Advertising Websites in Magazines - How do I get good deals?

[tomld2]

I am interested in advertising my websites in offline magazines and I have once read that magazine's advertised rates aren't what you truly have to pay. Does anyone know the best route to take to obtain the best possible rates for magazine ads? For example one magazine offers a portion of a page for over $10,000 for a single run. From what I understand significant discounts are possible if you go about it the best way. Does anyone have any advice?

Thanks
Tom

[sem4u]

If you buy insertions across a couple of months then a discount is usually provided. You should be able to negotiate a discount anyway, especially if you say that you are talking to several publications.

Also, if you show interest and decide not to buy an ad for now, I can almost guarantee that they will call you back before the ad deadlines with some discounted late space.

[netguy]

If you don't mind some 'haggling,' first contact 3 or 4 targeted publications and ask for their media kits. In a few days, most will call you and you then tell them that their prices are a little more than you had budgeted. This is the point where many aggressive account reps will work out a special deal to get your account.

As sem4u stated, multiple insertion orders will also provide additional discounts (3-6-12 months), and finally, many allow a 15% agency discount. Remind them that you will be working with their publication directly - and try to get them to knock off that 15% as well.

Steve

[tomld2]

I should update my statement in that an ad costs around $25,000 for a single run. The magazine I am referring to is GamePro. That seems highly excessive to me. And are magazine ads even worth it? DO they compare to effective online ads such as PPC?

Thanks
Tom

[netguy]

Tom, I'm sure you have already determined they have good ciculation in your target market, but for $25,000 for a single insertion! (Although this is much smaller, the dot.com ads during the Superbowl games are starting to come to mind).

There 'were' a lot of companies (and investors) who wished they would have used there advertising dollars more wisely.

If you're fairly large, have a balanced advertising portfolio, and this is a small portion of your overall budget, then I would say make the best deal and go for it (but for the long term - not a single hit).

Otherwise, I would beef up your PPC and find an 'angle' to your product/service, then hire somebody to write a compelling press release, and promote it till the cows come home (at a fraction of the cost).

When you set aside money for a large advertising campaign, make it consistent. A single-hit will never do it for you in the advertising game [see 'Superbowl' above]. ;)

Steve