WHY MAGAZINE ADVERTISING HELPS BUSINESSES REACH THEIR IDEAL CUSTOMER
In the era of internet when we have more advertisement options available than ever in the form of broadcast media, outdoor media, internet and print media, why should we go for magazine advertisement?
Magazine advertisement falls under print ads which cover either local audience or national audience. Debatably, conventional advertising methods effectiveness has become questionable, however, many companies still keep a good share of advertising budget for print ads. Visitors, according to one survey, only spend 15 seconds to 2 minutes on a website which means, in most cases, they hardly take a glance of or read your ads set at the end or corner of the page. It simply means low return on digital ad investment.
On the contrary, magazine ads are effective and gives good ROI on the investment. Keep reading further to know the benefits of this advertising tool.
Narrow down to Most Suitable Audience
Magazines are audience-specific. They target a certain audience which is called their niche market, for examples, the people who work from home may be more interested in the magazines which talk about entrepreneurship or work-life balance than any other. Housewives can be more interested in home décor, culinary and family magazines. Professionals may not be as inclined to read any other magazines as the magazines related to economy and businesses.
There are thousands of magazines which are publishing successfully for decades in their niches such as Teen Vogues for teenage girls, ESPN for teenage boys, Writer’s Digest for writers, Filmfare for movie lovers, Time Magazine for the people who want to stay abreast with current affairs. When you find magazines which are published for a target audience which also resonates your business, you can strategically get your ads placed there.
Form Real Connection
Most millennials spend a good time online posting selfies, tweeting their opinions and glancing through latest social media trends. They search the answers of questions randomly come to their head and visit various websites, hardly spending more than 20 seconds on one website. Such fickle behaviour forms no real connection with online world.
However, people hold on to a real magazine whenever they get a hold of it and take it more seriously. This is how real experience of actually reading a magazine exceeds that of virtual one. Moreover, older people are more comfortable reading a real magazine rather virtual. If you find some ad space in a well-established publication, it will give you and your brand of an aura of legitimacy.
Also, fake news, scam and cyber-crimes are keep becoming the talk of the town that reduce the authenticity of virtual world.
A Longer Shelf Life (Broader Reach)
In general, magazines are issued monthly or weekly unlike most newspapers which are issued daily. One of the most satisfying things in magazines is they have a longer shelf life which allows them to get into the hands of more people. They sit proudly in the professionals’ waiting rooms, boutiques, malls, magazine racks and supermarkets. the more footfall means the more readers of the magazine which will expose your ad to more people for months.
Moreover, when people read a magazine, they don’t get thorough it in a day and forget about it. It may take a week or a month to read it completely and finish it all. They often keep coming back to re-read certain articles again. In such cases, your ad is reflecting again and again which is reinforcing your brand in readers’ mind and increasing the chances that they contact you.
Apart from this, Magazines are often exchanged among family and friends and sit around in the drawing-room for guests as well.
This is not the case with digital advertisements. The advertisers must keep paying for the continuation of their ads.
Enhanced Brand Value and Credibility
Most of the famous magazines enjoy good reputation among their subscribers. Buying an ad space in such magazines will pass on that reputation to your brand as well according to the nature’s law of balance. Your brand will be in front of the eyes of loyal people of a brand and they will also start recognising you.
They will get familiar and start trusting you. As you also keep getting engaged with other marketing channels, those people will also come across your business or meet you in person in some event resulting reinforced recognition and brand value. Your business greatly gets benefitted from the magazines’ credibility as your advertisement looks more like a recommendation than an advert.
People recognise a well-established magazines value as it has been around in most cases. If you carry out a long-term campaign of advertisement, you likely to build a recognition and eventually a brand over time.
Conclusion:
Along with all these benefits, there are some traps as well if they are not taken care of, advertisers may fall into them and would hurt the effectiveness of the advertisement.
Publishing an ad in a magazine is a time taking process therefore, it is imperative to have a robust advertising strategy. You are required to submit the ad weeks or even months before the issue you are advertising in, is scheduled to be published. Therefore, you must invest into a good graphic designer and must ensure that the advertisements have catchy headline and looks attractive to grab the readers’ attention.
Positioning of the ads plays a significant role too. You must ensure that you get premium positioning. It is a bit expensive though, it has been proven to be more effective.
Also, before advertising, you must inquire about the following about the magazine you are going to buy ad space:
- The number of subscribers and demand of the magazine
- How frequently it publishes
- Distribution channels of the magazine
You must spend some time in understanding the demographics of the readers and distribution system of the magazine and whether they match with target market or not.
In building brand, credibility and growing revenue, magazines adverts are effective and worth spending the money. However, it is advisable to research the distribution system of the magazine.
