Magazine Campaign
Discussion
Care to elaborate on the magazine title?
And don't forget, 65k readers can come from as little as 10k copies being printed. There is a lot of 'artistic license' when it comes to stating copies and readers.
My company uses 3.5 x print run, but I've come across companies quoting up to 8 x print run. Unless they're ABC accredited, take with a pinch of salt.
Onto what I can tell from your post, £550 is good if we're talking A4 format, 64+ pagination glossy with verified free/monitored sale distribution. Much further down the scale from there, then for a 12 month deal (which, by the way, you can exit at any point, even if you're paying in advance) you are being taken for a ride. Offer £400 per issue, offer to pay quarterly in advance, and they'll gladly accept, especially in today's climate for advertising revenue.
Need any further advice, drop me a PM.
And don't forget, 65k readers can come from as little as 10k copies being printed. There is a lot of 'artistic license' when it comes to stating copies and readers.
My company uses 3.5 x print run, but I've come across companies quoting up to 8 x print run. Unless they're ABC accredited, take with a pinch of salt.
Onto what I can tell from your post, £550 is good if we're talking A4 format, 64+ pagination glossy with verified free/monitored sale distribution. Much further down the scale from there, then for a 12 month deal (which, by the way, you can exit at any point, even if you're paying in advance) you are being taken for a ride. Offer £400 per issue, offer to pay quarterly in advance, and they'll gladly accept, especially in today's climate for advertising revenue.
Need any further advice, drop me a PM.
drivin_me_nuts said:
The magazine is called Absolute Brighton of that's any help - to be published in Brighton and London editions.
Be very careful.Advertising is actually their income stream. To add value to potential advertisers they do everything to increase their 'readership' figures. As has been said, if it is not independently ratified it means sod all.
I got stung on one of these a few years ago and got an absolute zero response rate.
Why not test them out first? Put it to them that if their readership is as strong as they say, that maybe that if they are looking at you as a long-term customer that they might want to run a small 'tester' advert for free?
Of course, if the concept is then proved and you get a response, then of course you would be crazy not to book another advert, but also a full size one as this will of course get an even better response?
Agree with all the above points. A business magazine tried telling me they send out 10,000 copies to small busines owners. What they forgot to mention was the fact that this was to only 500 offices as it turned out they just chucked around 20 copies on the doorstep of each. None were to named individuals so their 10,000 circulation was actually pretty worthless.
Also, rate card is their way of saying "this is our starting point, what's yours?" Some will only budge 5-10%, some 80-90%, but I've yet to meet a publisher that's turned away business due to a little negotiating.
Also, rate card is their way of saying "this is our starting point, what's yours?" Some will only budge 5-10%, some 80-90%, but I've yet to meet a publisher that's turned away business due to a little negotiating.
Dick Dastardly said:
Agree with all the above points. A business magazine tried telling me they send out 10,000 copies to small busines owners. What they forgot to mention was the fact that this was to only 500 offices as it turned out they just chucked around 20 copies on the doorstep of each. None were to named individuals so their 10,000 circulation was actually pretty worthless.
That's really interesting. I placed an ad with a local website (franchise part of a national one) and they also produce a 'business directory' of their members which they say is sent out to 10,000 local businesses. I just couldn't imagine that there were that many in the area.Now I know what he really meant!
Thanks for the replies. To be honest I did my own little bit of research and the magazine does seem to be the sort that sits on the shelves/places where my market are located. Hotels, restaurants, hairdressers.. places where people have disposable income and the time to sit down and read an advert/article. It seems to hit all the right spots in that respect so we'll see.
The outlay is not too prohibitive, the coverage including the editorials looks potentially complehensive so I'm thinking about it quite seriously.
Thanks for the advice. one toe duly dipped. I'll let you guys know how it pans out over time.
The outlay is not too prohibitive, the coverage including the editorials looks potentially complehensive so I'm thinking about it quite seriously.
Thanks for the advice. one toe duly dipped. I'll let you guys know how it pans out over time.
