Newspaper ad's cost effective?

[sandra]

What doe the group think about local newspaper advertising, is it cost effective and which works out best lineage adverts or block advertising. I guess I am asking which gives the best return?

Sandra

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

Hey Sandra,

Advertising is a difficult one for me. I think both lineage and block could work well but it depends on what your advertising. I've said it a few times on this forum already in that you need to find some way of measuring the response to each advert and keep refining and testing. Thats the only way you will truly find out what works best for your business.

I'm always surprised by how many businesses dont measure all of their marketing efforts. You cant possibly tell what works without testing and measuring.

 

[stugster]

From advice I was given from Steve Gibson (http://www.greaterprofitsguaranteed.com/) it really does depend on your business, and the audience you're trying to generate leads on.

What business is it you run, and what part of it are you trying to market? What's your ideal target audience?

 

[Former Member 1]

Sandra, am I getting confused or is it you who's in the wedding favour business? You're in West Lothian?

I'd have thought a presence in any up and coming bridal features was an essential for you. Don't the 'Herald and Post" have a programme of such features?

I'm not sure about lineage in your position; you maybe need something that 'implants' a 'brand' in the back of people's heads... Certainly, where I in a position where I was looking for that sort of thing (no! no! a thousand times noooo!! ) I'd be avidly reading the wedding features.

 

[Foo]

We tried newspaper adverts for our selves and it never worked. Until we got an article written about us. By having a full or half page written about your companies achievements or plans to expand gets the readers attention even if it's only for a few seconds. But this shows people that they can trust and rely on your services.

If your can only afford a small advertising box then try to offer some kind of special offer. This is what we suggest to some of our clients as people always want a bargain or freebies.

Coupons also work well and provide you with a way to measure the impact of your advert as each person has to hand you the coupon to redeem their discount or freebie.

 

[Brian McIntosh]

I tried an ad in the Mearns Leader, which is my local paper, and it was very successful. On the back of that I've signed up to advertise for the 13 issues. It's certainly worked for me.

 

[Patrick McCartney]

WE tried using our local Chamber of Commerce bi monthly periodical for a year whcih gave us a half page advert plus editorial. The object was to create awareness of the business and at the same time raise some interest and maybe get some leads. However it was an abject failure.It is true what they say 50% of advertising is a waste of time and money and 50% is not but unfortunately we cannot achieve that without spending it all.
We always recommend to clients that they have to look at both offline and online marketing in order to achieve what they want. Certainly online works very well if professionally done and backed up by good SEO thus reaching a far wider audience if you are trying to sell online.

Regards,

Patrick McCartney
Managing Director
www.dorlinconsultants.co.uk

 

[lofty]

I used to find local publication advertising was ineffective but recently it has really started to pick up. you need to stay in it for quite a while before people start to notice.

 

[Brian]

I think lofty makes a very valid point about local paper ads. You must be in it for a fair few weeks to get any real response. I think I read somewhere once that people have to be exposed to your company a certian amount of times before being inclined to contact. I'm not sure what the exact number is though.

brian

 

[stressmom]

Do you think that newspaper advertising as a whole is becoming a bit of a relic? I still like to look at the paper daily but I know there are many young people who never even read the newspaper once per week, so I guess if this is your target audience then newspaper ads really are not the best route to take.

 

[bennysweeney]

Newspaper (or any other media) ads work for some and not for others. It depends who your target audience is and whether they read papers, etc. It depends what you have to say and how you say it. It depends whether you catch the reader's attention, so you may need to give the reader a few 'opportunities to see' (OTS - advertising jargon). You may need to catch the reader at the right time, you may need to lead them through stages from ignorance, awareness, knowledge, desire, action. You may be lucky first time, but probably not. You need to think about the long haul, building recognition, using testimonials, building trust. I could go on...

 

[Power Lunch Club]

Do you think that newspaper advertising as a whole is becoming a bit of a relic? I still like to look at the paper daily but I know there are many young people who never even read the newspaper once per week, so I guess if this is your target audience then newspaper ads really are not the best route to take.

It is ironic that most people who advertise in a newspaper either get very little response (or nothing) from it, yet the papers exist because of advertising revenues. So someone's doing it.

 

[Scottish Business Owner]

I was at one of Gordon's PLC events fairly recently and one of the things i took from the events was some advertising stats. I've heard this from various different people but according to the stats you have to advertise at least seven times in your chosen publication for people to start noticing you. So I guess the question should be can you afford to pay for an ad seven times or can you use that money in a better way?

 

[Former Member 1]

It is ironic that most people who advertise in a newspaper either get very little response (or nothing) from it, yet the papers exist because of advertising revenues. So someone's doing it.

Funny you should resurect this one.... I was just mulling over the worth of advertising in trade publications... "The Drum" for instance.... NOt reached any conclusions....

 

[Idea15]

No one has ever hired a web site designer out of a newspaper ad - and if they did, they would probably be a client from hell!

That said I have a monthly advertorial spot in a local magazine. I get 400 words. That's my monthly challenge - distill a web design topic into 400 words that anyone off the street could understand. It usually takes me 4 hours to get it right, but what a fantastic way of keeping the communication skills sharp. Anyway, I've gotten 3 clients out of the advertorials, which is actually a great rate of return.

 

[Former Member 1]

It's that thing about attracting attention to your website...

I used to regularly use the eyecatchers on the Herald along with ads on the backs of busses etc... the idea being to 'implant' the idea that people knew of us before we came chapping on their door...