Display and Print Advertising

Display advertising? We’ve got the power!

Don’t forget the power of the press advertising when you’re putting together an integrated marketing campaign plan for next year…

So much focus goes on digital these days that it can be easy to overlook the print press when considering your marketing campaign.

But with more than 400 titles launching in the last year and specialist titles looking particularly strong (PrintWeek) you could be missing out on a particularly big trick.

Independent titles have also seen a resurgence – with publications tripling in the past five years (The Guardian). It seems that a younger audience is turning back to the real world and looking for the more tangible, tactile experience of print paper.

In the past few years, most launches have been in the specialist sector – examples include Dennis Publishing’s Coach (a health and fitness title) – and the monthly film mag Popcorn, produced by News UK in conjunction with Sky.

These titles may not be glitzy, glossy multimillion-pound concerns, but what they have on their side is that they appeal to a highly engaged target audience, which makes them a great choice for advertising.

One of the other benefits of print advertising is that it buys into ‘The Seven Times Factor’- a marketing adage that says a potential customer must see your message seven times before acting on it.

In actual fact, general wisdom is that seven may not be the actual number needed – it could be anything from five to 12 – but it is in a newspaper or magazine where that may happen. A publication with good content is going to encourage the reader to linger on the pages, to go back and re-read – and the fact that the magazine hangs around – does not disappear at the click of a button- has to be an advantage.

Our guide to display advertising

So you’ve decided that you should test the waters of display advertising. What’s your next step?

First you need to define your target market – are you looking for local homeowners? Then a magazine that drops through their door is the ideal conduit for your message. Do you want to get a health and fitness product out there? Then find a magazine that targets those already engaged in that sector.

Next, work out how much you have to spend. You are likely to have a total ad spend in mind, you need to work out how much of that will go into the print sector – many offer combined print and digital advertising, so bear this in mind too.

Your advert may be created by you, or by a designer or by a designer from the publication – the advantage of this is that, while it may cost a little more, they have experience of designing ads that have the most impact – and they can probably work faster than you can and to a more professional standard.

You can still have plenty of input – ensure you have a compelling headline and get across the benefits of your product or service – it will be worthwhile to employ a copywriter to make the most of your words – often magazines will have an inhouse writer who can do this for you for a little extra cash.

A strong call to action and interactive opportunities is another key point. Remember that a picture paints a thousand words – and ensure your imagery is powerful too.

Oh – and make sure it’s proofread so that you don’t end up with an embarrassing mistake.

When it comes to ad size, obviously full pages are most noticeable, but it’s worth testing a number of different sizes and placements. If you can identify the sections of the magazine most read by your target audience all the better.

To help you track success, consider a redemption or promo code on your ad so you can easily track whether its worked – if you and your staff remember to ask for the source of the enquiry that is!

Finally, once your ad campaign has finished, calculate the ad spend against revenue gained to measure your success. Remember that, depending on your product or service, results may take some time to become apparent. A minimum of 3-6 months advertising would be the recommended minimum.

If you would like to have a chat about your marketing requirements, please call Alison Page on tel: 07963 002065 or email: hello@alisonpagemarketing.co.uk. You can of course browse our website to see what our existing clients have to say about our work.