keymer

Advertising FAQs - Print ads don’t work any more, do they?

By David Tingley, editor and company director

We’ve been in the publishing business since 2009, and so we’d like to address a few questions that potential advertisers have for us, head-on. Right here. We aren’t in business to trick or hood-wink businesses out of marketing spend, but what we want is for local businesses in the area to making more money in sales from the advertising they do with us… Sounds simple, right?


Print ads don’t work any more, do they?

It’s true that not ALL advertisers who spend money with us in Hassocks Life (or Kipper Life family of magazine titles) make a return on their investment.

That’s always gutting for us. But there’s no point lying.

Sometimes it’s not always obvious why the advertising hasn’t worked. While, for others, there were some warnings. Your advert needs to not only look good, but look appropriate for your target market.

Years ago, I had a builder whose advert I offered to ‘improve’ with a bit of ‘slick design’ to drag the advert and his business (I thought) into the 21st century. Having designed the revamped advertisement, we ran it for a further few months, until I took a call from the customer. He explained that his enquiries had dropped off since changing the advert design, and he’d like to revert to his basic, Powerpoint slide layout which he had been using for months beforehand very successfully. So, you see, as a professional designer - I learnt a valuable lesson that day about making the advert look right for the business and the target audience. They didn’t want a ‘slick’ builder!

Having said that, if an advert has way too much text on, and really isn’t legible in print - the advert just won’t work, if people can’t read it.

We hear from customers who sometimes say that their advertising campaign with us ‘hasn’t worked’, but when we ask how the customer finds out where their new enquiries come from - they tell us that they don’t ask! On this basis, it would be hard to measure the success of any advertising campaign in any media!

Of course, smaller adverts do have to work harder than full page ads. The bigger the ad, the larger the passing impact on the readers.

Some advertisers have a seemingly brilliant advert design (bold, colourful, large headline, clear call-to-action), and they haven’t been stingy on the size either. And it still doesn’t generate the results for them. I wish I knew why this was. We had a mortgage broker who had completed an advertising campaign for six months with half page ads, and they had had no clear leads from the run in our magazine.

Conversely, and more positively, we have one customer who runs a few quarter page ads per year, and the results from it, keeps them busy for the season! And the ad is even at quarter page size!

Fortunately we have plenty of happy advertisers, many of whom have been advertising with us for years and years. You can see Richard Talman of RTFJ talking about his success with our magazines here. Similarly, Adam Bateup from House Proud Finish used Hassocks Life to launch his new carpet cleaning business. He tells us more here.

So, can I guarantee that advertising with Hassocks Life will bring in new customers? No, of course not.

But I will guarantee that me and my team will do our absolute best to make it work for your business. Whether that’s helping with the ad design, giving you a premium spot for a special month, a bit of editorial copy or even a cheeky size upgrade when we’ve got some extra. We really do just want advertising with us to work for you, so you stay a customer for years - just like Richard and Adam and the dozens of others.

What content goes into Hassocks Life magazine?

Editor David Tingley uses this video to talk through and show the amazing content that goes into Hassocks Life magazine every single month. The magazine is printed and delivered to all homes in Hassocks, Keymer and Clayton each month.

If you would like to use the magazine to promote your business or service, do get in touch with us here.

If you have a suggestion of content for a future edition of Hassocks Life, then please send us an email in the first instance to editor@hassockslife.co.uk.

Take a look at these Hassocks heroes...

Thank you key workers

We know that the people of Hassocks are superstars but just in case you needed any extra proof, take a look at the following: just a few of the amazing key workers either living or working in the village to keep it running throughout this crazy Coronavirus period. These people are doing their normal jobs while many of the rest of us are staying at home in safety.

Thank you key workers - we appreciate everything you have and are continuing to do…

Chantelle Martin & Ros French occupational therapists in the area.jpg

Chantelle Martin & Ros French

Occupational Therapists in the area

Darren Bramley Head of Cameras on ITV's Good Morning Britain.jpeg

Darren Bramley

Head of Cameras on ITV's Good Morning Britain

Jennifer McLean wife for NHS.jpg

Jennifer McLean

Midwife for the NHS

Matt Tucker police officer with the MET.jpeg

Matt Tucker

Police Officer with the MET

Julie Wade is a midwife at St Thomas' Hospital, London.jpg

Julie Wade

Midwife at St Thomas' Hospital, London

94332765_3717311138342488_3483297057777647616_n.jpg

Dan Major

Part of the pandemic multi-agency response team

Helen McKimm works at East Grinstead hospital.jpg

Helen McKimm

works at East Grinstead hospital

Julie Taylor, A&E senior sister at Croydon University Hospital.jpg

Julie Taylor

A&E senior sister at Croydon University Hospital

Matt Freestone Junior Producer on Good Morning Britain.jpeg

Matt Freestone

Junior Producer on Good Morning Britain

Katie Finch, Midwife at East Surrey Hospital.jpg

Katie Finch

Midwife at East Surrey Hospital