If you have ever had the opportunity to sell advertising, I am sure that current and potential advertisers have asked you questions that you did not expect. I am excited to help you with some of the questions I hear on a regular basis in the hopes that it allows you to better serve your current and prospective advertisers.
Question: What size ad should I place?
What you are probably thinking: : Full page, of course, because that brings in the most revenue for the organization.
What you should say: Well, that depends on a number of things.
- Do you know what you can afford to spend?
- What is your goal with your ad? Is it to make a big splash and really get the attention of the audience, or is it to maintain the level of awareness you have currently?
- Is this an important time for you where you need to give your ad the best chance of being seen?
- Are you going to do multiple ads, or is this the only time you will be reaching this audience?
- What do you envision being in the ad? Do you have a lot of content and graphics that need to be there to get your point across?
Question: How many ads should I place?
Answer: What you are probably thinking: One in every issue, because that brings in the most revenue for the organization.
What you should say: Well, that depends on a number of things.
- What can you afford to spend?
- What is your goal with the ad campaign? Is it to make a big splash and really get the attention of the audience, or is it to maintain the level of awareness you have currently?
- Is your business seasonal, or are there any deadlines that will impact when and how often you want to advertise?
- Do you have multiple ads with different messages or just one ad that will be run multiple times?
Question: Which is better—color or black and white?
Answer:
What you are probably thinking: Color, because it makes the magazine more attractive, and it brings in the most revenue for the organization.
What you should say: Well, that depends on a number of things.
- What can you afford to spend?
- What is your goal with the ad campaign? Is it to make a big splash and really get the attention of the audience or is it to maintain the level of awareness you have currently?
- Do you want to do what the majority of other advertisers are doing, or are you OK with running against the stream?
- Are you planning on running multiple ads throughout the year so that switching things up may make sense?
Question: Should I advertise electronically or in print?
Answer:
What you are probably thinking: Both, because multi-media campaigns are very successful. Plus, it brings in more money for the organization.
What you should say: Well, that depends on a number of things.
- What can you afford to spend?
- How long is the message you want to share? If it is long, it may be very difficult to get across in a banner or button ad.
- Is this going to be your only advertising effort? If so, it may be difficult to really increase your awareness with a banner or button ad.
- What is your call to action? If you have a short call to action that is easy to present, electronic advertising may work.
- Will your banner ad send people to a strong landing page?
There are definitely some things that are unique to each question, so be sure to keep them in mind when you talk to your advertisers. The better you are able to serve your advertisers, the more likely they are to continue to advertise, which makes your life as a salesperson much easier and also results in more revenue for your organization.