JustinP1 said:
Why not test them out first? Put it to them that if their readership is as strong as they say, that maybe that if they are looking at you as a long-term customer that they might want to run a small 'tester' advert for free?
You could do this whilst smiling but they'll have heard it a 1000 times before and will almost certainly dismiss it, if not you.Papers sitting in 'bins' at high footfall areas - petrol stations, supermarkets etc are often exceptionally good for response compared to those with ‘highly selective’ postal circulations.
'Self Selection' means the guy that picks it up, wants to read it - it's not shoved in his face, through his letterbox or chucked on his desk - also publishing is in a bad way right now so the Publisher will be printing no more than 7% over 'pick up' ('bins' look empty otherwise) so the VFD (verified free distribution) should be pretty spot on.
If the copy (or other advertisers) match your firms' objectives/demographics then give it a go; be sure to allocate a dedicated telephone number for the advert - not difficult, these guys are free (www.switchboardfree.co.uk) and I’ve used the service (only for testing purposes) then you'll know precisely how many leads they've generated (or not).
There' nothing worse than putting a toe in the water with a new media/medium and not recording the results - 'we got a couple of extra calls' doesn't qualify if one of those converts to be a seriously profitable client in future and you can't recall where they came from.
I don't know the publication, but once you've done a touch of due diligence give it a go.
Or alternatively, give me the budget and I’ll make it work for you, if you take my advice ( email marketing).
Good luck,
Donny
drivin_me_nuts said:
Thanks for the replies. To be honest I did my own little bit of research and the magazine does seem to be the sort that sits on the shelves/places where my market are located. Hotels, restaurants, hairdressers.. places where people have disposable income and the time to sit down and read an advert/article. It seems to hit all the right spots in that respect so we'll see.
The outlay is not too prohibitive, the coverage including the editorials looks potentially complehensive so I'm thinking about it quite seriously.
Thanks for the advice. one toe duly dipped. I'll let you guys know how it pans out over time.
I know the magazine in question and you're right in what you say about its placement, however it tends to be a scanned-read magazine looking mainly at the pictures (this is all i ever did with it anyway!) plus it's a pick-up from a rack magazine, not an off the shelf from the shop magazine. The outlay is not too prohibitive, the coverage including the editorials looks potentially complehensive so I'm thinking about it quite seriously.
Thanks for the advice. one toe duly dipped. I'll let you guys know how it pans out over time.
If you are going to negotiate ANYTHING, make your first priority placement (area of the magazine), we always found the best are was just after the front quarter, very near the middle or right at the end. Some places won't negotaite on this though.
Also, it may be worth doing a 1/4 or 1/2 page becuase it could potentially be next to editorial, which always gets more attention.
What's the ad for anyway? I'll keep an eye open for it!
Couple of other general pointers for you:
Look for magazines with ABC certification (Audit Bureau of Circulation) as this is an independent verification of circulation.
Paid for magazines are more attractive propositions than freebies as readers have “chosen” to buy them and thus likely to read them.
Circulation and reach have nothing to do with the effect a campaign will have. It’s all about targeting. Titles that can reach 100% of your target market but distribute only 2,000 copies will carry a premium over another that prints 200,000 copies but only reaches 10% of your target market.
Advertising should be part of your marketing strategy. Use other means of communications – direct mail, web, etc.
Instead of pushing for heavy discounts, try getting them to run an article that you write. This is not an “advertorial” but a viable article about the subject from which you earn your living. Can’t be an overt sales pitch but very good for credibility: [url]some examples of our approach to this|http://www.envirocomms.co.uk/press.htm
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Look for magazines with ABC certification (Audit Bureau of Circulation) as this is an independent verification of circulation.
Paid for magazines are more attractive propositions than freebies as readers have “chosen” to buy them and thus likely to read them.
Circulation and reach have nothing to do with the effect a campaign will have. It’s all about targeting. Titles that can reach 100% of your target market but distribute only 2,000 copies will carry a premium over another that prints 200,000 copies but only reaches 10% of your target market.
