if you don’t advertise how will your customers know about you?

Although some kind of advertising is essential to get people to know about you, it’s also a minefield. It’s very difficult to know where to spend your budget and many sales people can be so convincing, after all it’s their job to fill empty pages rather than bring customers knocking on your door.

I’m going to try to explain some of the tricks they use, what to really look out for, how to cut through the bull**** and really decide what will work best for you.

The aim of your advertising campaign should be to cost-effectively reach the largest, most relevant audience possible in order to attract new customers. If done well, advertising can be a great investment for your small business; if done poorly, advertising can be a huge money sink.

Advertising Pros and Cons…

…and what the sales reps won’t tell you!

If you’re a small business owner, and especially if you’re just starting out, you’re most likely considering the best ways to advertise your business. Chances are, you have thought about print based advertising media including Newspapers, Magazines, Leaflet drops etc…

It’s beneficial to understand the pros and cons of each before blowing your hard-earned marketing budget. So here goes;

Newspapers:

Local community advertising

Newspaper were at one time the most effective way for small businesses to advertise their goods or services to the community around them.

You should also consider smaller community magazines and newsletters in this category as things have changed somewhat over recent years. If your business is located in a small town, advertising in the local community publications makes sense; that way you can attract the locals who would most likely become customers.

Advertising rates usually relate to readership or distribution numbers (more on this later).

Rates are not always set in stone, you can often strike a better deal if you agree to run your a campaign over a longer time period. Consistent exposure can also give much better results by creating brand recollection.

Some local newspapers are in a massive decline and in part are being replaced by local community magazines that tend to be more local and often cheaper. However, some are of low quality with poor content. Always compare the quality of content between any two publications before choosing.

Advantages to newspaper/community advertising:

• Often cheaper and more frequent than magazines.
• Easy to change to reflect a seasonal patterns including sales, a new coupon, or a new product can be added easily.
• Ultra local, although some newspapers have merged and go to a wider area than previously. Always consider how far people are likely to travel.
• Content relevant to the area and your potential customers means people will read it, which in turn makes your Ad work harder.

Disadvantages to newspaper/community advertising:

• Limited readership. Some publications have suffered from diminishing sales, partly down to the rise in more free community publications.
• Poor printed image quality. This can be a problem if you sell high-end products. If so, try pushing sales, vouchers and drive people to your web site or FaceBook to see images.
• No control over ad placement. Many publications won’t give you any control over where your Ad appears, especially if you paid less than rate card price.
• Think about the shelf life of your Ad, we call it coffee table life. Will your Ad be thrown in the bin tomorrow or will it be a chip wrapper.

Magazines

Projecting the right image for your brand

Many magazines tend to be a little more expensive if not a lot more expensive. Higher quality, higher print run and good quality editorial comes at a cost, but has it’s benefits.

Magazines tend to work better for higher price tag items or life long loyalty services where it’s worth while spending a little more to recruit each customer.

Some community magazines may be added to this category, but look out for the higher quality publications with good editorial. Again, expect to pay a little more for the good ones.

Magazines are all about portraying the best possible image for your brand, so think about your target audience. Advertising / creative agencies specialize in creating such ads, but they aren’t cheap and most don’t accept one-off jobs. Try thinking ahead and planning a campaign for the next 12 months. Suppliers will often be able to supply high quality images if it’s likely to sell more of their products. Some suppliers may also help with the cost of a campaign if it’s heavily featuring their products, or if you stock a large range of their products.

Advantages to magazine advertising include the following:

• Access to a targeted customer base. Some publications are aimed at a very specific demographic or a niche market.
• More bang for your buck. Readers don’t discard magazines as quickly as they do newspapers, so your ad will be around for a longer period of time. This also gives it chance to be seen by lots of other people while it’s sitting on the coffee table.
• Better quality print gives your brand a higher perceived value.

Disadvantages to magazine advertising include the following:

• Ads can be expensive. Magazine advertising is usually pricier than newspaper advertising.
• Frequency, many magazines are monthly or quarterly.
• Although some magazine have a high readership, don’t be fooled by the numbers alone. Ask yourself: how many of those readers are in your catchment area, how far will they really travel to buy from you?

