IC TRAVEL AGENT June 2014 | Page 22

Community Newspapers Believe or not community newspapers are well read and they also carry tucked inside them a bunch of flyers from local stores. Here’s where you can search for local newspapers in Canada and each US state. As you know, many towns and cities have more than one community paper. Click on the images. The Press Release is a newsworthy tip that you send out to all media and if it is newsworthy it might get printed – for no charge. The Flier would be a full colour, one pager that is inserted into the newspaper. If your local paper has a circulation of 20,000 then you’ll be providing them with 20,000 copies of your flier. At 5 cents a sheet, that’s roughly $1,000 at 10 cents, that’s $2,000 at $1… that’s $20,000! This type of promotion is worthwhile chatting about with your preferred suppliers and asking for coop funds. The Event Listing is often free to list and here’s where you can promote your consumer night, or destination discussion such as how to pack for first time cruisers etc. EACH OF THE ABOVE AD ACTIONS MUST HAVE YOUR WEBSITE LINK FEATURED PROMINENTLY. The Ad, The Advertorial, The Press Release, The Flier and the Event Listing… These are the five major advertising opportunities waiting for you at your local community newspaper office. First things first – find out the cost for each of the five opportunities listed above. A Display Ad is what you want to place versus a classified ad although some travel companies have built themselves from zip to a multi-million dollar company using just classified ads. The Advertorial is similar to a press release however you’ll be paying for it like an ad. Review local papers and magazines to see how it’s done. The key to generating response that generates inbound calls and email requests, is to offer something compelling. If your display ad is nothing but text, you’ll be wasting your money. Make sure you work with a pro and create an ad that is image based and with a title that tells a story that attracts and pulls people in. Here’s a great website to visit. It’s US and the content will help anyone anywhere to better understand how to work with their local newspaper. Around The Community Sometimes you can be led astray thinking that by buying into the social media phenomena that you’ll win business from far and wide. Could be, however proven over time is the fact that a typical business in a typical community attracts customers from within a 3-5 mile radius.