Most of the topics about promotion/advertising focus on social media, and occasionally paid online advertising such as google ads. There are also a few blogs about trying to get in a magazine gift guide, or be selected for a feature.
What I haven’t seen is any discussion about paying for adverts in magazines? Does anyone still do this? If so, which ones - Craft focussed, lifestyle focussed like Landscape or Simple Things, or more traditional like House & Garden? How much do you pay, and what sort of return do you see?
There are hundreds of magazines for sale in every supermarket and high street, so people must still be buying them. Are we so focussed on online that we are missing out, or is it just too expensive for small businesses?
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When I first joined Folksy I was approached by Country Living Magazine to advertise with them. Cost around £360 in those days for a small add and I saw no real difference in sales or visits to my shop. Think it depends entirely on what you are selling. Good luck if you decide to go down this route x
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I used to work for a mailing company wrapping all the magazine subscriptions. Over the years the magazines got thinner and thinner as advertisers were moving online. The company I worked for folded back in 2011. I’m not sure how many people still read a ‘real’ magazine these days.
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I got featured in Lancashire Life some years ago simply by writing to them and asking if they wanted to do an article about me. They did. Didn’t cost a penny. You’d be surprised how many mags and newspapers will be glad to feature a local artist.
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Thanks for your replies.
It would seem that many printed magazines have a digital version alongside, with many thousands of people reading one version or another.
I’ve had a few of my items featured in various magazines, but very few actual orders resulted. Are adverts any better, or do they just help to make you a recognised name?
I came across this page which you might find interesting: https://www.archanthub.co.uk/lancashire-life
Those figures are a bit out of my budget, but someone is paying them month after month so they must get some kind of results.
