Forum Moderators: buckworks
My questions are whether newspapers return larger than their circulation. Meaning if this magazine has a circulation of 50,000, will the number of readers that see my ad be much more than that? (ie, magazines changing hands, multiple readers, etc).
Also I am wondering if I should be fair in comparing my past ROI from an editors article to an ad? Are users more likely to respond to a brief article or an eye catching paid advertisement?
I figured I'd only need to pull a 0.3% conversion to break even based on 50,000 readers. Combine that with the fact that it runs 3 months, I think it may be a good investment.
Also for anyone with experience, I should ask, would I be best to run three different ads rather than one identical ads three times?
Tom
1-Newspapers may have a larger audience, but probably less targeted than a trade magazine.
2-Editor's articles and press freebies are more effective than straight ads, but more more difficult to get and control. Don't comnpare the return at all. It's like comparing TV to radio. Different numbers.
3-Change the ad as little as possible. it takes so much time before users notice and ad, that by the time you've attracted them, you don't want to change the message on them.
Like the previous comment, editorial is way more effective than advertising. We have had lot of experience with this form of free advertising and look forward to every mention we get in a newspaper, mag, tv or radio.
Anyone ever produced an ad that looked and sounded like an article/editorial? Mostly text and a simple picture. You can put whatever you want (within reason) on the page you're effectively renting-right?
Rather than spending x-amount on an ad, you might want to consider having a good writer produce an article and submit it to several magazines.
You will be suprised how an article makes you appear like an authority, and can produce some amazing conversions that has longevity.
People will steal stuff and the article will have a life of it's own :)
Magazine ads are hit & miss a lot of times - be sure you can afford to pay the ads without a single sale. In our experience, if the ad doesn't produce after running once, it won't pull at all regardless of how many times you run it. This runs against the magazine's mantra of "repetition breeds curiosity" - they want you to run the ads multiple times, of course.
Magazine ads are hit & miss a lot of times - be sure you can afford to pay the ads without a single sale.
That goes for advertorials as well - I've had varying success. Make sure you use a custom phone number + (an easy to type in) URL/and/or email address for the ad as well so you can track any demand.
Many readers are sophisticated - they can smell ads a mile away...
1. Here's what they'll tell you. That you have to be in the mag, that you have to be in for a few consecutive issues, that you won't see immediate returns, that the ad will pay for itself if you stay long enough, that if you had a good review you should support that with advertising to reinforce your presence, that several people read each copy of the mag so you should effectively multiply their subscriber base by 5x/10x/100X (depending on how honest the sales guy is).
2. What they won't tell you is that this model only suits the big boys Scam, Meshed Up, Eve-Sham etc. For everyone else it's pretty much a waste of money.
3. What they won't tell you is that they don't have performance based charging on their websites because of "integrity issues" and that they'll charge you "ground rent". (Yeah, right. PPC is good for everyone else - just not for those who figure that a flat rate is more lucrative for them).
4. What they won't tell you is that the ad needs to be submitted 1-3 months before publication date (so your prices are all outdated)
4. What they won't tell you is that we big boys are paying a fraction of what you are paying because of the 16x pages in each issue (no, they are not paying the 16x rate you see in the rate card!)
5. What they won't tell you is that the big boys are not even paying that fraction themselves. They have co-op deals and a lot of the advertising cost is picked up by OEMs (M$, Creative, Samsung etc)
6. What they won't tell you is that there is no real way of measuring how well the ad is working for you.
7. What they won't tell you is that out of 50K readers only 5K are looking to buy out of whom only 1K are looking to buy the kind of product you sell. Now do the 0.3% calculation on 1K.
8. What they won't tell you - and I will because I'm a nice guy - is that you are a million times better off with a cleverly run online-only PPC campaign where you can measure ROI and adjust spending/creative in an instant.
But don't trust me. Give them a shot for their recommended period of (3?) months. Simultaneously run a £200 (yes, 1/10th of the ad cost) online campaign with a dedicated landing page and tracking to order completion.
Then come back here and you'll owe me big-time.
>>$2,000 an ad for three consecutive months
<shaking head>
You can't be serious! Get a media broker! For a 50K circulation mag £1,000 pm is too much (on a three month contract). You do know that the figures are negotiable for Future, VNU etc? And don't touch anyone who says their rates are "fixed". Dennis is a menace and it is a fix alright ;)
There is only a handful of media companies in the US who, among them, own all the main PC magazines. Talk to a good media broker if you must advertise in magazines. They'll save you a bomb.
I'm unsure as to whether this would work, or if you still have to pay the magazine in any way.
Although when I launch my next site I was thinking of Press-releasing it, and maybe doing something along these lines.
