5 Things to Remember for Effective Newspaper Advertising

Effective newspaper advertising may seem like a very abstract term for a newbie in the newspaper advertising industry. Well, it is very simple, effective newspaper advertising refers to making the advertisement fulfil the goals it was meant to achieve. It should be able to drive the desired audience response and reach out to the relevant target audience.Ad on Newspaper

Most advertisements are published with an objective as was taught in the first course on Newspaper advertising. Achieving that objective is what makes it effective for the advertiser and if the consumer gets what he/she had expected from the advertisement, then it is effective for them. Following this, only one thing strikes an advertiser, “What are the elements that can make a newspaper advertisement effective?”

Well, the answer is quite simple and requires you to consider only 5 simple points to remember while engaging in newspaper advertising.

5 elements Necessary for Effective Newspaper Advertising

1) Right Selection of Newspaper

Newspaper selection forms the crux of effective newspaper advertising since it is the medium of communication. Based on the coveted results or audience reach, an advertiser needs to choose the preferred newspaper. For example, if the objective of a local garments store is to promote its clothes and offers available, then the best bet would be to go for a newspaper which is locally popular and has a high circulation to ensure higher footfalls to the store. It can either be an English or Hindi daily or a regional language daily, whichever has a readership in the targeted city or locality.

2) Right Selection of Edition or Package

A particular Newspaper is distributed across different cities and has special packages associated with multiple locations covered by the concerned daily. Some newspapers even have special district editions such as Eenadu that covers all the districts of the state of Andhra Pradesh and is not limited to only cities. Depending on the reach an advertiser intends to have, the edition (read as location/neighbourhood/city/district/country) of a newspaper should be selected. One more thing must be considered, that in case the exact location is not available for the chosen newspaper, then an advertiser must choose the closest location to the original preferred location.

For Instance, if you want to advertise in The Hindu and the preferred location is Pondicherry which is unavailable then the closest edition which can be chosen is Chennai which will reach out to the readers in Puducherry as well.

3) Correct selection of SupplementEducation Display Ad

Supplements are specific to categories such as Business, Entertainment and Lifestyle, Recruitment, Property and even Public Notices and Tenders. Selecting the right supplement or pullout published under a preferred newspaper is essential to reach out to the appropriate target audience. If an advertiser wants to book a Display Education advertisement in a supplement of Times of India, there is no point in releasing it in Times Property. It will be most relevant only when it is published in Education Times, which is the specific education pullout of Times of India.

4) Right Selection of focus day

Newspaper Supplements have a specific day when they are published along with the main newspaper. Getting an ad released on a specific day ensures higher responses from relevant audiences. The purpose of the advertisement is instantaneously affected by advertising on focus days. Even if the ad is not published in the specific supplement, but is released in the main newspaper, the response rate for that ad versus the one published on a different day will be much higher. This is simply because audiences keep an eye out for the category specific supplements on their focus day to access them, should the need arise.

5) Including Direct and Multiple Contact Details

An advertisement is communiqué which demands the need for content which communicates the intended message to the audience. This creates the need to provide relevant contact information that includes all the communications modes like phone/SMS, email, website and the local address. Providing contact information helps imbibe the faith of the audience as well as creates a sort of assurance in the consumer that the advertiser is available for direct communication. Also providing different mediums for communication will ensure that anyone from anywhere can contact the advertiser.

By now I am sure you have comprehended and gained enough knowledge about the field of newspaper advertising and its effects in India and the Indian audiences. So pull up your socks and get ready to help advertisers gain the attention they have been looking for.

What are The most Popular Advertising Categories under Display?

There are two kinds of advertisers who indulge in display advertising in newspapers-

  • Those interested in creating Brand Awareness
  • Those interested in Sales Promotions on a large scale

Both these objectives are subject to the budget of the advertisers.Newspaper Display Ad

In case of Brand Awareness, the higher the budget, the bigger the ad and the better the responses from the target audience. Along with advantages in lieu of the ad size, there are also other benefits that a higher budget can provide like better creative for prominence, better visual effects to attract the audience and quality content to engage the readers. All such experiments and creativity can be explored only in case of display advertisements as there is both sufficient space and scope for them, making it ideal for brand awareness.

But there are certain display advertisements which are meant for sales promotions. These ads need not have a huge budget but they surely need to be attractive and highlight the events or offers. In this case, though there is no hindrance to creativity, but the ads are more factual and provide information about related events and offers.

Certain categories are more popular in the Display format rather than in the classified section. Let’s find out the most popular Display ad categories.

Property

Although personal property sellers or landlords opt for the classified ad format, most real estate companies handling housing complexes and residential buildings publish only display adverts. Model images, proper designs and relevant taglines are used in the advertisements which are either meant for selling off the apartments of the complex or for brand awareness. Builders often intend to fulfil both the objectives through a single advertisement which is why they end up choosing newspapers with the highest circulations or readership in the concerned locations.

EducationEducation Display Ad

A number of Universities, Colleges, Schools and even Professional Course Institutes, need to stay in the limelight to maintain their brand’s popularity and of course get as many admissions as possible. Although admission notices are limited to a certain time period, display Education advertisements continue to make their presence felt through the media. Most educational institutes opt for Display adverts as they often have no budget constraints and need to make people aware of their brand for future admissions and academic references.

Business

Businesses need to promote themselves and ensure maximum profits. The best way to ensure that is to enhance their visibility with high quality creative, attractive designs and captivating content. Most FMCG companies, Retailers like Jewellers, Clothing Chains, along with e-commerce companies, electronics, cosmetics, automobiles and even telecom companies prefer newspaper display adverts. This format of ads helps such organisations gather as many eyeballs as possible from existing as well as prospective consumers.

TravelTravel Display Ad

Travel ads are highly common and are an exclusive preference among display advertisements as many online as well as offline travel agents prefer to advertise through newspapers for announcing seasonal discounts on tourism or package deals or even holiday packages. Hotels, travel and tourism agents, resorts etc choose to advertise through display ads emphasising on sales promotions. It targets the audience who are on the lookout for travel agents or planning for trips but are not internet savvy or do not rely on online mediums.

Recruitment

Recruitment advertisements the most frequently published display ads in newspapers. Almost all MNCs, IT companies, popular Consultancies, BPOs, KPOs, banks and even finance companies prefer display recruitment ads in order to reach out to the potential applicants. The simple reason to pick display ads over classifieds for recruitment purposes is that it serves two purposes at one go-brand endorsing and candidate search. These recruitment ads are usually well crafted, attractive with the logo and name of the recruiting organisation along with job description, requirement and of course contact details.

One thing is for sure that for a display newspaper advertisement, you need to have an exclusive budget, proper media planning and creative resources available at hand. The biggest benefit of newspaper display adverts is that they are much cheaper than TV commercials and many other mediums of advertising but serves the objective just right.