Why I Harp About Newspaper Advertising
It isn’t that newspaper advertising isn’t good – for the right businesses and in the right newspapers.
It’s just that far too many small business people leave it up to the ad reps at the newspaper to put their ads together. And then they don’t insist on seeing a proof before it goes to print.
A case in point happened in our town last week.
A local restaurant that has, for the past several years, closed each day at 2 p.m. decided to offer evening meals 3 nights a week. And in celebration of this new schedule, they advertised prime rib dinner on Saturday night.
A friend of ours wanted us to join him and go to dinner, but for some reason my husband decided he didn’t want to bother with driving to town.
And were we glad… It turns out that while the newspaper invited everyone to come to dinner, it failed to mention that the new schedule doesn’t start until May 1.
So, people showed up expecting a good dinner and instead found a locked door and a sign that said “closed.”
Well, it’s a small town and the restaurant is a popular one, so people will probably forgive them and come back to try it again.
But this is an example of what can happen when you let someone else be responsible for the marketing. It’s also an example of what can happen when you prepare an ad in a hurry. You can forget a detail here and there that makes a big difference.
Plan your ads, spend some time making sure the message is clear, and ALWAYS insist on seeing the proof before your ads go to print.
Posted: April 28th, 2010 under ad copy, advertising, marketing.
Tags: marketing, newspaper ads, proofreading