Best of the ISP-Lists

Does Newspaper Advertising Pay?

The ISP-Marketing list discusses what you need to consider when planning a print campaign.

[March 27, 2000]

On the ISP-Marketing list in December, SS posed a request for feedback:

"I am planning an ad campaign in a newspaper with a circulation of 55,000. What kind of results should I reasonably expect?"

Initial responses were negative:

[GS shared his experience] "We got nothing off of print. We ran ads that offered free training classes and ads offering a free 56k modem upgrade. The upgrade offer brought in two customers."

[PF wrote] "Newspaper ads are generally the least effective, unless you continually hit on saturation day or get largish ads. I've done it twice and didn't get squat for the $400 it cost. Long term ads will be cheaper but I doubt it's gonna really improve the subscriptions per month."

Two respondent noted that only long campaigns are effective:

[BH wrote] "If you mean just one or two ads, then you won't gain anything. If you mean a protracted 6 to 12 months campaign with a consistent theme, then you will see more results — especially in name recognition."

[MW added] "Don't expect immediate results. Newspaper advertising will increase name awareness, however. One of the things to keep in mind is having the same logo and name each week, and running the ad in the same spot each week is also helpful. Then throw in a different ad in another section of the paper. Also, don't clutter the ad; more white space with a bold border in a newspaper ad draws the eye."

[RV had some success] "Our local paper has a 'Business Builder' program which is basically a 'top of the mind awareness' plan. We started with a 13 week run using a general campaign consisting of four section that will run in quarterly installments over the course of the year. The first step is general branding, the second deals with connectivity, the third focuses on small businesses and the fourth is aimed at big businesses. This entire campaign is built around our slogan and has a recurring theme throughout. It took three or four weeks before I started getting feedback, but seven weeks into the campaign we are getting a steady stream of inquiries, averaging between 5 and 10 a day."

—End