If you think no one is watching
This is a lesson I am learning at my job at the newspaper.
I started out as a reporter, now I have added a few more hats. One of those hats is selling advertising.
My boss and I had a meeting the other day talking about ways to increase our revenue thorough ads not only in the newspaper but also on social media.
We have been playing with some ideas like offering social media ads for our newspaper advertisers for a few dollars more and then placing their ads on our social media sites. We have a lot of people that follow us, so we thought that might be a tempting offer.
We hear from our advertisers all the time that nobody sees their ads in our newspaper and they are switching to radio and social media.
I tell a lot of those people who say that to me that unless I am listening to the radio when their ad is on, I don't hear it. When I'm driving and I happen to hear their ad, it's not like a can pull out a piece of paper and a pen and write down their information. (Actually, I could because I see an hear things that I need to take note of all the time but many people don't have those easily accessible.)
I also mention to them that I don't often see any of those posts because I am not a scroller on social media.
Our newspaper has thousands of followers and people who check out our website and Facebook pages daily, so we thought this might be a possible way to start something new.
My boss told me that one way to see if people were reading the newspaper and noticing the ads was to offer $50 cash. All they had to be was the first person to say they had seen the ad in our newspaper.
We talked to a few potential advertisers about it and do you know what they said?
"We aren't going to give $50 away."
My boss said, "What are you worried about? You said nobody sees your ads!"
The moral of the story is: don't downplay advertising in newspapers because people do see the ads, inserts and more. If you don't believe it, offer $50 cash and see just how many calls you receive!
The take away for me is huge because I am going to start using this when I talk to my clients. I want them to succeed with advertising of all kinds. We will be rolling out the newspaper ads on our social media sites within the next month. I will let you know how that goes. I will also let you know if I can sell anyone on the idea of giving the $50 away!
In the meantime, I will continue with my newspaper advertising as well as my social media advertising. Maybe I will give $50 away!
Have a great weekend!
Karin
Recent Comments
34
Interesting Karin, thanks for the share!
I think you have something there, statistics could be analysed through the incentive of $50 for sure,
I do think you would need to make it a longer time frame in your requirements of calling and something like a quiz.
Because so many people would assume they are not the first after even a short period of time since the add was advertised and not bother to call maybe.
Great idea for gathering feedback.
Kind regards
Erica
Thanks for the idea. That would perhaps give them a better incentive to call because they think they might still have a chance. Since we live in a very poor area $50 is a lot of money to some of us! Unfortunately I won't be able to play, but if it shows the advertiser that people ARE seeing their ads, $50 is a small price for them to pay.
Thanks again!
Karin
It looks to me as though all of those discouraging you simply wanted you to drop the idea and they apply it themselves! Go for it, it is you rewarding the reader and you loose nothing.
Have a great week
Yes. That is a possibility. We will be working on this over the coming weeks. I am excited to see the result.
Hope you have a great week, as well!
Karin
Thank you very much. Yes, you strategy is bound to be a game-changer!!
You, too, have a great week
Joseph
Glad you liked it, Myra. I just find myself stumbling over the fact that my advertisers won't offer $50 but they also don't think anyone sees their ads. It makes me shake my head and laugh!
Karin
Hi Karin
That's a great story! 👍
What percentage of people read your newspaper online vs. on paper?
Do you happen to have the stats on what percent of millennials and Gen Z people get newspapers delivered to their homes or buy them in a store?
Just curious. 😎
Thanks,
Frank 🎸
Thanks for the great questions, Frank. I don't have them, but I bet they would be very interesting stats. I am going to have our guy check into this.
From what I know of our online readers, most are in the 18-50 age range. I can't think of more than two that are over 50 years old. So most are younger generation.
I will be looking into this further. Thanks for the great ideas!
Karin
See more comments
I'm "old school", Karin and remember times when all we had were the newspapers. My brother-in-law and Dad still read the physical paper regularly with their cup of coffee.
While everyone else is glued to their phones like zombies, I'll definitely be the first one to spot that ad offering $50 cash. 👍
Isaiah 🙂
Yep, me too. We had newspapers and magazines all over the house when I grew up because my parents wanted us to be readers of a variety of things. I know many people who still read the weekly newspaper from cover to cover.
I am excited about putting this incentive out there and see what happens!
Have a great rest of your day and a productive next week,
Karin