?Should I put color in my ad?
David Olgilvy, one of the all-time gurus of advertising, said that color is a bargain. It may cost about 50% more, but it delivers twice the response of a comparable black and white ad. Olgilvy’s comment is right on the money.

However, when he talks about color adding approximately 50% more to the cost of an ad, he is only referring to the ad space costs. He does not take into consideration the appreciably greater cost involved in preparing a color ad for publication. (The production costs are a much smaller factor for huge national advertisers, like those Ogilvy used to service.)

One extra cost to consider is the creation of the four-color film, as opposed to one-color film for black and white ads, necessary to print such an ad. For a small ad in a limited circulation publication, the cost of producing the ad may be more than the cost of placing the ad! But if you run the ad as frequently or run it repeatedly with black film text changes only, the productions costs become a smaller component of your total costs.

Black and white ads can be effective, but as a rule color ads are more likely to pay off.

?Do I need to advertise repeatedly to get results?
Advertising salespeople will try to talk you into running ads in their publication on as high a frequency schedule as they can. They will do this even if your ad didn’t pull a response the first time it ran.

Unlike radio or television, one magazine ad should produce results. If it doesn’t, you aren’t going to improve your chances of making an impression on the readership no matter how many times you repeat the same message through the same venue.

When appraising the results of a magazine ad, keep in mind, however, that magazines provide a medium that works best for image advertising. The periodic nature of the format doesn’t lend itself to inciting immediate action from a potential consumer.

?Why do so many trade magazine ads run without important company information such as a phone number?

The purpose of many trade magazine ads is image building—creating excitement for and awareness of a company’s products or services in the mind’s of potential consumers. They aren’t designed to generate sales or even inquiries.

Large companies rely on their sales forces and/or distributors to make sales actually happen. Small companies may rely more heavily on telemarketers, independent representatives, direct mail, or trade show participation to effect actual sales.

The benefit of an image ad lies in its ability to “prep” potential consumers for making a purchase. Then, when they are personally contacted by a salesperson or telemarketer they already know who the company is and what the product is about. Just because they have heard of you, they are simply more likely to buy from you!

So while it may not hurt to include a phone number in a trade publication ad, don’t be disappointed if it doesn’t net a flurry of inquires. I have run six-page spreads that carry a toll-free phone number in national publications and have received zero direct inquiry phone calls! But that’s not to say that the ad didn’t reach the marketplace or, in one fashion or another, produce sales results.