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Local Marketing
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Article 4: Neighborhood Newspapers
Neighborhood newspapers have long been a popular advertising medium for small businesses. They’re much less expensive and much more targeted than large city newspapers.
“With a big city newspaper, you may be buying many readers who will never be your customers,” says Jim McCraigh, a direct marketing consultant and the author of “How to Write Words That Sell” (Salt River Press, 2005). “Most small businesses should stay out of the big papers and magazines – it’s a waste of money for them.”
Neighborhood papers are targeted to specific geographic areas, which makes them effective for local businesses that rely on local customers. Restaurants and service providers, like landscapers and dog groomers, can get good responses from ads in neighborhood papers.
“You really need to know who your customers are and where they’re located,” McCraigh stresses. “Neighborhood papers tend to be better for reaching older rather than younger readers – except for the sports pages, where teens like to read about themselves and their friends.”
With newspaper advertising, it’s all about testing, says McCraigh: “Test your ads, and if you’re happy with the results, stick with that paper. You want people to get used to seeing your ad in the same place consistently.”
Another benefit of advertising in the same newspaper consistently is possibly getting preferential placement.
“Most papers will work with their regular advertisers and give them better placement, even if they’re not paying for it, because they want to keep them happy,” says McCraigh. “A good ad salesperson knows what works and wants to help you succeed.”
You can also buy premium placement, “which is often worth the money,” says McCraigh. “Otherwise, you could end up next to a competitor or in some other undesirable spot. You should at least try to specify what section of the paper your ad will appear in.”
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