County Fair Focus Makes Annual Section a Local Favorite With Readers and Advertisers

Karlovec Media Group
Geauga County, Ohio

CREATE:
Karlovec Media Group began producing their Barns, Farms and Fair special section in 2016 to coincide with the annual Geauga County Fair. The section includes a schedule of events and other fair information, but also focuses on local farms and 4-H groups. The publication asks for submissions from the public about individual 4-H members and their clubs, a great way to gain local content that contributes to the section’s popularity in the community. Production manager Pamela Molnar also relies on articles from the Metro Editorial Library to supplement these local features. Barns, Farms and Fair runs as an insert inside the Geauga County Maple Leaf and the Middlefield Post during the week of the county fair, and is also available for free at some of the advertisers’ fair booths.

SELL:
Molnar says the team’s selling strategy includes an email blast to previous and prospective advertisers, which usually nets a number of repeat ads. The paper also offers discounts to advertisers who run in multiple special sections throughout the calendar year, and this section’s timing as a fall publication makes it a popular choice for many of those advertisers. Each year, the publication’s editorial staff writes features on historic local farms and farming families. Some of these farms have markets, hay rides or other attractions, and choose to advertise once they know they will be featured in an article. They publication also offers a perk to advertisers who buy a quarter page or larger spot, inviting them to submit a 400-word article about their business. The editorial staff then edits these submissions, so the end result is professional and easy to read, and gives the section even more ultra-local content.

PROFIT:
Molar reports that Barns, Farms and Fair has grown each year as more and more advertisers want to be included. In fact, the project was so successful in 2021, it will appear as a two-section insert this year!

Access the Barns, Farms and Fair flipbook

Added Plus...
The Geauga County Fair is celebrating its bicentennial anniversary in 2022, making it an especially important year for Barns, Farms and Fair. Production manager Pamela Molnar contacted Metro through the MetroCreativeConnection. com feedback link, requesting additional editorial content that could be used to supplement the section’s local features. These Metro articles – as well as new fair images, spec ads and promotions – can be be accessed by all Metro subscribers in the Metro Creative and Editorial Libraries with keyword “fair”.