When you are running a business, be that a large or small business, then you are going to quickly find out that your business is never going to be a success if you don’t advertise and promote it. Marketing is not always the easiest thing to do, and one of the reasons for this is because there are plenty of different approaches to take.

One approach that is open to you is advertising in local publications. 

But does advertising in local publications work for smaller business?

It can, but it depends on your business.

You will find that adverts placed local publications can have a real positive impact on your business. But it depends on your business, the products that you sell or the service that you offer.

To tell whether or not local advertising is going to work for you, then you need to ask yourself some essential questions.

What Do You Want to Advertise?

The first question that you should ask yourself is what it is that you want to advertise, or should that be what do you want your advert to achieve.

Some people advertise because they want to get a product or service out there in the general population. While for others, it is to get some sales for a product that hasn’t been selling too well. Other businesses use advertisements as a way to increase brand awareness and make sure that plenty of people are aware of who they are and what they can offer.

What are your objectives? You need to know your business objectives.

You should be able to identify what you want to happen after your advertisement is placed.

You should also have some idea of where you are heading in the future. When you know what business objectives you want to achieve in the future, you can start to consider a more long-term plan for your advertising.

Do you know the publication?

It is also incredibly crucial that you think about the publication that you want to advertise in. You need to ensure that it is a publication that is read by your target audience and that it is relevant to your brand. It is also essential that you consider the cost too. The price will need to be reasonable else you might not find that you get a good return on your investment.

What to do you want the audience to do? Never forget your call to action.

When you place an advert anywhere, then you need to make sure that you have a call to action (CTA). CTA’s encourage the reader to take action and to get in touch with you, book in for your service or buy your product. Encouraging the reader to take action is always the aim of your advert.

In Conclusion

One final point that you need to keep in mind when it comes to advertising in local publications is that you will never know how well it has performed if you don’t track it.

It can be hard to follow an advert that is not digital; however, it is not impossible. Some companies will have a specific link that only relates to that particular advertisement, and any visitors that come into that web page could only have come from the advert.