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Newspaper Advertising - 5 Common Mistakes

By: Kate Schlentz


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Anyone can produce a successful classified or display newspaper marketing promotion with a small amount training and good instruction. While there is no catch-all system for creating successful newspaper advertisements, our archive of marketing tips can be a beneficial source to help you shorten the learning curve. Take advantage of our archive of past marketing tips and generate compelling, successful ads. They present simple, practical ways to enhance your results with most any style of print advertising. Take a look at the following list of mistakes to avoid when writing your newspaper advertisements:

1) Ambiguous Headlines… for example “Answers to Your Questions”. Does this headline call you in? Almost certainly not. What questions are they providing answers to? Religious? Health? Interior designing? People usually do not read each individual advertisement in its entirety; they have a propensity to browse headlines, if anything. If a headline does not seem to attract them, they move on to the next ad. That is why it is so essential to make your case right away. Sparking curiosity and witty statements mean nothing if you cannot entice someone to read on, so above all else make positive that you start with your point.

2) Too much text. Ads should command attention. When a display ad is all black and white copy it will tend to blend in with the rest of the newspaper. How can your expect individuals to reply to your ad when they do not even know it is there? Images work great to attract interest to even small space ads. The addition of spot color can also call out to consumers. If you are set on using an all text, black and white advertisement (i.e. an advertorial type ad) make certain that the advertisement is large enough to create an impact (usually 1/4pg or larger).

3) Running too infrequently. A profitable newspaper marketing campaign takes time. Do not expect to run a single ad and receive thousands of calls (unless you are offering free tvs!) A lot of marketers will run an advertisement once and get disheartened with the replies and decide that newspaper advertising does not work. Not so fast!! We are not able to say it enough… success is all about repetition, repetition, repetition. In today’s fast-paced, chaotic world, advertisements get ignored two out of 3 times you communicate them. Run ads frequently to recognize their actual potential.

4) Testing only one ad. You ran one ad for a few weeks and had limited responses. You decided newspaper marketing doesn’t work. Don't give up! You would be amazed at the difference that little changes can make. For example, try changing your headline to something more direct. Try a new graphic. Offer a phone number instead of an email address. One or several of these little changes could prove to be just what your advertisement required to be profitable. Consider every campaign as an opportunity to increase your results… continue with what works and get rid of what doesn’t.

5) Omitting contact information. A lot of advertisers determine what type of communication works best for them without taking into consideration what works best for consumers. Marketers should include as much contact information as possible. That means phone numbers for people without online access, email addresses and web addresses for the internet savvy, and even a physical address if you are advertising to local customers. This allows people to contact you in a array of ways, enabling them to decide on the way that is most fitting for them.

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US Newspapers is a newspaper advertising agency representing more than 6,000 community newspapers in the United States. Since their beginning in 1998, US Newspapers has offered clients tremendously valuable classified advertising and display advertising products at highly discounted prices. Their Community Target Program™ makes print advertising easy, at a price that makes sense. For more information, visit www.usnewspapers.com.

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