Print Advertising: The Waiting Game and Why It Pays Off

I’m not new to the world of print, but I’m what you could call a greenhorn to the sales industry.

For more than 7 years, my professional life was consumed by traditional print. As a print journalist and editor I have a very good understanding of the newspaper industry and how it’s changed so rapidly in such a short period of time. It’s no surprise that newspapers — especially local — are on the decline, but I believe they provide a very important service to the communities they serve.

Newspapers keep the community well informed of everything going on and keeps local government in check. Advertising also keeps residents and potential consumers well aware of products, services, etc. that are available to them.

I also believe editorial goes hand-in-hand with advertising. Advertising provides businesses with an opportunity to have thousands of eyes on them. It’s all about the numbers when it comes to advertising. Although I’m not a business owner, I believe it’s a simple question as to why a business owner may or may not consider advertising, especially print: “what’s going to be my Return on Investment (ROI)?”

It’s not a simple answer, because there is no definite answer to this question.

When it comes to advertising, business owners will also likely ask themselves: “Will the money I’m spending on this ad be equal to/produce more revenue for my business?”

I liken it a bit to gambling. The more you spend the better likelihood you’ll win. That’s not to say as a business owner you should have the same mentality as a gambler. Not at all. But if you choose to invest in an ad that will run longer, the odds are much better more people will see it and you’ll likely receive phone calls, visits, and other requests about your services, thus increasing the opportunity for more revenue.

It’s a waiting game.

Yes, you may get lucky by running a short-term ad and you get instant gratification, but it’s more than likely this isn’t the result for the majority of short-term ads. The more visibility and the longer period people see your ad, the better likelihood you’ll see increased consumer traffic.

Measuring ROI also isn’t easy, but there are a number of ways a business can take a proactive approach. As Chris Collins of bizable explains in his post, measuring feedback is key. 

As a new salesperson at Coffee News I’ve already been asked numerous times of how we can measure ROI, but there is no definite answer. It’s very difficult to measure how many phone calls, shop visits and other forms of inquiries a business receives thanks to an ad posted in Coffee News. What I can guarantee is the fact that thousands do read and see the ads in our weekly publication.

They say patience is a virtue and I believe this applies to print advertising. Good things come to those who wait.