The low down

What the Sales reps won’t tell you…

Readership Vs Circulation

Some publications do something that I feel is very misleading, intentionally so I suspect.

Many of the sales reps may not even realise, because they will be given the information to pass on, the more experienced ones should know though. Don’t be fooled by the numbers and always ask “how many are printed”.

It’s all about terminology, so make sure you ask the right questions.

Readership: is an estimate of how many readers a publication has. As most publications have more than one reader per copy, the readership estimate is very different from the circulation count.

Circulation: is a count of how many copies of a particular publication are distributed.

Do the numbers really add up?

Now that you know about readership Vs Circulation you should also think about the geographic location of the readers. Some publications look great, they have high Readership figures and you think it makes sense to run a long campaign with them.

Just stop and think about your customers and where they are. Unless you offer products or services that are really hard to find, it’s likely that most of your customers are fairly local.

If this is the case why would you pay to advertise to people 40 miles away, it just doesn’t make sense. In fact, you could probably reach more local people for less cost, by appearing in several smaller local newsletters and community magazines.

Where will your Ad appear

Unless you are paying a premium for the Back Page, Inside Front Cover (IFC) or Inside Back Cover (IBC) then you are likely to be Run of Page (ROP) which means you could be anywhere in the publication. Try to avoid magazines that have several consecutive pages of Ads with no editorial to break it up. These are usually extra sections that they add at the last minute to make extra profit. If you get a heavily reduced rate, this is usually where they will stick your Ad.

Have a look and you will see what I mean, it’s a little like when a commercial break comes on the TV. What do you normally do? Go to the loo, make a cuppa or just fast forward.

Your Ad isn’t working very hard for you if it’s stuck amongst 6 pages of other Ads.

A well placed ad can make all the difference, if it’s with relevant editorial or something that’s of interest to your target audience it should hold their attention for longer.

Content is King

Content is so important, after all that’s why we read magazines and newspapers isn’t it?

I would always recommend you have a read of a publication before you advertise in it, seems obvious but you would be surprised how many people fall for the sales persons banter rather than the quality of the publication.

If you think your target audience would enjoy reading it whilst having a cuppa or sat in the doctors surgery then chances are your Ads will work harder. If there’s not really anything worth reading then it becomes a “Flick n Bin” and would be a waste of your money.

You could try turning your Ad into an editorial style Ad, these can often work very well.

Just remember try not to sell too hard, it’s supposed to be interesting and of benefit to the reader. Give them good quality information and hopefully they will see you as somebody they want to talk to.

Read it properly

Some magazine look great with glossy covers and lots of nice pictures. However there is a rise in the amount of content that is bought and just copied and pasted. Some of it is more style than substance and readers will figure this out after they’ve seen a couple of issues and still not really had anything interesting to read. This comes back to Content is King, don’t be fooled by pretty pictures.

Spread your budget

Although making a big splash in a magazine or newspaper has it’s appeal. After all it’s great seeing your brand big and bold and in your face. Chances are you will get a better return from spreading your budget over a longer time period. Go smaller with an Ad but be consistent and appear in the same places over as long a period as you can.

Try spreading your budget over multiple types of media or different publications in the same area. The more somebody sees your brand or offer, the more likely they are to remember you when they are ready to buy.

In short, don’t put all your eggs in one basket, integrated marketing campaigns work best. This is where multiple channels are all working together to achieve the desired results.

And don’t expect instant results… Just because you’re ready to sell doesn’t mean the customer is ready to buy. Be patient and consistent, go smaller if you have to but keep your ad in the same place for as long as your budget will allow… Advertising once or twice in a publication is almost pointless.

A good marketing consultant can help manage this for you and will deal with all the sales reps too. It will cost, but should be money well spent as their aim is to get what’s best for you, not sell you empty pages.

Best of luck with your advertising and if you need any further advice feel free to drop us a line…

Kind Regards

Simon Harrup

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