The Evolution of Newspaper Advertising - A Better Buy than Ever

The world of advertising has changed considerably in the last five years, and will continue to evolve into ever more interactive and engaging elements, primarily online. While some point to this evolution as the death knell of newspapers, do not believe it. As an entrepreneur or business manager whose responsibility is the marketing of your firm and the sale of its products and services, pay heed to how newspapers are changing to meet consumer and advertiser needs.

Few newspapers have failed to create an online presence. Nor is this Web presence a mere re-creation of their print product. Newspapers offer news and advertising content that is searchable, customizable, and interactive – inviting consumers to participate.

At many of the larger metropolitan dailies reporters are encouraged or even compelled to maintain their own blogs, through which they communicate with readers. Many newspapers and groups now have separate citizen media products, with a large portion of the photos and articles contributed by local residents who easily upload their pictures and stories on the site.

Both classified and ROP (retail) advertisements are parsed. For example, were an auto dealer to place a display ad that includes photos and details about several vehicles for sale, a user could peruse all the newspaper’s auto classifieds looking for Chevy Caprices 2000 or newer. The 2001 Caprice that is part of that auto dealer’s display ad would appear in the search results.

Even line ads – those ads that appeared for decades in print with text only (commonly referred to as Want Ads) can now be placed and paid for from the newspaper’s site any hour of any day or night, with the opportunity to include photos, a virtual tour (in the case of real estate for sale or rentals) , the ability to email the seller, send the ad by email to a friend, make a bid, buy it and pay for it online, call the seller from a microphone-enabled computer or participate in a live chat with the newspaper or the seller.

What all this means to an entrepreneur or business manager who needs to sell products and services or simply advertise the firm in general, is that newspapers are once again (or perhaps still) the medium of choice for those who seek to sell to a local market. And, for those who may have turned their backs on newspapers in the past because of the cost factor for print ads can now find a great buy in newspaper ads. Small mom and pops, home businesses and retailers and service firms that cater to a local market are especially benefited by these changes.

If you are a family-owned dry cleaner in Denver, for example, you may have declined to advertise in the Denver Post in the past because it was too expensive, and because you knew that people 30 miles on the other side of the city weren’t about to drive to your store to leave off their dry cleaning. Now, though, Denver Newspaper Agency, the overseer of the Denver Post and Rocky Mountain News, has a product called Your Hub, a citizen media Web and print publication, which allows you to choose to advertise only in your neighborhood. Not only is the cost considerably lower than in the past, but you can also post your own articles and photos at no charge, and can engage others in conversation.

Many other papers are following suit. Dozens of newspapers have video products and have even packaged their print and Web advertising with broadcast. You can now place an ad in the Reno Gazette, for example, for rental properties, and it will appear on the local cable TV station as part of its 30 minute Rental TV show on the weekend.

Newspapers such as the Palm Beach Post have advertising kiosks in the local malls and workforce centers. Consumers can go shopping, and stop by the kiosk to see the computers for sale, get the details of and a map to various Saturday garage sales, as well as peruse the job openings in their neighborhood. They can even apply for these jobs from the kiosk.

For those businesses who actually want to expand the reach of their advertising message, newspapers can deliver this as well. Shoppers (Pennysaver, American Classifieds / Thrifty Nickel etc.), free papers and paid daily newspapers are putting their heads and their ads together and coming up with networked buys. If you live and own a business in Sonoma County California, for example, placing a classified ad in the local Index-Tribune will get you coverage in the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat too.

Newspapers are not just print ads anymore. For a business – especially a young, small and growing business – the local newspaper can be a great buy and one of the most effective advertising tools you have. Check it out.

Author: Sharon Hill