marketingguru

By Killeen Gonzalez

When developing a newspaper print ad campaign you must pay attention to ad placement, ad size and shape and ad design.

Where your ad is placed will often mean the difference between whether the ad is read or ignored.   For maximum effectiveness you should place your ads in newspapers where they are most likely to be read by your target audience.   You can determine what type of audience a newspaper has by requesting a media kit from the newspaper’s advertising department.   The media kit will generally give you basic demographics, psychographics, circulation numbers and other information that will become essential in your decision making.

Once you’ve selected the newspaper you will need to address the issue of ad placement.   In newspaper advertising there are two main types of positioning, premium and run-of-paper (ROP).   The difference between the two types is that in ROP the newspaper’s editor decides where your ad is placed, whereas with premium positioning you deiced where you want your ad placed.   For the purpose of this piece we will only discuss premium buys.

When making premium buys, there are several preferred ad positions that you should be aware of.   Very briefly they are; full position (ad on top next to an article), three single page ads appearing on consecutive right hand pages, two single page ads appearing on right pages in different sections of the same issue, a two page spread, a full page ad on a right hand page, and a full page ad on a right hand page with a one inch column strip ad on the left page.

The ad positions that you want to avoid are what I refer to as “gutter” and “clutter”.   The “gutter” is the inside portion of the paper where the two pages meet.   Ads in that area tend to get ignored by the paper’s readers.   “Clutter” is when the page is full of other people’s ads and thus you run the risk of your ad being overlooked.

Once you’ve determined what newspaper you want to advertise in and the ads position, you’ll need to decide on ad size and shape.

Quite often an ad’s size and shape is based primarily on economics.   Newspaper ads are sold by column inch, which is an area one column wide by one column deep.   If you are buying on a national level, the rates are often quoted in terms of standard advertising units (SAU).   Although newspapers can vary in column sizes, a typical SAU has 14 lines to an inch and are one column wide.   To figure out what a particular size ad will cost you multiply the ad’s depth by it’s width by the cost per column inch (CPR).   For example an ad that is 5 inches deep and two columns wide at a cost of $1.00 per column inch would set you back $11.00.   Ad shrinkage should also be evaluated.   Due to the mechanical processes some newspaper use an ad can shrink during the printing process.   This shrinkage if not monitored could cause the buyer to pay for one size ad, but in actuality get an ad smaller than what he actually purchased.   To combat problems related to shrinkage you can either ask for a reduction in rates or prepare a slightly larger ad to allow for the expected shrinkage.   The newspaper’s ad rep can often assist you with this.

Don’t despair if you can’t buy a big ad.   Bigger isn’t always better.   In some cases a series of smaller ads placed more frequently are better than an occasional larger ad.   Remember repetition increases ad retention.   Name recognition can be generated if a reader’s eye is drawn to the familiar size and shape of a frequently repeated ad.   Furthermore, ask the newspaper’s ad rep about multiple buy discounts.   There are often better rates given to those who advertise more frequently.

With ad placement, size and shape addressed, we come to the ad’s design.   The first design question you should ask yourself is who you want to design the ad.

If you are comfortable with designing your own ad you can save yourself money and increase your ad’s effectiveness.   Having others design the ad can be costly and they might not understand your target markets as well as you do.

Many newspapers offer “pub-set-ads” which are ads designed, written and typeset by the newspaper staff.   Though affordable, pub-set ads are not necessarily the way to go.   What you save in price with pub sets you could end up sacrificing in ad quality and effectiveness.   If considering a pub-set-ad ask to see samples of their previous work and base your decision on what you see.   Alternatives to pub-sets are to hire an outside agency or freelancer to do the work.

If you are unable to completely design your own ad and hiring someone else is too costly for you, I recommend a compromise.   Sketch out the ad basics yourself and then turn it over to the newspaper staff for finalizing.   Doing this is cheaper than hiring an ad agency and gives you a better chance of getting the ad design you want rather than just turning the whole thing over to the newspaper staff.

If you are designing the ad yourself here are some basic rules of thumb.   The ads should be simple and clear, but still have good flow.   You should include high quality captioned photos or artwork.   Make sure you include your logo and all pertinent contact information.   Use special techniques such as reversed copy and run of paper color sparingly.   Incorporate white space and avoid condensed or overly ornate text.

In summary, when developing a newspaper ad campaign make sure you pay attention to the ad’s placement, size, shape and design.   If you are unsure about any of these elements or need additional information on copywriting, consult your local marketing professional.