It is easy as a small business to get hooked up on social media and online marketing. Traditional forms of advertising have been long forgotten or even have a bad press, small businesses think they will be too expensive or or won’t work for them. All you need to invest in is some advertising photography, and the photos could also be used for social media and for your website!
Why choose print advertising?
- It’s easier to read : Although we probably won’t admit it, we all still like to read printed things. Come on, who picks magazines and booklets whilst waiting in the gym or library for the children? Well I do all the time.
- Builds brand awareness : In the same way as I talk a lot about streamlining your social media, same colours, avatar and name, to increase your brand awareness the same is true from print advertising.
- Legitimacy : We are still wary of clicking on online adverts but we do put more trust and faith in print advertising.
- Longevity : OK hands up who has magazines still hanging around? I mean that’s why magazine racks were invented be silly not to use one. The dwell time on a print advert is far longer than online adverts, which change so fast.
- Impact : In comparison to online, you are much more focused when reading print. How often do you find yourself doing 2 or 3 things online at the same time? Heck I know I do, I’ve been writing this for 3 days as I get side tracked by pop ups and notifications on social media. Multitasking isn’t an option when you are reading.
- Lead generation : Print advertising drives readers to other platforms whether that be your website or social media accounts. It can also make customers simply pick up the phone and call you, online users tend to hit email.
I hadn’t used print advertising in the past due to thinking the prices would be out of my budget. But after seeing the Raring2Go! team I realise there are many more price options and I will definitely be looking into it more. Samantha Prewett Photography
Where should you advertise?
As with anything do your research. Find out what publications your customer reads, you can use polls and surveys (most of these are free) or wander down to your local library and see what magazine are about in your genre. Speak to any publications that pop up in your research. Are they the right target market? How is each magazine distributed? How long in between magazines? Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly?
We had forgotten the value that traditional advertising such as print still holds and this session reinforced the idea that is still has a valuable place in the marketing mix. The point raised about audiences engaging more fully in print media as opposed to digital media was particularly strong. Sharlene from Eye Catcher
What should be in your advert?
- Clear message : Know what information/service/product you want to promote. What benefit this has to the customer/reader and can you get this across using minimal text?
- Images : One clear image that elicit an emotional response, too many images can dilute this response. Ensure your images are provided print ready (high resolution and 300 dpi).
- Call to action : You need to tell your reader what to do next, call to book? Book online? Don’t try to give too many options a phone number or URL is sufficient.
- Branding : Use your logo, website details and your branding colours to streamline your advert and make it instantly recognisable that it is your business.
Thanks so much to Melissa (Raring2Go! Bournemouth) and Tarda (Raring2Go! Poole) for their awesome print advertising talk for Lemur LinkUp I learnt a lot and these tips are awesome.
Further reading :
How to advertise your startup business
How to market your business offline
Photo Credit | Shutterstock
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Great article Joanne with some good tips. Very timely reminder about using a range of media for promotion of your business.
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Thanks Jackie. Mel and Tarda are excellent speakers.