Calculating and comparing newspaper advertising costs can quickly get complicated. Once you’ve tracked down a newspaper advertising rates card, you’re faced with the delightful challenge of making sense of it all. There’s no “one size fits all” to simplify our lives. Instead, newspaper advertising costs depend on some factors, some of which you might find surprising. To answer the question, “How much does it cost?” the answer would be: “It all depends.”
Eight factors that affect newspaper advertising costs (within one publication) are:
Type of ad
size
day of the week
section or lift-out
page position within a section
left-hand side VS right-hand side
color VS black and white
annual spend/expenditure commitment
I’ll discuss the eight factors determining newspaper advertising costs in Australia in this article. I’ll also provide an example of how much it would cost to place a display ad in The Courier-Mail (a Queensland newspaper). As you’ll see, newspaper advertising costs can quickly add up. If you’re on a tight budget, as many of us are, knowing what most affects the price allows you to cut back where you can.
#1 Type of Ad – Display VS Classifieds VS Inserts
The type of ad is the first factor that decides the cost of a newspaper advertisement. Most Australian newspapers offer different styles. Display advertisements appear throughout a newspaper and may use colors, illustrations, photographs, or fancy lettering to attract the reader’s attention. These provide great creative control over the ad’s content without being limited to text. They also aren’t grouped according to classification, unlike classified ads. Display advertisements are typically charged at a rate per single column centimeter. In other words, the height in centimeters and width in columns determines the cost of the advertising space. On the other hand, classified ads are typically charged based on ‘lineage’ or per line.
Another form of advertising offered by most major newspapers is ‘inserts’ – separate advertisements placed inside the newspaper and can have more than one page. Inserts are usually charged at a rate of 1000 per number of pages. For this article, we will limit our discussion to display advertisements.
#2 Size Matters
The second factor that contributes to the cost of newspaper advertising is size. As mentioned above, display advertisement costs are calculated based on their height in centimeters and width in columns. Most newspapers have standard-sized advertising spaces, which your ad needs to fit into. Some newspapers offer non-standard sized rooms, such as a ‘U’ shaped ad around the edges of an open paper, but be prepared to pay a higher price for irregular sizes and shapes.
For example, let’s look at the standard sizes available in The Courier-Mail.
“Small Page Strip,” 6cm high by seven columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day (based on a Mon-Fri Casual rate of $AU58.51) is $AU2457.42.
“Medium Page Strip,” 8cm high by seven columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU3276.56.
“Quarter Page Strip,” 10cm high by seven columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU4095.70.
“Horizontal Half Page,” 20cm high by seven columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU8191.40.
“Full Page,” 38 cm high by seven columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU15563.66.
“Vertical Half Page,” 38cm high by four columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU8893.52.
“Vertical Third Page,” 38cm high by three columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU6670.14.
“Vertical Quarter Page,” 38cm high by two columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU4446.76.
“Portrait Half Page,” 28cm high by five columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU8191.40.
“Portrait Third Page,” 20cm high by four columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU4680.80.
“Portrait Quarter Page,” 20cm high by three columns wide, the minimum casual cost per day is $AU3510.60.
Here you can see that the cost of a standard-size display ad can range from at least $2457.42 per day for a small page strip to at least $15563.66 per day for a full-page advertisement. That’s a lot of money to invest in a single page that will only be published in one day. Most of us don’t have that kind of cash to throw around, so you’d need to know what you were doing. This example demonstrates how much the size of a display advertisement affects the price.
#3 Day of the Week
The third factor contributing to the cost of a newspaper advertisement is the day of the week when the ad is published. Typically, newspaper circulation is the greatest on the weekends, so major Australian newspapers’ advertising rates are adjusted accordingly. In our example of The Courier-Mail, the rates are cheaper on a weekday, more expensive on a Saturday, and most expensive on a Sunday. Saturday ads are 25% dearer for the most basic display ads than Monday – Friday ads and Sunday ads are almost 90% dearer than Monday – Friday ads.
