Ad Sales Plummeting?

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Permalink Reply by Katie on July 15, 2008 at 9:37am

I'm the new assistant editor for an association publication,and so far, I'm happy to say we've met our target advertising percentages during the few months that I've been on board. Of course, we always sell more when we have issues that feature hot-button topics or key words, but I haven't noticed much of a challenge for us on the advertising front.

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Permalink Reply by Marlene L Hendrickson on July 17, 2008 at 9:27am

Thanks, Katie. I manage several association magazines - one is doing gangbusters, another is slowing down - but interesting that you made mention of hot-button topics that attract advertisers. This is something we try to coach our clients about - especially at this time of year when we're producing next year's media kits.

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Permalink Reply by Mark Thomas Onosko on July 29, 2008 at 4:44pm

My paper is a subscription only weekly covering the Labor community. People that are Union make a good wage, have strong buying power and good disposable income. That still doesn't influence the advertiser that feels the pinch of a lousy economy.

Perhaps that's the reason that we're one of SIX weekly Labor publications left in the country and the LAST one in Wisconsin. There were 32 in Wisconsin alone in the 1960s.

We're in the same slump as everyone else.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Bird on August 6, 2008 at 7:08pm

I'm seeing lots of magazines and for that matter newspapers that are shooting themselves in two ways- some are putting content online that doesn't make the print edition until the next day or the next couple of weeks. Combine that with the incredibly low cost of online advertising- ad sales take a hit. Who buys print when it's online faster, so why buy more expensive print ads when it's cheaper online with more possible exposure?

It seems to me from behind my camera that many on the business side of this industry are panicked with the internet, and are making knee jerk reactions by decreasing the product quality (mag) with cutbacks to keep profitability. Fewer people read, advertisers leave, recycle and repeat.

Focus on quality of content, market the niche you have to advertisers with numbers supporting the cost of the ad. Have a plan to integrate online and offline content rather then just 'pushing it all online.' Inform advertisers of this plan, and sell ads for both mediums at the same time with a single price.

But then, I don't know anything about the advertising industry so this could be an empty post.

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Permalink Reply by Richard Michem on August 19, 2008 at 7:47pm

I agree, with Adam Bird, why do newspaper, and magazines, put their WHOLE editorial package, on line? One things that ere ck, me, as a consumer, of a mag, is to shell down 7 bucks for an issue. and then see the whole, mag on line.On the other hand, as someone who loves publishing. Just to hold a freshly printed, magazine or a newspaper, like the NYT, is a thrill. What publishers, should do, is to add, the story behind the story, on their web sites> this would give people a reason, to buy the printed version, yet come to the web site, to read, a different approach.

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Permalink Reply by Eddie Lee Rider, Jr. on August 19, 2008 at 3:27pm

I custom publish an association publication and website in the nursery industry, and with recent droughts in the Southeast the marketing budgets of those companies have been hammered. The association itself is very healthy and their trade show is well supported. But it's a tough row to hoe for print and online dollars.

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Permalink Reply by Adam Bird on August 28, 2008 at 5:42pm

There is a lot of room for development and growth here since nobody really has a model that has been tested as working. This is good, because it means that somebody can come up with one and exploit it for profit (this is not a bad thing, it's business). At present the role between media, advertising, social networking and everything in between is changing and becoming more complicated. Now is the time to take risks and try new things. Eventually something will stick, and it will be amazing.

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