Design tips to maximize the impact of your newspaper ad

It takes a lot of things to make a successful newspaper ad. Things like position, size, and copy are important, but what will catch your eye? The design of your ad.

Mike McDaniel, a US-based small business consultant who started Big Ideas Group, says newspaper ads have less than eight-tenths of a second to attract attention and must hold that attention for three seconds to cause an impression. You will know how difficult it is by the way you read the newspaper. How much attention do you pay to newspaper ads? What ads catch your attention?

Everyone says that to be successful you have to stand out from the crowd. In newspaper advertising, where space is limited and competition is fierce, standing out from the crowd is not easy. It’s all about how you use your title, color, whitespace, images, and fonts.

Professionaladvertising.com has several tips on this. For example, serif typeface increases reading speed, while 12-size font has proven to be the most effective. You’ve also found that your graphic is twice as important as your title when it comes to getting attention, so you need to think carefully about your ad design.

Go back to the types of ads that attract your attention; What attracts you to them? Are you attracted to advertorial-style ads that have a lot of text and little image? Do you like ads full of content with lots of color or do you prefer them clean and simple? Do you like big or small ads? And the headlines?

Once again we turn to Mcdaniel, who recommends that before you start thinking about your ad design, you start collecting ads that appeal to you. You can use them to get an idea of ​​what works with color, size, and font.

According to Professional advertising, infomercials (advertising editorials) double the number of readers, but you should use this style with caution. Use it only when you have something of interest to say to your audience, don’t use it for random ramblings. And don’t abuse it.

In general, however, try to keep it simple. Remember that you need to attract and hold the attention of your readers; an infomercial could get lost in all the other articles. If you have your heart set on writing a short story, try putting it in a magazine.

From an attention-grabbing standpoint, white text on a black background is very effective, but it’s not easy on the eye, so use it sparingly. For example, you can use it to highlight your headline or your contact details. If you are using photos, use captions that show the benefits of your service or product. Graphics stand out, so people are more likely to look at the images and read the captions below than to read the full ad.

There is a school of thought that believes that busy ads are better than clean ads, but this is not always true. Think of your audience; Are you targeting busy and skilled professionals or do you want to target hip and trendy youngsters? A more refined audience may not respond well to multi-colored sans comics on a yellow background, but a mom looking for a party planner could.

Lastly, it is very important that you test the effectiveness of your ad. Measuring the response rate is the only real way to know if your ad is working or not. This will also help you refine your ads, as you make simple changes, like a title change or a new look, to improve response rates and get more value for your money.