Determining Ad Size Introduction Is smaller better? Bad approaches ----How much you got? ----Double divided by 2 ----Pick a size, any size ----Which looks better? The traditional approach ----Divide by 52 ----Why it rarely works Our approach ----What size do you need? ----What size can you run? Take our ad effectiveness course. Learn what you need to know to get a great response the first time you run. Just $59 • Get more readers seeing your ad • Get more readers reading your ad • Get more readers responding

I remember working with an advertiser once who had received little response from her advertising.

I was there to troubleshoot and make recommendations about how to make her advertising more effective in the future.

In order to develop a new ad strategy, I began asking about her products and services, competition, and target customers. The advertising representative that accompanied me asked the seemingly innocent question, "How much money do you have to spend on advertising?".

"Well," said the advertiser, "I used to have a lot of money but then I ran in your newspapers and now I have nothing!"

The question had clearly annoyed the advertiser, and rightly so. How much money an advertiser has or doesn't have should be irrelevant at this stage of the process and you might want to think twice about disclosing it to your advertising representative for fear it might influence his recommendation.

Everything about your ad, including its size, should be created based primarily on what it needs to make a profit, not on how much an advertiser is willing to spend. It would be just as inappropriate for a doctor to have his diagnosis influenced by how much money the patient had to cure the illness.

Sure, the final decision will ultimately go to the advertiser, but not before an unbiased strategy is created. In some industries, such as real estate, knowing a prospect's budget is critical, but not in local print advertising, and we'll explain why.

But first let's talk about some other ways that advertising representatives might incorrectly recommend the size ad you should run.

Next: More bad approaches

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