Effective advertising campaigns are an essential component of building and sustaining a successful business. Without advertisements, your target audience members wouldn’t have any clue who you are, much less that your brand even exists. Moreover, they wouldn’t know what you do or how to even reach you.
All of these obstacles can be overcome with good—nay, great—advertising strategies. But what makes newspaper advertising engaging? How can you create high quality advertisements without overextending your budget?
Considering there’s a constant stream of competitors emerging from the woodwork in every market ready to pounce, it’s important that you act fast and stake your claim immediately. Here are a few great pointers for writing and publishing great newspaper space advertisements that are guaranteed to increase your ROI.
Consider Your Target Audience
The first step to creating great ads is to consider the people that you’re trying to attract. Who is your target audience? What are their likes and dislikes? The answers to these important questions lie in conducting thorough market research. Once you have this information and have clearly defined your target demographic, you can create clear and concise print and digital ads that appeal to them. Ad copy should be straight and to the point and based directly on the type of media you’re using.
Digital newspapers can incorporate keywords and other SEO tactics to help increase visibility and get more views. Print newspapers, on the other hand, rely more heavily on catchy and enticing headlines, slogans, and attention-grabbing images. Use these enticing elements to draw your target audience in and capture their attention.
Use the Right Headlines
Headlines are everything when it comes to newspaper advertising. Consumers see hundreds of advertisements every single day while mindlessly scrolling through social media or flipping through print magazines and newspapers. If you truly want your advertisement to stand out, you need to appeal to their sense of wonder and curiosity. Write advertising headlines that read like actual features in a newspaper article. These types of headlines are sure to have a powerful impact and encourage readers to keep reading and engage further with the content.
Most people tend to only read the headline and maybe skim through the body of the content, so it’s important to make the headline as enticing and informative as possible without being too wordy.
Appeal to People’s Emotions
Emotional triggers can be more enticing and convincing than facts and logistics. While it’s true that people read newspapers to get the latest information about what’s happening in their communities, their country, and the world at large, it’s often a lot easier to grab their attention when you appeal to their emotional side.
Ads that target specific emotions like fear, sadness, and anger are far more likely to elicit desirable responses than those that merely present cold hard facts. You need a good mix of emotions and logic to effectively communicate your message. Tell consumers why they need your product or service and how it can improve their lives. Fear of missing out (FOMO) is a very real phenomenon that you should be playing into.
Make Them an Offer They Can’t Refuse
Treat your recurring and prospective customers equally, but in different ways. You can run multiple ads at the same time that aim to increase customer acquisition and retention simultaneously. In some cases, you might even be able to offer both recurring and prospective customers a good deal in the same ad, so that neither one of them feels like they’re getting a raw deal or are being neglected. Points-based incentive programs and discounts are a great way to attract and keep customers.
Furthermore, you can also throw in an ad-related offer. Customers who bring the ad into your store or mention it during an order can receive special discounts. This is a great way to convince consumers to support your brand.
Create Compelling High Resolution Visuals
Have you ever heard the saying “People eat with their eyes first and their stomachs second”? The same logic can be applied to advertising.
People consume advertisements with their eyes first and their brains second. Basically, that means all ads—especially newspaper space advertising—needs to have a clever design and proper placement to ensure that they grab the attention of target audience members immediately. High resolution visual components have the capacity to immediately grab the attention of readers and assault their senses (but in a good way!) so that you can make a memorable and lasting impression.
Use Well-Written Copy
Ad copy should be well-written, clear, concise, and devoid of any spelling and grammatical errors. Be sure to double and triple check all of your copy before sending it in to publishers or printers. Glaring errors are immediately noticeable and they can be embarrassing for your brand. Moreover, be sure to revise your ad copy for continuity and clarity to ensure that there are no misunderstandings in terms of what it is you’re offering to your customers.
Mention the Benefits of What You’re Selling
The whole point of newspaper advertising, or any form of advertising for that matter, is to advertise your product and services. Mention the benefits and specifications of the products or services you’re selling. Let consumers know why they need your products and what makes them stand out from your competitors. What are you offering that is so special that they can’t get it somewhere else for a better price?
It doesn’t have to be super complicated or lengthy. Use clear and concise bullet points to get your message across and to make the ad more readable.
Use a Call-to-Action and Make It Seem Urgent
Call-to-actions are brief paragraphs that appear at the end of your digital or print content to inform customers on how to contact you if they have any questions, concerns, or would like to speak to a product and customer service specialist.
They should have a certain air of urgency to them to get customers to contact your business as soon as possible. For instance, you could put a disclaimer in your ad stating that customers need to act fast because this is a limited time offer that will only go on while supplies last.
At North American Media, we can help you design, create, and publish effective newspaper advertisements, so that you can forge meaningful connections with your target audience. We specialize in print and digital newspaper space advertising, direct response marketing, mail marketing, digital marketing, radio, alternative media, and so much more. Contact us today to learn about how our advertising expertise can benefit your business.
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