How to Identify Advertising Prospects for a Magazine

Magazines generally need advertising to survive. You may have an amazing magazine, with a large circulation, but without advertising or private funding, your magazine may not bring in enough revenue to continue publication. Choosing the right advertisements is a matter of looking deep into your editorial philosophy and design and matching companies to your audience. Follow the steps to learn how to identify advertising prospects for a magazine.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Decide your magazine type and editorial philosophy. Trade publications often have entirely different types of advertising than commercial publications. Think about your editorial content and what advertisements may suit it.
2. Identify your audience demographics. Research and analyze your previous or current data to find out who reads your magazine. For example, an alternative music magazine may be primarily read by middle class men and women ages 18 to 35.
3. Using your content and target audience data, figure out what your audience likes and wants. Some ads, such as car or fragrance ads, are common no matter the publication, but even then you want to choose ads for various types of cars or fragrances are depending on the audience's demographics. If you have a modern home magazine, target everything related, such as furniture, appliances and even books or electronics.
4. Look at your competitors' magazines. See what advertisers they partner with and decide whether to target them yourself or find a similar partner. Often companies post advertisements in many similar magazines to get the word out about their product or service, especially since consumers tend to read a few magazines in the genre, not just one.
5. Send media kits to your potential advertisers or work with an advertising staff to build a potential client list. Make sure to send a few pages of your magazine along with your target audience data and your circulation and price list. Be competitive and know that the advertisers need magazines as much as magazines need advertisers.