Daily Newspapers
We have found that running in the Sunday section of the major daily papers has not been very cost effective, any suggestions on how we could bring our CPL down in those papers?
Leah, regarding your question on Sunday papers, this is a struggle that we have experienced also. If you are specifically discussing display ads, our recommendation is to work your creative consistently, always push for better placement and experiment with the size of your ad because bigger is usually not better with display ads in major dailies. Our experience has almost always been that a simple line ad is more cost effective than a larger and more expensive display ad.
I think that placement is very important! Research shows that the corners or first under a headline is where the human eye is naturally drawn to. Did you try working out a deal running a whole week, maybe with Sunday included at a better rate?
Lily - Being a great negotiator is a strong component to being a strong buyer. We are always pushing for better placement and better rates. For some clients, it makes sense to run a line ad every day of the week or month. For others, it may only be effective running Sundays only. Newspapers have varying levels of rates, so make sure you do your research and ask questions. It may be cheaper to run a line ad every single day of the month than just running on Sunday. Usually, the more frequency, the cheaper the rate.
It really depends on the particular markets you are placing your advertising.
Reducing the ad size while reworking your creative might help.
Placement does seem to be key, this is something that may be need to be worked out with your rep. Also changing the creative on a regular basis to include bold text or eye catching colors may help!
You're right on both counts, Brian. Placement is very important, and of course the next step is content. Bold text and eye catching colors will be very helpful. Also keep in mind the message presented in the ad. There should be a strong call to action that will encourage a potential student to contact your school. It could be a benefit offered by the school such as financial aid, or the flexibility of day, evening, or weekend classes. Or it could be a testimonial from a student who graduated and found success. Ultimately, when preparing an ad, it's good to ask the question "does this ad give a compelling reason for a potential student to contact my school?"
