By now you’ll know that I’m writing about the launch of my new website, NailPolish.co.uk, in my bi-weekly #EcomLaunch series. This week I wanted to take a little time out from the #EcomLaunch posts to discuss print media buying. I’ve had a few emails and questions from people asking me where to start, so I wanted to formalize my advice to share with you.
There are lots of ways to drive targeted traffic to your ecommerce website – an often forgotten way of driving traffic is with good old advertisements in magazines and newspapers.
What is print media buying?
Print media buying is the practice of purchasing advertising space in publications like magazines and newspapers.
I mentioned in one of my previous blog posts that I’d bought space in Vogue and a host of other fashion related magazine titles here in the UK.
Media buying isn’t restricted to printed publications – you can also buy space on websites, and even airtime on the radio and TV. In this post however, I’m going to be very specific by focusing purely on print media.
It’s the granddaddy of advertising: long before the invention of TV, radio and of course the Internet, one of the best ways to advertise a product, brand or service was to take out an advert in the newspaper.
Things have moved on and other advertising mediums are now far more effective – but traditional print media buying can still be a worthwhile exercise, especially for ecommerce businesses.
How much does it cost?
It’s the million dollar question – the question that most people don’t bother to ask because they assume that the price will be out of this world. In truth, I never looked into media buying until recently because I assumed the prices would be insane – but I was wrong.
Sure, some publications will charge tens of thousands of dollars for a half page or a full page – but you don’t always need a half or full page to make an impact and drive traffic and sales to your website. Media buying might be more affordable than you thought!
I can’t really go into detail for various reasons, but I can confirm that I’ve paid less than $1,000 per placement (often less than $500) in some top UK fashion magazines. I didn’t go for a half or full page, but I did opt to feature in some cool advertorials that led to us making sales on our website.
Lots of different factors will come into play to dictate how much you pay – the time of year, the size of your advert, the proximity to publishing date, and so on. If you plan carefully, you can maximize your chances of getting a great deal.
How can I get a great deal?
One of my friends who works at a newspaper in charge of selling advertising space, he gave me some great advice. He said: Never pay the rate card price (ever), and always hold out until issues are closing if you want to get the very best deal.
When I first approached a few UK publishing companies about advertising they sent me over their rate cards – the prices were quite high. I told them those prices were just too much for me, but that they could feel free to email me when they were closing issues and needed to fill a few last spaces.
Never pay the rate card price (ever)…
A couple of the companies got back to me with revised rate cards offering much better prices, the other companies I didn’t hear back from for a few weeks. I forgot about media buying for a while due to other commitments but gradually I found that I had a few emails coming in from people looking to shift their last minute advertising spots just as they went to print.
Again, I can’t really go into specifics, but I found I was able to cut good deals when their backs were against the wall. They offered good prices (compared to the rate card) but I always looked to beat those prices down further, and most of the time it worked.
My top tip is to buy really cheap space in print media just as they go to press. That means you’ll need artwork and copy in place to send over quickly, as often you’ll be presented with a deadline that’s just a matter of hours until expiration.
Just showing interest with magazines about advertising is usually enough for their advertising departments to stay in regular contact with you. Unless you’re planning an on-going media buying campaign to cover a certain event or a new product, I see very little reason why you’d ever need to pay full rate card prices – or anything else close to them. The more flexible you are, the less you’ll pay for media buying. We’re now at a point where I don’t mind if we’re in magazines or not – if I can buy advertising space very cheap then great, if not, it’s not a problem.
Tracking performance
For small ecommerce businesses like yours and mine, tracking performance of print ads can be difficult. My best advice is to include a unique coupon code with each magazine that you advertise in. That way you should be able to see how many readers have used the code – this should give you some idea of the effectiveness of advertising in that particular magazine.
Just to give you some kind of context, a top UK fashion magazine led to zero coupon code sales for us, whereas a general women’s magazine lead to that specific code being used a few hundred times. My intuition told me the top fashion magazines would perform best, but the coupon code data I gathered tells me the opposite.
Tracking coupon code usage doesn’t give you a complete picture – and it’s not an exact science – but it is a very good indicator of how effective or ineffective your ads are in a specific magazine.
As featured in…
One of the great things about advertising in popular magazines and newspapers is that you can add one of those ever so cliché “ribbons” on your website that shows the publications you’ve been featured in. You might think they look a little bit silly, but the fact is they go a long way to inspiring confidence in your buyers – spurring them on to make purchases from your website.
We’ll be going down this route at some point in the near future – so look out for the “As featured in…” section appearing on our homepage! Just remember to seek the relevant permission before plastering a third party’s logo all over your website. 99% of the time the publication in question will say yes anyway, but it is always good to ask first!
Rinse & repeat
Media buying in magazines and newspapers is very simple – you need to know how to get the most for your money. Once you’ve honed your bargaining skills, you can rinse and repeat the process every time a magazine contacts you about an opportunity. Just remember to try and measure the results you see, somehow. Coupon code tracking is a good way to do that.
Over time you’ll find some magazines perform better than others, and that’s fine. Just remember to allocate more of your budget to those magazines, and explore other advertising vehicles so you can reallocate the budget used for less influential magazines.
