Overview
Print Marketing Advertising can be regarded as a subset of marketing. Marketing is the general canvass from which other subsets are painted upon. The term advertising focuses upon the phenomenon of purchasing a company or individual presence via multiple mediums to communicate with a given audience. Under this approach, one usually pays for sponsorship or a guaranteed placement on a given medium whereby the message is controlled and/or originated by the sender, i.e. advertiser.
Concept
How does print advertising work? Well, one can purchase sponsorship and/or ad space say in a given print publication. Most publications solicit advertisement dollars from third party sponsors (advertisers) and in turn post the message(s) of said sponsors. In terms of medium alone, advertisers have a vast array of options in choosing a messaging canvas. For our discussion purposes, we will discuss the options one has in regards to print marketing.
Print marketing employs a variety of medium whereby print text and/or images can be placed upon. Common examples of print marketing mediums are postcards, banners, posters, door hangers, brochures, rack cards, catalogs, print publications, stationery, etc. In essence, an advertiser can contribute their message via any of these materials in order to impact their intended audience. In most cases, the resource soliciting ad campaigns from third parties typically chooses the medium for a given price and duration.
Most of us are familiar with the ads we find in print publications like journals, periodicals, newspapers, magazines, etc. In the designated ad spaces, we often find an array of textual and graphic imagery urging us to purchase a given good and/or service. The publication is paid in advance by the advertiser for a given fee and the submitted advertisement will usually last for a contracted period of time. In terms of economic viability, many publications employ the use of advertising fees and/or programs because the sale of ad space can substantially increase their annual revenues. In turn, the advertiser hopes that the given publication has a readership that would be likely to pursue the purchasing of their goods and/or services.
Marketing Consideration
For many individuals and/or organizations, traditional advertising rates may be cost prohibitive. A sizable publication may charge exorbitant fees for advertisement placement that may bar many companies from contracting for such an advertisement presence. On the other hand, for a given business a high priced publication may be a good investment if the target demographic can readily translate into the conversion of sales for their goods and/or products. Each business must perform their own marketing analysis and cost-benefit-analysis to see if investment in a given advertisement space makes financial sense.
Many small to medium sized business may either forego expensive ad placements in favor of lower cost marketing alternatives. For example, a small to medium sized retail chain may have better results with a print marketing campaign using flyers, postcards, posters, business cards, brochures, rack cards, stationery, etc. as opposed to the investment in costly ad space. Careful consideration must be given to each and every aspect of whether the ad investment will return enough sales to justify and/or pay for the expense. As in any business decision, a return on investment approach may best determine which marketing vehicle works best for you and your business.
