Magazine Ads

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

We are currently looking into placing ads in magazines once the Cartoon Action Hour hardcover draws near(er).  

That said, what magazines would you recommend?  Is there any way I can get my hands on market research for this?  I'm not sure which ones would garner the most attention.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  :)

[Misguided Games]

We're using KoDT.  I can't honestly tell you how effective this has been.  I think the articles that have been published for free are probably more effective.  You might give Dork Tower a shot, since it is a bit cheaper.

[Jared A. Sorensen]

We are currently looking into placing ads in magazines once the Cartoon Action Hour hardcover draws near(er).  

That said, what magazines would you recommend?  Is there any way I can get my hands on market research for this?  I'm not sure which ones would garner the most attention.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  :)

ToyFair? Or any of those other toy/action figure-specific mags?

[Clay]

I think the articles that have been published for free are probably more effective.

Lewis,

You are dead on right. People are constantly bombarded by advertising, and have a natural filter for it. Articles about you or your product are always your best bet. I've explored this issue for past endeavors, and further for my current business.  You need to buy a lot of advertising to get any kind of noticable response. A single article, no matter how poorly placed, will always generate a measurable response. As I mentioned in another thread, even a one-paragraph blurb in the announcements section of the newspaper will usually net you something.

[Roy]

I've got to go with Clay on this one.  The article will get you a lot more response than advertising.  

If I recall correctly, it takes seeing an ad 7 times before the customer will consider purchasing anything.  Ad campaigns are good for branding, but usually are not effective for direct sales.

Whether you decide to use an ad or go with an article, build a tracking mechanism for it.  If the piece is designed to draw traffic to your website, put up a separate entry page for your advertisement (such as www.yourdomain.com/magazinenamedate.html).  That way you can track your response and decide if it was worth your time.

Roy

[Ron Edwards]

Hi Cynthia,

My experience has been that reviews are gold - tons of sales arise from them. My observation of paid advertising (leading me to avoid the tactic) is that it's almost completely a waste of time for RPG sales to end-use customers.

Most magazine advertising, in my view, actually targets the retailer, establishing in their minds that your game is a Possible Next Big Thing. I don't consider that very effective in terms of long-term success.

The two exceptions I can think of are Dork Tower and KODT - why? Because these are, essentially fanzines and fan comics that are only "magazines" by the skin of their teeth. Recognition or ad presence in them carries the same oomph that a letter in a comic book has - it reinforces the sense of community among the zine publisher, the game publisher, and the user/customer.

Best,
Ron

[Cynthia Celeste Miller]

As usual, you guys have been extraordinarily helpful.  Print advertising is one of those gray areas for me.  I know virtually nothing about it.

[Misguided Games]

One other thing, especially when the dead tree edition (TM) ships.  Don't be afraid to try unusual sources for reviews.  Sometimes they'll surprise you.  CotS has been on scifi.com with reviews in Realms of Fantasy and Cinescape magazines hitting newsstands next month.

Will it help?  I honestly don't know.  I expected a lot more buzz from the scifi review, but it never materialized (not that I'm aware of, anyway).  I'm hoping to have CotS in at least a couple of mainstream book chains shortly, so maybe that will help.  I guess we'll see.

On Ron's point, I chose KoDT because I thought it would help get to both consumers and retailers.

[Ron Edwards]

Hi there,

The Sorcerer reviews in Realms of Fantasy brought me a lot of customers. I think reviews are a much better investment than ads.

It may sound odd to some people to consider "investing" in reviews, but I'm not talking about paying them or anything like that. I'm talking about having a (short) list for complementary copies and being willing to interact with reviewers if they approach you.

Best,
Ron

[Christian Walker]

We are currently looking into placing ads in magazines once the Cartoon Action Hour hardcover draws near(er).  

Any help would be greatly appreciated.  :)

Hiya,

You could send me an ad via questions@scrollworkspress.com and I can drop it in an issue of Scrollworks for free, space providing.

    A Scrollworks 1/2 page has a printable area some 4.25 inches wide by 3.5 inches high. (Sworks is digest format) The image should be sent to me in a black and white, 300 dpi .tiff. If you send me your mailing address, I'll send you a copy of the issue your ad appears in.

Take care and good luck with the project!
Christian