How does Press advertising work?

The wide range of newspapers and magazines in the UK provides advertisers with a cost effective method of delivering a broadcast message to millions, or a targeted communications to a niche group of individuals.

Almost every title, magazine and newspaper offers both display and classified advertising. Display is from the front of the title, including the larger formats and most innovative and high impact solutions. Classified, largely speaking, is divided between a mixture of mostly smaller adverts spread over a number of pages at the back of the title.

There are two numbers which are used when discussing the success of a newspaper.

Circulation – the number of physical copies that are distributed, measured by the ABC.

Readership – the total number of individual people who are calculated to have read the title, measured by NRS.

Although readership and circulation have fallen over the last 10 years, it is important to remember that three quarters of all adults read a national paper every week, and 83% of all adults read a national newspaper on a monthly basis. The chart below tracks the fall in circulation of the upmarket titles. As you can see, whilst there has been a drop, they are still attracting large numbers of readers.

Newspapers

The national newspaper market in the UK is split into three main sections.

1. Qualities (Quals) – reaching AB adults with a 'real news' focused editorial
2. Mid-market (Mids) – targeting middle England
3. Tabloids (Red tops) – by far the largest reach, but with low editorial integrity

Generally speaking the tabloids sell more copies due to their sensational journalism, celebrity focus and easily digestible news items. The most successful tabloid is The Sun.

The graph below illustrates the circulation and readership of the most popular daily newspapers.

Magazines

There are thousands of magazines in the UK market, mainly split between consumer and business titles. The majority of titles are monthly or weekly although it is not uncommon to find fortnightly titles as well.

If you want to learn more about what press advertising can do for your business, please don't hesitate to contact us.