Stock or custom newspaper ads for your funeral home?
A typical phone call to adfinity goes like this: a funeral home owner calls and wants a newspaper ad promoting cremation. Doug or a project manager directs the person to our web site where they can see the library of more than 500 newspaper ads we have already created for cremation (and preplanning, online memorials and combination properties, etc.).
Once they find an ad they like, we check our database to make sure no one else in their market has purchased the ad.
Let’s pause here because this is important!
Yes, there are times when the ad they like isn’t available, but when you think about it, that’s a good thing. Because it shows we care about our clients. We wouldn’t want an ad we created to show up in the same newspaper for two different firms. That’s bad business. But, our clients are all over the United States, so someone in Maine could use the same ad about cremation that a crematory uses in Kentucky and most consumers wouldn’t be the wiser.
If the newspaper ad is available, we license it for the funeral home, personalize it with their logo and address and send it off for $100. Done. Just a few days, tops.
BUT, if the newspaper ad is NOT available, we have the ‘custom newspaper ad’ conversation. Custom ads are not $100. Custom ad costs vary from job to job because you are only charged for our time (copywriting and design) and any images we may need to purchase. The time spent on our initial conversation or kick-off call about the newspaper ad is not included in the billable hours, so we’ll make sure we have a CLEAR idea of the ad’s purpose, size and audience before we start. We don’t like revisions any more than you do!
There are definitely, however, pros for both types of ads:
Stock – fast, variety of categories, look custom, restricted licenses
Custom – specific topic, your ideas or ours, restricted licenses
And, for those of you who think newspaper is dying, think again. Yes, traditional printed newspaper probably won’t be around by mid-century. But today’s papers are STRUGGLING to survive and are moving in droves online. You can turn all of the newspaper ads you’ve licensed into banner ads to run on their site, which is good for driving traffic to your web site. (You can also turn your ads into Facebook images!)
If you are looking for newspaper ads – stock or custom – or any other types of advertising options that might provide more measurable results, give us a call at 1-877-251-1222 today.
(originally published in august 2012; updated july 2017)
Tags: newspaper