Golden rules of newspaper & magazine advertising, Sunday times newspaper advertising, Sunday Telegraph magazine, Observer, Guardian, Independent, Sunday Mail newspaper advertising.
How to get the best out of your magazine advertising, Sunday times magazine advertising, Sunday Telegraph newspaper, Observer, Guardian, Independent newspaper, Sunday Mail YOU magazine advertising.
Know
Your Target Audience
It’s vitally important to pitch
your advertising at the right
level, to the right type of
person. You should be
communicating directly to the
consumer who wants to buy your
product or use your service.
Useful attributes to consider
are age, gender, education,
cultural background, and income.
Certain consumers are easier to
target than others; and try to
anticipate which group is the
most likely to make online
purchases.
Set Your
Budget
Knowing how much budget to set
is never easy and there are no
strict rules. Large companies
are often advised to allocate
2-3% of their annual turnover,
but if your company is at the
launch stage, the amounts will
be considerably higher. Too
timid an approach to setting
your budget often leads to
disappointing results.
Successful advertising is not
for the faint hearted.
Focus Your Marketing on the
Benefits of Your Business
Successful marketing maintains a
focus on the benefits your
product or service brings to
customers. Many companies make
the mistake of paying too much
attention to the details of what
they offer, rather than
focussing on how the customer
will benefit from you. People
generally only buy when they
believe that your product or
service will benefit them.
Therefore, make sure that your
marketing strategy centres round
the advantages your company will
bring. Ask your colleagues to
name the top five benefits of
your organisation – if they
hesitate, you’ve identified
areas in which you need to
improve.
Concentrate On Direct
Response
Advertising
Brand building advertising is
for businesses with
multi-million pound budgets. If
you want to really make a
difference to your sales
figures, an offer specific
approach to hook readers’
attention is far better than
something more general.
Keep Your
Artwork Simple
Your heading is the most
important part of any ad.
Writing a benefit-related
question is a favoured tactic by
many experienced copy writers.
Always include a strong call to
action; prominent URL and/or
telephone number. “A picture
paints a thousand words,” so
chose an image which explains at
a glance what your product or
service is. Ideally the picture
should be simple, clear and
immediately obvious. Once you’ve
decided on the ad, avoid making
radical changes with each
insertion.
Always Book Series
Repetition of small ads is key.
Nine out of ten buyers continue
to look at the vendor’s adverts
after making a purchase.
Advertising reassures buyers
that they have made a good
decision. Double page spread
adverts can be run once yielding
brilliant results, but are
extremely expensive. In the case
of small ads, frequency is
vital, with anything more than
fortnightly to be avoided. Three
or six adverts should yield a
steady response that builds with
each insertion. The longer the
series the less risk you take
and the greater the chances your
campaign will work
Ask For Good Positions
On The Page
Whereabouts on the page your
advertisement appears can have
an effect on response levels, so
always ask to know what
positions are available. Top
half or outside edge positions
generally perform best.
Maximise
Your Coverage
The higher the readership, the
greater the chances you’ll enjoy
good response. Make sure the
readership figures quoted are
from the National Readership
Survey (the gold standard for
the media industry).
Avoid
Specialist Press
Rarely do ads in low circulation
publications work. Avoid the
common mistake of thinking that
selective targeting is less
wasteful and therefore you’ll
get better response. It seldom
happens. High circulation
publications generally equal
high response. Coverage is king.
Be Willing
To Learn
From Your Experiences
Keep an open mind and don’t
allow yourself to develop the
attitude that you've "arrived"
and there is nothing more for
you to learn. The world of
technology is changing rapidly
and if you don’t maintain an
adaptable frame of mind you
could be easily left behind.
Read articles, books, and other
sales solicitations, and listen
to people who know. These are
sources of knowledge that could
enhance your sales and marketing
and strategy.
