Changing the Channel by Michael Masterson

Author:Michael Masterson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Published: 2010-05-11T04:00:00+00:00

WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?

If you are in the direct-mail or direct e-mail business already, it be-hooves you to develop a parallel channel of direct-print advertising. If you aren’t currently doing direct-mail sales, print advertising is a good place to start.

Direct-print advertising has many advantages. The cost involved in testing is modest, the likelihood of success is reasonable, and the financial returns can be great.

Developing a viable print advertising channel will benefit your business in two important ways. First, you will acquire customers you couldn’t get through other media. And second, you will give your brand or product widespread exposure that may one day convert to direct sales.

We have had lots of experience in direct-print advertising over the years, selling everything from jewelry to perfume to cosmetics to books to seminars and travel. We believe that there is almost nothing that can’t be sold through this channel. And that’s not surprising, considering the range of media—from local “penny savers” to nationals such as The Robb Report.

Despite the potential of direct-print advertising, most entrepreneurs are reluctant to try it. To them, as outsiders, it seems risky and expensive. But the truth is very different. Making direct-print advertising work is a pretty simple process.

Generally, magazine and newspaper publishers price their advertising space according to circulation, size, color, and location.

Circulation is the most important factor. A magazine that reaches 3 million people (such as Time or People) is going to charge much more for print space than one that reaches only 400,000 people (such as Bicycling or Computer Shopper) or 40,000 (such as a locally published periodical).

Size is the next most important factor. Bigger ads are more expensive than smaller ads. Ad sizes can range from multipage layouts to double-truck ads to full page to half page to quarter-, eighth-, and sixteenth-pages.

Then, color and position must be considered. Here, too, common sense rules. Color processing is more expensive than black and white. And better page positions carry premiums.

So how do you decide what kind of ad will work for you?

That depends on the product you want to sell. Some products work very well as small black and whites placed randomly on a space-available basis. Other products need the attention-grabbing capacity of a full-page, four-color ad, placed in a prominent position.

DIRECT-PRINT ADVERTISING IS DECLINING, BUT STILL VIABLE

According to the Newspaper Association of America, readership of newspapers has been falling since 1990. Only about 48 percent of American adults regularly read at least one newspaper during the week.* The decline in readership has resulted in a 20 percent drop in advertising dollars in only the past 10 years.† Magazine ad rates have remained about the same for the past 20 years or so.‡

From a direct-marketing perspective, this trend is not quite as bad as it seems. That’s because some of the drop-off is due to a migration of advertising dollars from print to the Internet. At one time, for example, the back of The New York Times was the only place that summer camps for obese children could effectively advertise.

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