Magazine Advertising

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Magazine ads can be very costly, so the first thing you need to know is how many people does the magazine reach. After all, you want to make sure you are spending your money with the right magazine.

Know the facts about Magazines - What to look for in quotes

Magazines will most likely quote you a readership figure - but may not print as many as they quote you, readership numbers or distribution numbers

Magazines base their figures on what they call a pass along rate - you will pass the magazine on to someone else, once you have read it

Magazines will also give you distribution figures instead of readership figures -how many copies of the magazine are sent out each month.

Only look at the number of paid subscribers.

If you ever come across a magazine that will only quote the readership figure or the distribution figure for the magazine, ask if they are ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) audited. If they are, ask for the most recent copy. This will give you a lot of information about the magazines sales, including the number of paid subscribers.

If they are not ABC audited, there is another way to find out the number of paid subscribers. At the end of the year, most magazines have to publish a "Statement Of Ownership, Management and Circulation". This is required with magazines that are mailed out second class mail and it can generally be found in the November, December or January issue of the magazine.

In the statement they will list, Paid and/or Requested Subscriptions, Sales through Dealers or Newsstands, Free Distribution, Left Over Copies, and Returns From Dealers and Newsstands.

These are the real numbers. When I personally place an ad in a magazine, I look at ONLY the number of subscriptions.

If they are a small magazine or a newsletter and they are not putting stamps on each issue, then they had to fill out a form for the post office in order to mail with a bulk postage permit. This will be their paid postal receipt stating how many pieces were mailed and it should be stamped by the post office.

It's important for you to make sure your ad is really published. Don't rely on just a tear sheet. (A tear sheet is where the magazine sends you a copy of the ad, that they have ripped out of an issue.) Ask for a copy of the entire magazine, this way you can see where your ad was placed in relation to the article content. Most publishers do this automatically. If they won't send you the entire issue, be careful about advertising with them.

If a publisher contacts you to advertise in their magazine, and you have never heard of them:

ask them send you 4 to 6 back issues before you advertise with them.

Check out the magazine before you sign up and run an ad.

You may even want to start with a small ad to see if you get any response.

When placing ads in magazines, be careful of the publisher or ad representatives claims without written proof like we described above.

You could be paying for a very expensive ad, that really isn't reaching all the people that the magazine claims.

Media Kits

Whenever you contact a magazine about advertising make sure you ask them to send you a media kit. The information you can gain from a media kit can be very valuable and it can give you some insight into the type of people who read that particular magazine.

A Media Kit will generally include:

1) A sample issue of the magazine.

2) A rate card - explaining the advertising rates, allowable discounts, positioning, etc.

3) Advertising specifications - listing the dimensions for the different ad sizes, what is needed for black and white and color photographs, what material is camera ready, etc.

4) Circulation information - Depending on the magazine this maybe nothing more than a cover letter stating the number of "readers". With most magazines this information will be a little more detailed. You will find demographics on the readers and other statistical information.