Sunday, May 11, 2008

The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Print Marketing

Copyright © Grace Lee

When you run a business a lot of your focus will be on marketing. Three traditional methods that have been used by businesses for years include newspapers, magazines and the yellow pages. However, many businesses are starting to turn their attention towards internet and other forms of technological marketing. So some may wonder if there are still benefits to using these forms of print marketing.

When it comes to newspapers there are several advantages to consider. With newspapers you can reach a large group of people while also targeting a specific geographic area. Newspapers allow you to have flexibility in deciding what size ad you want to place and where you want it printed in the newspaper. This means you can make your ad as large as necessary in order to communicate what you are trying to sell.

You are not limited by your newspaper ad, readers can return to your message again and again so you can have continuous exposure. You will usually have free help from the newspaper in creating and producing your ad copy. Newspapers are adapting to the changing market conditions and offering quick turn-around. Therefore, running an ad today can result in customers viewing your ad within one to two days.

Magazines provide a way for businesses to have a more focused marketing option. However, it is also a more expensive alternative to the newspaper method of advertising. Businesses choose this method of marketing if they want to reach a highly targeted audience. By using magazines you can advertise to your audience through publications that focus on your specific audience or has topics of interest to your audience. Since you have a high reader involvement with the magazine you will have more attention placed on your advertisement. Magazine ads are better for color reproduction and full-color ads, this means that even small ads will stand out in a magazine.

The oldest tradition of print marketing is the yellow pages. Today there are several different forms of yellow pages that allow people to promote and advertise their business. In addition to the general yellow pages that the phone companies give out you can also use specialized directories that are targeted towards specific markets. There are even internet directors now that you can use for advertising your company.

With yellow page advertising you can have wide availability since nearly everyone will use the yellow pages at one time or another. It is a non-intrusive way of marketing. It is an action-oriented method of marketing since your audience will actually be looking for what you provide. Yellow page ads are reasonably inexpensive and your responsive can be easily tracked and measured. Finally, yellow page marketing offers increased frequency.

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Grace Lee is an internet marketer with her own home online business. She assists other individuals interested in making additional income working online and helping them find the best home based business ideas and opportunities.
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