Print Advertising Best Practices

Here are some best practices to keep in mind when doing print advertising.

Set a single objective for the ad. Are you featuring a new product or service? Driving traffic to your website? Looking for a response to an offer? Having a clear objective and message is vitally important.

A laundry list of everything you have to offer is not a good tactic. It gives the customer nothing to focus on or get excited about.

Your headline should clearly define your chosen objective. Your ad's headline is the first thing that gets read. That, along with your image/visual, is what draws them to read your ad or story.

Choose a strong image. A cluttered image weakens your ad. Your image needs to be strong and professional and must also tie in with the body copy and headline. (See examples of strong visuals from our advertisers below.)

Think benefits before features. Customers want to know that's in it for them. The benefit is the need you're offering to fulfull; the feature is how you intend to do it.

Use colour. Colour ads are read more, and remembered more than black and white ads.

Rally the support of your sales team. Make sure they know what you're advertising, when and where, so they can speak knowledgeably with prospects that may have seen the ad.

Frequency and Consistency. Customers need to be reminded of what you have to offer on a regular basis. Most ad campaigns take an average of 9 or more viewings before the message with stick with viewers. Many ad campaigns can take an average of 6 months to see a return.