Advertising - Magazine Advertising
The Lowdown on Magazine Advertising

The Lowdown on Magazine Advertising

As with newspaper advertising, there will be intense competition for the “mind share” of the consumer. The option of using two- or four-color printing in magazine advertising gives the advertiser an opportunity to create a lasting image of his or her product that has no equal in any other print advertising vehicle save direct mail. To further entice the reader’s desire for your product, some magazines even offer advertisers an opportunity to include product samples with their ads. For example, witness the proliferation of “scratch and sniff” perfume ads.

Naturally, all of these wonderful ad enhancements come at a premium. The cost of placing a full-page ad with all of the options in a magazine can be staggering. After all, the advertiser is actually paying for the production costs associated with printing a glossy, four-color publication.

Costs for placing magazine ads will vary from publication to publication. They will also depend upon the size of the ad placed and the positioning of the ad. Magazine ads are sold by the page or page increment—full page, half page, quarter page, etc. Rates also depend upon the frequency with which an advertiser places ads over the period of a year. Typically, advertisers offer one-time, three-time, six-time, and twelve-time rates. Twelve-time rates are usually significantly lower than one-time rates. But, of course, you are paying that rate times twelve ads.