How to Track Local Print Advertising

Print advertising ROI

There are several options for tracking local print advertising. The use of coupons is one method; however, there is no foolproof way to track return on investment (ROI) for print advertising because response is a cumulative effort of all the ways you promote your business.

Things You'll Need

• Advertising budget

Instructions

1. 

   Track Coupon Success

   Prepare a process for tracking your coupon. The size of your business and the manpower available determines how ROI tracking is monitored. Whether it is a simple spreadsheet or setup in your POS (point-of-sale) system decide how you will track the coupon usage and what criteria determines its success. Assign duties and responsibilities to employees charged with tracking ROI for this coupon.

2. Share all advertising information with your employees. Train your employees on the proper procedure for accepting coupons. Consider where the coupon will be stored at the register (manual tracking) and what to do if a customer presents an expired coupon. Keep employees informed on all advertising---provide them a photocopy of the coupon(s) and post them at the registers. Tell them what publications have coupons, publish dates and if they were coded or publication-specific.

3. Determine your offer. It needs to be specific and the information needs to be easy to understand. Ease of use will increase your response rate with customers who are ready to buy. For example, if you have a retail store with a variety of products offer a percentage off the total purchase. Offer a dollar amount off the total purchase price for high-ticket, single or specific products.

4. Consider your brand identity. Employ graphic design services and have a professional help you maintain the integrity of your brand by designing your ads and developing a style guide for all your print advertising. If your budget does not allow you to engage professional services, it is your responsibility as the business owner to protect your brand. Develop your own simple guidelines by determining what colors to use in your ads and the placement of text and logo for all standard ad sizes.

5. Contact the publication where you advertise and place your ad coupon. Share your style guide information with the publication if they are designing the ad for you and provide them with the copy information.

6. Review your ad and coupon. Check for typos--read it forward and backward. Have others in the office review the coupon. Make sure all pertinent information is included such as the expiration date, discount details, website address and business phone number.

7. Evaluate. It is imperative for small businesses that are tracking coupons manually to calculate intake daily so that the process does not become overwhelming. After the offer period is complete evaluate the success of the coupon and coordinate ads based on the predetermined criteria you developed for the coupon incentive.

Tips & Warnings

• If you hire a freelance graphic artist or advertising agency to prepare all your print advertising there are fees in addition to the cost of the ad placement. However, by providing camera-ready art to the print publications you can negotiate a discount (usually up to 15 percent) off the cost of placing your ads.

• Customers may remember seeing your ad and the coupon, but fail to bring it with them when they shop.

• If you cannot devote time to tracking your ROI and evaluating what you discover, do not spend the money to set up protocols to do so. It is best to try simple methods like monitoring sales numbers.

• Wait to implement the more time consuming and complex tracking strategies when you can hire the help you need to manage your success.

References

• Media Selling: Broadcast, Cable, Print, and Interactive

Resources

• Media Selling: Television, Print, Internet, Radio