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Glossary

Print Advertising Basics

1. What are inserts and how can they help advertisers?: Inserts are promotional materials that appear in newspapers and magazines with or without any binding to the publication. Inserts may appear as a single ad or a collection of ads. Inserts are often surprisingly cost-efficient and take much of the hassle out of getting word out on brands. They are often coveted for their visibility when compared to other ads as they often fall out of publications and are immediately noticed by the reader.
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2. Why should I bother with advertising?: Advertising is often how people learn about a particular business, how their products and/or services could improve their lives and how one would be able to obtain that particular product or service. As that is the case, advertising is essential for most companies to survive. Advertising often occurs for different reasons. Some companies choose to advertise to keep a specific image in mind for their company, others may simply want to get their name out there or put the word out for their latest promotions. Despite the fact that some companies are well established, advertising is still often able to help. For example, established business may take advantage of advertising to concentrate efforts in a particular region where sales seem to be lacking.
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3. Why should advertisers run their ads multiple times?: Advertising results are often not instant and as because of that, it may require multiple runs of ads before adequate results are achieved. This does not necessarily mean that the exact same ad must be run but should be related ads from the same campaign. It is often suggested that ads run several times in the same publication, also known as building 'frequency' so that they could be easily found in the future by those who may be interested in the product or service mentioned, or by those who would like to forward information from your ad to others. Running ads multiple times also ensures your brand's credibility and builds your reputation.
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4. How do open rates differ from contract rates?: Unlike a contract rate which is often based on the frequency, volume or both, an open rate is the most a publication charges for a single insertion inside of a magazine or newspaper.
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5. What choice of ads do newspapers usually offer?: Typically you'll have a selection of classified ads, free-standing inserts, display ads and display classified ads.
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6. What does CPM stand for and why is it important?: CPM is short for cost-per-thousand and is a formula that helps ad buyers compare how much ad space costs between publications. The formula works by dividing the cost of an ad by its circulation in thousands - CPM is the result. For example if the cost of an ad is $2000.00 in a magazine with a circulation of 40,000. The formula is: $2000/40 = A CPM of $50
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7. How much should I budget for advertising?: There isn't a set amount for advertising that tends to work for everyone; however the typical company spends about 3 to 10 per cent of their budget on advertising. Spending on the higher end of the scale isn't uncommon for more successful companies as they often value advertising and attribute it to their success. We suggest trying spending a certain amount on advertising at first and changing the amount depending on the outcome. An easy way to keep track of the effectiveness of your advertising is ask your customers where they heard of your business through surveys.
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8. How do publications prove if an ad ran in a publication?: Typically a tear sheet of the ad is included with the invoice for the ad by publications.
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