Newspapers aren’t going away anytime soon. That’s a fact. I honestly believe there’s still much juice to be squeezed from that orange 😉 And since everyone is now advertising online almost exclusively, joyfully forgetting about the offline world… buying ad space in your local newspaper is probably way more cost-effective than you think.
Plus, if you’re willing to think outside the box, you’ll discover how powerful it can be to get your message out and build your audience. Advertorials are a great way to drive traffic to your opt-in page. but… there’s something even cooler you can do. Did you know that a newspaper has to have at least 60% content (balanced with 40% advertising) to qualify as a media publication?
This means that for every page of advertising they sell, they HAVE to create a page and a quarter of the content. I didn’t know that… until I recently started working with an independent newspaper owner. This is interesting for you as a marketer because when you look at it this way, you realize that content is actually an expense for the newspaper.
This made me think:
What does everyone running a business want the most? That’s right. Everyone wants to cut costs! Imagine if you go to these independent newspaper owners and offer them an arrangement where you provide them content for free in exchange for running your ads.
Say, for every half-page ad they run for you, you create one page of pure content for them. Do you think they would want something like that? I bet they would. And you know why? Because you’ve just given them a way to cut their costs! Plus, they can still sell the same amount of ads as they would normally do.
Technically, they’ve cut costs AND made money. But the best part here is the opportunity you have now created for YOU. The opportunity to write articles and get your message out about whatever it is you will advertise in that same newspaper.
Imagine your ad appearing right after someone reads an article (written by you!) about your thing! That’s powerful. You are literally “pre-framing” your readers to be ready for your advertising. And it can work for just about anything. Do you have a book about something that has the potential to become a movement? Are you promoting independent movies, documentaries or concerts?
What better way to get your message out, start a following and drive audience to your door than with feature articles in your local newspaper?! Especially if the newspaper is in the same industry as you. And when you combine access to a newspaper as a way of getting out a message with the local theater to distribute something.
I don’t know about you, but…
My head is spinning with all the possibilities this opens! 🙂
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