Print ads are placed in magazines, newspapers, and other print publications so a business can reach a target audience. The process of designing creative print advertising and delivering it to the right audiences can be a difficult task, especially if the business owner has little or no experience. The best way to design and implement creative print advertising is to hire an advertising agency that can find a specific target audience and create an ad that will appeal to that market. If the business owner cannot afford to hire such an agency, he or she can begin to develop an ad from within the company.
The first step in developing creative print advertising is writing an advertising plan. The plan should include an analysis of potential media outlets in which the ad will be placed, the target audience the business wants to attract, and the budget for the entire advertising campaign. The business owner will need to have a solid understanding not only of his or her own product and business, but also of competitors' products and businesses; this will help the business owner come up with reasons why he or she should be chosen over the competition. The creative print advertising campaign must give the target audience a reason why they should choose the business over the competition.
Simple is often better when it comes to creative print advertising. Most people will skim over ads in magazines, newspapers, and other print outlets, so the ad must immediately grab the reader's attention and hold it. Too much text will often deter a person from reading the entire ad, and too many busy graphics may make the ad difficult to read. Be brief, and whenever possible, include some sort of discount or offer in the ad to give potential customers a reason to try out the business or service.
It may be necessary to design more than one creative print advertising campaign for a single business or product. This will allow the business owner more versatility, and he or she will be able to place ads in more print media by reaching different target audiences. An advertising agency will be able to do this more easily, but a business owner can do so as well if he or she is willing to do some research into the audiences a particular print magazine or newspaper caters to. Many magazine websites will have marketing information that will help the business owner make such decisions.
