Why You Should Reconsider Newspaper Advertising

With newspaper advertising having a lower cost per thousand readers than radio, television, direct mail, outdoor, and many cases digital advertising, why aren’t businesses spending the way they were ten or twenty years ago on newspaper advertising?

Although there are many reasons why businesses say they are no longer spending the same amount on newspaper advertising, the most common answers among business owners are decreased circulation, rates being too high, pushy newspaper salespeople, the concern they are only reaching an older demographic, and finally, having several other options for targeting their customers. Lets look into each of these concerns separately.

Probably the largest objection to newspaper advertising by business owners is that the circulation of the newspaper has decreased but rates have remained the same. The irony of this argument is that most traditional media has been struggling with viewership and listeners, but the same objection is rarely made with television and radio advertising. Viewership for television advertising has been steadily decreasing over the last decade due to segmentation and technology. Not only are viewers using DVR devices to skip commercials at a higher level than ever, but consumers have the options of hundreds of channels through cable and satellite providers, and many non-commercial streaming options such as Hulu and Netfilix. Even with the decreased viewership, television advertising rates are at an all time high. Radio has taken an even larger hit on listeners over the last several years. With satellite radio, Bluetooth, and countless station options, it is harder than ever to catch an active listener with your commercial. So although it is fair to check the change in circulation for the newspaper you are looking to run in, make sure this is not your only consideration, as you are probably not doing the same thing for your TV and radio buys.

The second objection to newspaper advertising is typically the cost/rate. Although many first time media buyer’s tend to have sticker shock when pricing out a newspaper buy, if we simply compare the cpm and reach of the newspaper ad to other campaigns you are running, you might be surprised at how cost effective newspaper advertising can be.

The third objection that we hear about newspaper advertising it that business owners are tired of working with pushy newspaper salespeople. This objection is one that is difficult to defend. The sales forces behind newspaper organizations tend to be the largest, and highest pressured within the media industry. With lofty sales goals, newspaper reps tend to be known as relentless which can be a real turnoff to business owners. This often leads to businesses hiring advertising agencies so they don’t need to work directly with newspaper reps. The question becomes whether not working directly with the newspaper is worth the agency fee.

Another concern we hear from business owners if that they will only be reaching an older demographic with newspaper advertising. While it is true that the demographics of newspaper readers tend to skew older, you might be surprised that most newspaper in the United States have significant readership of adults 30-50 years old. Unless you are only looking to target millennials, newspaper advertising is the best way to get in front of affluent adults with disposable income.

The final objection that business owners tend to have with running newspaper advertising is that there are many options for targeting their key demos, and they need more of a media mix. Having a media mix is extremely important to spread your company’s message. We would never recommend only running newspaper advertising, however, we highly recommend looking through your local paper for a couple of weeks. You will notice that there will be the same advertisers running on a frequent basis. Frequent newspaper advertisers swear by their result, and know that newspaper advertising is the go to medium for reaching the largest number of affluent customers in their market.

The thin market theory states that there are only so many people that are in the market for your product or service at any given time. Based on this theory, you want to make sure to cast your net wide to get in front of as many consumers as possible since you never know when a consumer is going to be in the need for your product or service. Newspaper advertising is the best way to cast your net as wide as possible, and get in front of your ideal consumer.

So the next time you are questioning whether or not to run a newspaper ad, remember that although the newspaper industry has changed, the results that they have always driven remains very much the same.