Marketing is one of the most important tasks in your business. Make sure you get your message across.

A great way to do this is to use newspaper inserts in your ad campaign.

First, decide where you are going to advertise. I use the smaller weekly newspapers instead of the larger newspapers. Weekly newspapers are usually much cheaper.

My weekly newspaper only charges about $ 40.00 for 1000 inserts.

Another reason to use inserts is that you can target specific zip codes.

For example, in zip code 78209, you run a business-centric ad, while you run an ad targeting residential customers in zip code 78248.

This is a powerful method of targeting your marketing messages.

The benefits don’t end there! With a display ad, you only get a small space to promote your products or services. With the inserts you get all the space you need.

You can produce a single double-sided page or a multi-page insert. Which one do you think has the best chance of getting your message across to the most customers?

All display ads look the same

Almost all display ads look the same to me. How do you make your message stand out from the crowd? Use bold text, borders, and huge headlines to draw attention to your ad. However, they still have to compete with all other ads in their section.

Highlight inserts

All of these tactics work with insertions, but you have a lot less competition.

Tip: Use colored paper to make your insert stand out even more.

How do you use inserts to promote your business?

1. Select the markets you want to target and develop the insert targeting that particular market segment.

2. Locate those markets by zip code.

3. Print the inserts on your local printer.

4. Give your inserts to the newspaper and they will insert them into the papers that go to the zip codes you select.

For my business, a typical insert campaign looks like this. Five thousand insert divided by three zip codes. Each zip code receives a specific message printed on shiny gold paper with black ink.

The cost is approximately $ 80.00 per thousand. Forty dollars for the newspaper and $ 40.00 to print the inserts. I write my own advertising copy. The total cost is approximately $ 400.00 per run.

My experience is that I do much better with inserts than with display advertising.

The key to an effective marketing campaign is targeting your clients with multiple exposures. One-time marketing is not enough!

Tip: Create an insert that gives your customers the information they want to keep for later reference. Consider a short information booklet to accomplish this. An 11 x 17 inch sheet of paper is an inexpensive but effective four page brochure! Check out my article How To Market Your Business With Tip Brochures.