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ARTICLE: Themed Advertising Pages Make Dollars and Sense

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Themed Advertising Pages Make Dollars and Sense

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Themed Advertising Pages Make Dollars and Sense

Without a doubt, themed advertising pages are among the most powerful promotions that publications have at their disposal. These multi-advertiser, content-driven layouts embody all the elements of a successful ad — expression of purpose, exposure, excitement and engagement — and offer endless possibilities for generating revenue for publications and results for advertisers.

Expression of purpose. Whether the themes expressed are seasonal (think, summer dining, spring road trip tips, and snow preparedness), topical (such as cancer prevention, healthy eating, or first aid for pets), informational (the history of Mardi Gras, how libraries change with the times), or event-related (summer rodeos and fairs or holiday festivities, for example), content-oriented advertising pages are most successful when they tackle topics that are timely, relevant, appealing, and offer digestible amounts of valuable, purposeful information.

Exposure. Being seen is job one for any ad. Themed pages — particularly those with big, bold headlines and themed editorial content — do that job unfailingly. Chief among the advantages of themed pages is that they allow smaller businesses to get big bang for their advertising bucks. For about the same cost as a pint-sized, stand-alone ad with sparse copy and few graphic elements, themed group pages are the perfect vehicles to elevate the exposure and impact of mom-and-pop retailers, small service providers, and infrequent advertisers. While themed pages are natural choices for smaller businesses with limited advertising budgets, they work equally well for medium-sized and even large businesses that want to be associated with a particular theme or desire a presence on a page featuring competitors.

Excitement. Effective ads create excitement. Themed pages with lively headlines, appealing content, colorful graphics, and bold ad blocks call out to readers, inviting them onto the page and into the advertisers' businesses. With more space to work with, there are abundant opportunities to combine content with graphics and keep readers' eyes on the ads. In short, if the layout is exciting, that excitement rubs off on the ads.

Engagement. Themed advertising pages engage viewers on multiple levels. Research suggests that more complex ads — those comprised of distinct segments offering different types of information — can actually be more effective than simpler layouts because they promote reader engagement. This is particularly true of ads that contain editorial content. If viewers read the content on the page, they tend to continue reading when they come to the ads. The inclusion of appealing editorial content also promotes reader buy-in. Building awareness of an issue or potential problem — the importance of maintaining a pet's oral health, for instance — encourages readers to seek solutions via advertisers' businesses.

And there's an added bonus: With the right tools, themed advertising pages can be created — and sold — in a flash.

This article was written by Jo-Ann Johnson of Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.

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