Advertising in newspapers and magazines is a good marketing strategy

Readership

Before making your decision you need to get a media pack from the advertising department of the magazines. This will try to impress you with readership, circulation and profiles of its readers. Local papers tend not to go into much detail. When comparing costs, beware of falling into the trap of confusing readership with circulation. The former is always claimed to be much greater, but impossible to verify. Professional magazines with small circulations tend to be retained as a point of reference for years afterwards and can still produce results. Only ABC-audited figures are reliable - treat the rest with some caution.

You must advertise where your buyers and consumers are likely to see the message. Market research should have told you where your likely prospects lie. The media data form compiled by the publishers will give a readership profile. This is a breakdown of a publication's readers and subscribers by job title if it is a trade journal and often by age, sex, interests and other relevant information.

Of major interest to consumer product advertisers is the socio-economic classification: AB - upper and middle classes, managerial, administrative and professional people; C1, C2 - lower middles, skilled working class; D - working class; and the poor Es - those at the lowest level of subsistence. This seems to reflect class prejudices but it is important to understand the jargon and reasoning behind it. For example, Good Housekeeping claims to have more ABC1 readers than any other women's journal. 'Women's interest' magazines have topped the mass circulation league table, after the TV listings magazines, but towards the end of 1997 for the first time a men's magazine, Loaded, raced up the charts. Says something about our society.

The forms are useful but should be treated with common sense and caution. The media reps are in the business of taking your money, after all. The simplest way of discovering what industrial buyers read is to ring up a few and ask. BRAD will highlight the probables, but your real readership may well disclose that what they actually read is somewhat different. All the professional bodies produce journals for their own learned membership that go to all the right people. Unfortunately, some are written in a less than uplifting vein and you may learn that a more snappy, but less authoritative, paper is the one your prospects turn to. Some industries have a welter of competing papers, each claiming to offer the best penetration into your market, but the acid test is your own research.

Frequency

The copy date of some glossy monthlies is two months before publication. The Christmas editions of the more popular consumer titles are frequently booked up months before. This poses problems if you are waiting on a shipment or uncertain about a product change. Dailies or weeklies allow much prompter changes. The ultimate is probably radio, where messages can be slotted in on the same day. Yearbooks, diaries and Yellow Pages require long forward notice. Your website has an advantage here.

How many copies?

Having targeted your audience you will want to know the individual circulations of your advertising media. This is easy when you control the output. ABC-certified journals are reliable for cost comparisons and the figures should be beyond reproach. Knowing the circulation does not mean, of course, that all the readers will see your ad, but it is a start. Smaller circulation or new publications will have 'Uncertified' beside their BRAD entry. Be wary of 'Publisher's statement: 50,000 print run ordered'. The journal's advertising department will be able to tell you of many special features planned that may be appropriate. Some UK journals have a surprisingly high overseas circulation, particularly in the medical and scientific field.

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