Newspapers R.I.P.

Look at the newspaper industry and the automotive category.  Overall, newspapers are dying.  Young people simply don’t read or subscribe to them.  Car shoppers used to always visit the classifieds before they shopped; it is less common now.  The internet is more informative when you are car shopping.  So, what do we do about the newspaper?  Do we still run ads?  Some dealers I have talked to tell me they still sign a big contract each year and continue to run weekly ads.  Those same dealers also tell me their newspaper advertising doesn’t work very well – if at all.  So why do they buy it?  Fear.  Fear of what might happen if they don’t.  I talked to one dealership that had been advertising in newspaper for 60 years.  They couldn’t imagine not, despite the fact that it does not work as it used to.

Before you cry for the newspapers, take a look at what they offer – you can pay more for a smaller audience and if you don’t fulfill your contract when it doesn’t work like they promise, they will “short rate” you and demand even more money for the ads you already ran and paid for.  When you buy television or radio and it doesn’t work, you can cancel it and they don’t come back and ask for more money.  They give a discount to your agency, not you.  The newspapers give you nothing of the kind.

In most places some of our newspapers have experienced a subscriber drop of 7% in recent times, while the population in many areas has grown 24%!  This means the people moving are not signing up for the paper in record numbers.  What used to be pages and pages of auto dealer ads in the classifieds has dwindled to very few.

Is there a place for newspaper in your ad budget?  Sure.  Should it be the majority of the ad budget?  No way.  It is time that the auto industry faces its fears and moves its money.  If newspapers want to stay viable and part of our ad budgets, they need to re-examine their contracts, their pricing, and their readership. Targeted direct mail from our company is the proven place to invest your advertising dollars for maximum results.