Ottawa Renovates magazine, which evolved through relationships with?the Greater Ottawa Home Builders’ Association’s renovators’ council, has proven that conventional print media can still be quite effective in the online/internet era. We’ve published the magazine twice a year for six?years. Of course, you can read it online, but the tactile print product has real value both for the ability to allow you to view the images and stories in a comfortable manner, and to retain the content for future reference.
Of course, when you spend money on print advertising, you should be aware of what you are seeking to achieve. Renovation contractors, working on projects often from $50,000 to $500,000 or more, generally won’t receive dozens of calls from a single advertisement — but usually one converted lead more than pays for the advertising costs. The challenge, of course, occurs when you fail to receive an?immediate conversion. Does this mean the ad is ineffective, or do you simply have to give the advertising enough time to work, because I expect one conversion over TWO issues would still be profitable for most?contractors. We’ve also received feedback from readers who say they save back issues in a file — sometimes for years — and then bring them out when they are moving closer to the actual time when they wish to renovate. Talk about a long sales/advertising life cycle!
Online advertising, of course can provide more immediate results. Accordingly, we’ve evolved the publication both to make it easy to find online, and to include a (soon to be launched) regular e-letter covering renovation issues, and where we can support the print advertising with additional online and emailed messages.
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