This pattern may vary, though, depending on the circulation of a particular publication. For instance, The Age is the most expensive on a Saturday. To illustrate how much of a difference it makes – a small page strip ad in The Courier-Mail on a weekday would be at least $2457.42, and the same ad run on a Sunday would be at least $4637.64.
#4 Different Sections or Lift-Outs
Most newspapers are divided into different sections, and many have lift-outs – the fourth factor determining newspaper advertising costs. Different areas attract other readers and various volumes of readers, so the advertising rates are adjusted to reflect this. For example, an advertisement in the CareerOne (Employment) lift-out in The Courier-Mail costs 2% more than the general section. The rates for CareerOne, also vary depending on the day of the week, as mentioned above. Some examples of other areas that may have different rates include Adult Services, Funeral Notices, Real Estate, and Business.
#5 Page Position Within a Section
The next factor that can significantly affect a newspaper ad’s price is the page number on which the ad appears within a certain section. The most expensive part of the paper is typically the front section, which might include the first ten pages and is referred to as the “early general news,” or EGN for short. In our example of The Courier-Mail, page 2 in the EGN section attracts a 60% loading. Similarly, the first 11 pages have at least a 50% markup. This type of loading is common practice across Australian news publications. Now let’s say we wanted to place a small page strip ad in The Courier-Mail on a weekday, on page 3 in EGN; the cost would be at least $4054.74.
The first few pages and back pages of other key sections of the paper, such as Business, also attract a higher loading. For The Courier-Mail, the very back page attracts a 65% markup. You can see how the page position of an advertisement can have a substantial influence on the price.
#6 Left Hand Side VS Right Hand Side
The next factor is also related to the ad’s position but relates to which side of an open newspaper the ad appears in. You might be surprised that, in some publications, an ad appearing on the right-hand side of a forthcoming paper will cost more than one on the left. This is to do with the way readers read a newspaper and where their attention is focused. This factor may also be tied to an ad’s page position and which section it appears in. For example, in The Courier-Mail, for ads on pages 12 to 21, a right-hand side ad costs 5% more than a left-hand side ad.
#7 Colour VS Black and White
Another factor that substantially affects a newspaper advertisement’s price is whether the ad features color and how many colors. Color ads are more expensive than monochrome or black-and-white ads. Some newspapers may distinguish between multi-color advertisements and those that only feature one added color (“spot color”). For example, The Courier-Mail charges 30% more for multi-color display ads and 20% more for ‘spot’ color ads. Remember that this is combined with any positional loading.
So let’s say we wanted our small page strip ad in full color in The Courier-Mail on a weekday, on page 3; that would be calculated as $2457.42 + 30% color loading = $3194.65 + 65% positional loading for page 3 = $5271.17
You can see here how our ad’s cost has more than doubled after we’ve factored in the ad’s color and position.
#8 Annual Spend/Expenditure Commitment
Now here’s a factor that also affects your newspaper ad’s price, but this time it’s a decrease with a catch. If you have the budget and are prepared to spend a certain amount annually, usually by entering into a 12-month contract, you may be entitled to a discount. However, the value depends on how much you’re prepared to spend. For example, to qualify for a 4% discount on The Courier Mail’s advertising rates, you must pay at least $38500 per year. If you’re a small business owner, chances are you’re not working with this kind of budget, so bye-bye discount.
In case you’re curious, businesses that annually spend at least $2.3 million with the Courier-Mail, receive a 13% discount. In my opinion, this form of discounting highlights how biased mainstream advertising is towards big business. Where’s the deal for all the struggling small businesses? But that’s another story.
Summary:
To sum up, those eight factors again and how they’ll affect the cost of your ad:
Type of ad – display VS classifieds VS inserts – rates based on different measurement units
size – pay more for bigger ads.’
day of the week – weekends are more expensive
section or lift-out – early general news (EGN) is more expensive
page position within a section – front pages and back pages cost more
left-hand side VS right-hand side – RHS is dearer
color VS black and white – pay more for full color
annual spend/expenditure commitment – get a discount if you spend up big
Now that you know what affects a newspaper advertisement’s price, you’re better prepared to decide where and how you want to spend your advertising dollar. If newspaper advertising seems beyond your budget, it might be worth considering more cost-effective alternatives, such as online advertising.
