What the Newspaper Ad Person Won't Tell You

Newspapers are considered the PRIMARY advertisingmedium by 99.4% of all retailers. Newspapers havebeen there in every step of the typical storeowner's life from the very beginning. Newspaperscovered his birth, his high school graduation, hisengagement, his marriage, the death of his parentsand everything else.

Despite declining circulation figures andincreasing ad rates, newspapers still reach largeaudiences, daily.

Many, if not most, retailers, lay out their ownads. It is said that over the years, merchantshave come to believe the only way to get it rightis to do it themselves. This thinking has givenrise to the new breed of newspaper salesperson. Notraining, just a list of customers and the dailyquestion "Gotchyur ad ready yet?"

You should understand the newspaper's weaknessesand learn to avoid them whenever possible.The Skinny for and against newspapers.

There is no proof full page or double-truck adsare more effective than half page ads. The savingscan be spent on a concurrent radio campaign orbillboards.

The same with color. It looks great, but theincreased cost many times does not justify thesmall increase in readership. Forget the color andgo with more frequency.

The paper is delivered daily, but there is no needfor an ad every day as the paper reaches the samereaders. 3 times a week works just fine. Spend thedifference in the shopper or on a supporting radiocampaign.

Newspaper coupons will have a better rate ofredemption with a radio chaser. Especially if thecoupons are NOT in a Sunday paper competing with85% of all coupons weekly. Think about a couponson Tuesday with siupportiung radio to drive themto it.

What the newspaper ad person won't tell you:Less than half of newspaper readers read theentire paper. Most are skimmers. How many timesthrough the paper does it take for you to findyour own ad?

Over half of every paper is ads. Almost as bad asTV. More than two-thirds of the Sunday brick isads.

Newspaper rates are climbing faster than the spaceshuttle. The smallest of ads in the smallestpapers can cost over $100. One time, one shot andPOW!, its at the bottom of the bird cage.

Newsstand and subscriptions prices are rising,too. 75 cents an issue is rapidly losing to 4quarters.

Most papers offer no competitive protection. Yourad can be placed side-by-side with thecompetition. Get the salesperson to guarantee youseparation.

Daily newspaper numbers are dwindling. There areonly a few more than 1000 daily papers. Smallercommunities must rely on weeklies or papers fromanother area with a "local" section.

Newspapers are still a formidable advertisingforce. Find ways to continue to use the paper toincrease store traffic, but do it with otheradvertising so the media mix is efficient. Don'tlet anyone tell you NOT to advertise in the paper.

For more about advertising, get my article"Do Your Radio Ads Work?"MailTo:RadioAds@BigIdeasGroup.com

©2005 BIG Mike McDaniel All Rights ReservedMike@BIGIdeasGroup.comBIG Mike is a Professional Speaker and SmallBusiness Consultant with over 30 years experience,http://BIGIdeasGroup.com

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