By Sandy Bucher, Media Engineer at Sonnhalter
If your company currently has a print advertising program in the trade publications, did you know that many of these publications offer ad readership studies at no additional cost to the advertiser? These studies are usually completed once or twice a year, on ads half-page or larger in size. A sample of the publication’s readers are invited to respond to the questions, and are encouraged to give feedback on the various ads in the issue being studied.
The average ad readership study will tell you:
- If your ad is attention-getting
- If your ad is believable
- If your ad is informative
You’ll also get verbatim comments on your ad – actual quotes from the readers that let you know what message they received from your ad.
Comparing your ad’s results with other ads in the issue, both higher and lower scoring, will give you an idea of the creative approach that can best reach that particular audience, and you can adjust your creative accordingly.
Another type of ad study offered by some publications, also done at no additional cost for advertisers, gives scores based on whether the reader recalls seeing the ad or recalls reading the ad. While the results represent a small sampling of the magazine’s total circulation, they do reflect the opinion and commentary of readers who are the most active, providing insight into how the general audience may react to the advertising.
So if you’re interested in learning how your ads are performing in the markets you’re active in, consider placing a print ad in those issues offering the readership studies. If you’re not sure if the publications you advertise in offer these studies, be sure to ask your agency or magazine sales rep to find out for you.
Following are links to the advertising pages for just a few trade publications that offer these types of studies:
