SMART MARKETING: Extra, Extra...Read All About It!

A couple of folks have inquired about newspaper advertising and a quick review of my “Smart Marketing” columns indicates that I am yet to address this medium. Actually, it’s a semi-conscious omission because few people in our industry use newspapers to promote their businesses. I’m not sure why, unless many have experimented with it and didn’t find it either effective or efficient.

Theoretically, newspaper advertising should work as well as any other medium as a vehicle for promoting a service business. The specific “ins and outs” of newspaper advertising are pretty complex and don’t lend themselves to explanation here. Suffice to say you can use a newspaper ad to make a specific, tangible offer (often accomplished with a dollars-off or percentage off coupon), or you can use it to create “top-of-mind awareness” by inserting smaller branding messages throughout the paper.

Anecdotally, I’ve learned from other industry marketers that while there are certainly some success stories, newspaper, over time, hasn’t proven as effective as broadcast media or outdoor advertising. This could have to do with the fact that ours is a need-based, fundamentally reactive business and newspaper is at its essence a proactive, more want-based medium.

Another issue involving newspaper is incremental cost. Across the nation, more and more markets — whether small, mid-sized or large — are becoming “one-newspaper towns.” In this situation, the major daily newspaper can pretty much charge whatever it wants, within cost-per thousand competitive parameters, of course, for a single placement. A “flight,” or continuing schedule of decent sized print ads, can jump the cost considerably. In a competitive market, the per line advertising rates can be lower as incremental spot rates are for competitive television and radio placements.

DIFFERENT AD OPTIONS. Creatively, print advertising in the local newspaper can take several forms. The classic display ad, in addition to furthering the branding of your business, can include a time-sensitive discount offer or a redeemable coupon. It’s still hard to offer a coupon via radio and television! And since newspaper consumption is pretty predictable, i.e., folks with a subscription for home delivery usually do read the paper, an expiring offer run over a period of time has the added benefit of some quick and measurable return on investment information.

Another creative approach is what can be best described as a “top-of-mind awareness” (TOMA) program. In my opinion, this has more validity for businesses in our industry. It involves taking out small (2- by 2-inch) branding ads featuring nothing more than the name of the company (XYZ Pest Management), a slogan if you use one, and possibly a phone number. These TOMA placements usually involve multiple insertions throughout the paper every day over an extended period of time. The underlying strategy is AWARENESS, so that when the NEED arises, the customer will be AWARE of your business.

Still another way to employ newspaper advertising is through the use of freestanding inserts. These are the annoying things that come falling out of the newspaper when you open it up to read it. These inserts usually can be created externally by you (although the newspaper certainly will provide that service as well), provided to the newspaper in whatever quantities are allowed and delivered with the newspaper but are effectively separate from it. They can be, and usually are, in color while the majority of the paper is black and white. They also, depending on the newspaper, can be delivered by circulation zone, so different offers can be tested simultaneously.

CONCLUSION. These days, as they give ground to television “all news, all the time” channels, newspapers are moving into alliances with local all-news television stations, all-news radio stations, web sites and even direct mail operations. All constitute replacements to traditional print advertising, but there’s really nothing inherently wrong with traditional print.

I’ve always believed and felt that the right message, delivered at the right time, to the right audience, via the right medium, works every single time. There’s no reason that this principle can’t and shouldn’t apply to newspapers as well as to other media.

The author is senior vice president of Massey-Persons-Brinati Communications, a subsidiary of Massey Services Inc., Maitland, Fla. He can be reached via e-mail at bbrewer@pctonline.com.