Advertising should be part of your marketing strategy. Use other means of communications – direct mail, web, etc.
Instead of pushing for heavy discounts, try getting them to run an article that you write. This is not an “advertorial” but a viable article about the subject from which you earn your living. Can’t be an overt sales pitch but very good for credibility: [url]some examples of our approach to this|http://www.envirocomms.co.uk/press.htm
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StevieBee said:
Couple of other general pointers for you:
Look for magazines with ABC certification (Audit Bureau of Circulation) as this is an independent verification of circulation.
Paid for magazines are more attractive propositions than freebies as readers have “chosen” to buy them and thus likely to read them.
Circulation and reach have nothing to do with the effect a campaign will have. It’s all about targeting. Titles that can reach 100% of your target market but distribute only 2,000 copies will carry a premium over another that prints 200,000 copies but only reaches 10% of your target market.
Advertising should be part of your marketing strategy. Use other means of communications – direct mail, web, etc.
Instead of pushing for heavy discounts, try getting them to run an article that you write. This is not an “advertorial” but a viable article about the subject from which you earn your living. Can’t be an overt sales pitch but very good for credibility: [url]some examples of our approach to this|http://www.envirocomms.co.uk/press.htm
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Thanks for the advice. This is indeed what I am planning to do and over the months there will be a number of different articles and commentry. It is going to be interestingLook for magazines with ABC certification (Audit Bureau of Circulation) as this is an independent verification of circulation.
Paid for magazines are more attractive propositions than freebies as readers have “chosen” to buy them and thus likely to read them.
Circulation and reach have nothing to do with the effect a campaign will have. It’s all about targeting. Titles that can reach 100% of your target market but distribute only 2,000 copies will carry a premium over another that prints 200,000 copies but only reaches 10% of your target market.
Advertising should be part of your marketing strategy. Use other means of communications – direct mail, web, etc.
Instead of pushing for heavy discounts, try getting them to run an article that you write. This is not an “advertorial” but a viable article about the subject from which you earn your living. Can’t be an overt sales pitch but very good for credibility: [url]some examples of our approach to this|http://www.envirocomms.co.uk/press.htm
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Edited by drivin_me_nuts on Saturday 20th September 01:32
fergywales said:
...offer to pay quarterly in advance, and they'll gladly accept, especially in today's climate for advertising revenue.
What?! That's terrible advice, do NOT pay up front. For a start there's simply no need to do that and secondly if an ad appears in the wrong place, has poor repro or some other problem with it normal practice would be to withhold payment until appropriate compensation is agreed. Pre-payment is unnecessary, puts you in a bad position if something goes wrong and an even worse position if the publication collapses.To the OP, try and code your ad in some way so you can monitor response and judge the value to you of that advertising. Consider either a simple code like AB that callers could quote, or use a special url ending or something so you can see what you're getting back from it. You also need to ask enquirers where they've heard of you ideally.
bramley said:
fergywales said:
...offer to pay quarterly in advance, and they'll gladly accept, especially in today's climate for advertising revenue.
What?! That's terrible advice, do NOT pay up front. For a start there's simply no need to do that and secondly if an ad appears in the wrong place, has poor repro or some other problem with it normal practice would be to withhold payment until appropriate compensation is agreed. Pre-payment is unnecessary, puts you in a bad position if something goes wrong and an even worse position if the publication collapses.To the OP, try and code your ad in some way so you can monitor response and judge the value to you of that advertising. Consider either a simple code like AB that callers could quote, or use a special url ending or something so you can see what you're getting back from it. You also need to ask enquirers where they've heard of you ideally.
drivin_me_nuts said:
The magazine is called Absolute Brighton of that's any help - to be published in Brighton and London editions.
I know one of the sales girls on there (she worked for me for 4 years)If you book/re-book an advert, let me know and I'll see if I can help with placement and/or price
Edited by FUBAR on Monday 22 September 17:53
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