When many small business owners think of newspaper advertising, well, generally they don’t at all. Or rather, they don’t put much thought into their print ads. They just toss their company’s name and logo into their local paper and expect it to work miracles. But, it doesn’t work that way. Just like with any other medium, readers need to be enticed; their attention needs to be grabbed, and all too often, it isn’t. That is why more and more entrepreneurs are beginning to turn their backs on newspapers, thinking it’s a waste of money. But here are some tips to help you make it worth your while.
The first thing you need to remember is that your goal is not to get lost in the sea of other text in most print newspapers. You need to get your ad to stand out. How do you do that? First of all, my motto is go big or go home. If you’re not going to bother placing a big ad in a newspaper, you might as well not place one there at all. If you don’t think you have the dollars for a big ad, try placing a big one in your paper once a month instead of a small one on a weekly basis and see if that makes a difference.
You also need to make your ad compelling. After all, it isn’t just the biggest ad that gets the most response. You need to grab people’s attentions; you need to make them want to not only read your ad but buy your product or service. Use some well written text to pull people in. Make sure your headline is catchy and you’ve got either your company’s logo or some other appealing image to go alongside the text.
Newspaper advertising is also a good chance to launch new offers or promote special discounted rates. In fact, when people see ads in a paper they almost expect to see some sort of sale or special being advertised. Remember, these ads might be costing you a lot of money so you want to make them as effective as possible. A ten percent discount is not likely to cut it. Give people something they aren’t expecting; make them an offer they can’t refuse!
When negotiating rates, do your homework about whatever special deals newspapers might be offering. Some papers offer ad discounts to business that are in their local region. Others will offer discounts based on volume, so the more ad space you buy with them the bigger the special they’ll give you. It might be a good deal, but don’t commit yourself to something too big or for too long just in case it doesn’t work out. You always want to maintain your flexibility, especially when it comes to the rapidly changing world of advertising.
Newspaper advertising is all about being smart and strategic. Make sure you have clear goals before you begin anything, and solid tracking mechanisms in place to measure what works for you.
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