Utilizing Innovative’s Graphic Team Can Bring Your Advertisement to Life
Your company has just secured placement to advertise in an association magazine. You’re thrilled at the thought of getting exposure for your company, but the idea of having to design an effective advertisement feels overwhelming. Maybe you have design experience but lack time, or maybe you’re a graphic design novice and want to hand off the reins. Regardless of your experience level, Innovative Publishing can help you design an advertisement that will make readers stop and read what you have to say. Taking advantage of Innovative’s professional graphic designers will give your advertisement a polished look. Each ad we design is customized specifically to the advertiser. All we need are the details.
It’s All in the Visuals
A full-page ad with only text is unlikely to draw readers in. The most effective advertisements use visuals to their advantage to make the ad pop. We recommend sending a company logo and a photo or photos that capture what your company does.
When sending over images, photos that are 300 dots per inch (dpi) are your friend. Anything below that will appear pixelated or blurry. No advertiser wants that. When it comes to photo size, the larger the better. Photos can always be scaled down without losing their resolution. On the other hand, smaller photos that are stretched to a larger size will become pixelated and poor quality. Vector-based logos are also the best, as they can be scaled to any size without losing their resolution. It’s important to note that most graphics pulled directly from the internet can’t be used in print publications — they’ll lose their resolution and quality, and there are copyright concerns for any image you didn’t create or purchase. For more information about high-resolution images, check our previous blog post here.
But what types of visuals should you send? It’s important to first consider the audience of the publication. Is it for the petroleum industry? Or are you advertising in a homebuilders’ publication? Beginning with this can help you narrow down your focus. You’ll want to send images that are eye-catching, show a bit about what your company does and feel relevant to readers. Our sales team and editors can determine whether the issue has a specific editorial focus, so you can advertise accordingly.
It’s also helpful when advertisers are as specific as possible. Are there certain design elements you don’t like? We can always use stock photography if we don’t receive photos, and we can use your company website to match branding. However, the more direction you can give, the easier it’ll be for our team to create a final product that you love.
But What to Say?
We encourage advertisers to also send us a snappy headline and/or a subhead to draw readers in. For readers flipping through magazine pages, an advertisement’s headline might be the one thing they see. Our team can design the headline in a noticeable way. The text itself should be attention-grabbing to entice readers to stop flipping and take notice. From there, the subhead should include additional information and further context that supports the message of your ad. You’ve got your readers hooked. Now, let’s focus on the body copy. Keep your copy concise, persuasive and focused on the products or services that your company offers. Consider adding testimonials about your product; include a clear call to action; and show readers why they need your product or service. Lastly, make sure you include the most up-to-date contact information. A high-quality ad won’t matter if readers don’t have a way to contact you. It’s important not to forget this component.
While our graphics team can pull copy directly from an advertiser’s website, we recommend that advertisers send us copy. This is beneficial in two ways: 1) Copy from a website could sound generic and might not be specific to the magazine’s audience; and 2) You can share new, timely and intentional messaging to readers. You gain more control. If you’re worried about how your copy will sound grammatically, our team of editors proofreads every advertisement. As long as you have the specifics, we can take care of the editing and layout.
You’re all set. All components of an ad can be sent to your sales representative or to graphics@innovativepublishing.com. In your email, include all of the ad copy, contact information, logos, photos and design/layout ideas.
Jessica Sears is senior writer at Innovative Publishing. She can be reached at jessica@innovativepublishing.com.
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