Determining Ad Size Introduction Is smaller better? Bad approaches ----How much you got? ----Double divided by 2 ----Pick a size, any size ----Which looks better? The traditional approach ----Divide by 52 ----Why it rarely works Our approach ----What size do you need? ----What size can you run? Take our ad effectiveness course. Learn what you need to know to get a great response the first time you run. Just $59 • Get more readers seeing your ad • Get more readers reading your ad • Get more readers responding

In the case of the advertiser mentioned previously who had been running in a newspaper and getting no response, her reply to the advertising representative's suggestion to apply 5% to her gross sales was "Great, I have no sales, so take 5% of that and see what you can come up with."

If your business, and your advertising, isn't humming along, then the traditional approach to budgeting might not help. And even if your business is running at capacity, this approach bases the final ad size on a calculation that includes the newspapers rate.

So, this formula suggests that a larger ad is appropriate when the publication's rate is lower and that with a more expensive publication, a smaller ad would suffice.

Nowhere in this process is there any consideration for how big the ad needs to be based on the products, services, competition, and target customers--what we believe are critical factors to consider when determining ad size.

In our seminars, we use the following example.

When a major airline tries to determine how much to budget for fuel for the upcoming year, they simply don't decide upon a number and say "OK, now divide up the fuel by the number of flights we have, and if the planes make them to where they're going, they make it; if not, well, that's all we can afford."

Instead, they figure out how much they need to spend on each flight to get their customers where they need to go, and calculate budgets from there.

We believe the same approach should apply to advertising. First, determine how big an ad you need to run to get enough of the right people seeing, reading, and responding to your ad so the ad is profitable. Your budget would be calculated using that as a starting point.

But how big an ad do you need to run, and how large can you run? And what about frequency? Many of these answers can be found on the next page.

Next: How we do it

Conditions of Use     © 2001-2010 Robert McInnis Consulting