Why local advertising really does work...

[La_Geneve_North]

After a successful day of selling advertisng, I thought i'd share with you all why advertising in a local press publication is booming and why all the big companies are investing more into local advertisng...

Facts from the Newspaper Society's most recent six figure project report and what marketing magazine had to say about the boom is...

“Advertisers, looking to bring brands closer to people’s lives, are increasingly tapping into the power of the regional press.”

“the regional press now reaches over 40 million adults or over 83.6% of the population. It is the most trusted form of media, as well as being the most acted upon, with 61% of people responding to advertising in the regional press.”

Alan Young, creative director at St. Luke's said: "Regional press is perhaps the only above-the-line medium remaining where ads are still seen as a genuinely useful source of information"

Paul McGarr, from ZenithOptimedia said: "Regional press... offers a high level of market penetration for advertisers, can be geographically targeted and provide advertisers with a trustworthy and relevant vehicle in which to communicate with a local population"
"I think brands are slowly recognising that each region is different and that there will be regional variations in how their brands are perceived. The more advertisers recognise the benefits of communicating at a local level and accommodating regional differences in how their brands are perceived, the greater the focus will be on regional press.

I hope that this also answers some of the queries that were raised to me on whether local advertising really works.

Yolanda

[davenny]

When you say "61% of people responding to advertising in the regional press.”

Do you have hard facts around "profit" aka, they spend X for ad, bring in Y in revenue and Z in advertising profit, the difference between X and Y.

Erik
http://www.usspin.com
SPiN - Super Powerful Networking has decided to Open Source its system; it is complete free to anyone who wants to start their own mastermind group. (Manuals, Materials, Website, Web-links etc.)

[La_Geneve_North]

Hi Erik,

Yes I do have further stats. I only placed the main crucial points. I also have report information from Mintel with a lot of the stats broken down.
Local press advertisments are relatively reasonable as a whole, so if you spend a small amount on advertising and 61% are likely to respond, you've hardly made a loss :)

Yolanda

[crus]

Very useful Yolanda, I may well ask you for some further details, if that is OK, at a later date.

D

[La_Geneve_North]

Hi Crus,

No problem. Feel free to PM anytime.

Yolanda ;)

[directmarketingadvice]

Yes I do have further stats. I only placed the main crucial points. I also have report information from Mintel with a lot of the stats broken down.

Local press advertisments are relatively reasonable as a whole

I'm curious too. For every pound spent advertising in regional press in the UK, what's the average return?

Do ads typically lose money, break even or make a profit?

if you spend a small amount on advertising and 61% are likely to respond, you've hardly made a loss

I'm not sure that's what the 61% figure means.

If you get 61% of the people who see your ad to respond, you're breaking records in advertising. In fact, you're smashing them.

The figure was "61% of people responding to advertising in the regional press" which I took to mean that "61% of people (adults that read the local press?) have responded (whatever that means) to an ad in the local press during a certain period (their lifetimes?)"

Now, obviously, that could mean that:

"61% of the adults who read the local press have, at some point of their lives, made an enquiry as a result of seeing an ad in the local press."

Alternatively, it could mean:

"61% of people have paid for something in the last 12 months as a result of seeing an ad in the local press."

Which would be two very different pieces of information.

Maybe I'm cynical, but for some reason I'm not particularly surprised that an expensive report by the Newspaper Society found that newspaper advertising is a good.

Once we see the proper breakdown of the returns for the advertisers, we might see a different picture.

However, having said all that, I think these surveys are really of little value to anyone who's thinking about advertising in the local press.

What really counts is whether it's the right medium to deliver your message to your market, not whether it's the right medium for other people.

Steve

[La_Geneve_North]

Hi Steven

I do understand your concerns and i'm sure many people are thinking the same just out of curiosity, so what i'll do is place all the information up tonight as I do not have access to the other stats at present.

Also just to add ,the report conducted by the Newspaper Society is not solely refering to newspapers alone. They are also refering to other forms of regional print such as magazines.

Managing a regional magazine myself meant I only felt it was right to inform those of you who are sceptical about placing advertisments within local press media.

And yes you are right, you have to advertise in mediums which relate to your target audience, hence being the reason why I am not just refering to local newspapers.

Many Thanks

Yolanda x

[Pebble Communications]

Well I guess I'm in that 61% as I have once used a service that was advertised in the local paper. I've also attended local events because of ads in the 'what's on' section.

I wouldn't say they've ever made me go and buy something from a retailer though.