Sioux Falls Magazines - The First 17 Pages!

Let’s discuss the expensive ads in those free local women's magazines in Sioux Falls. I’m picking on the women’s mags because it’s where I see a lot of marketing dollars flushed down the toilet…

I picked up one of those mags because I’m in advertising and that’s what I do. Anyway…I noticed it was taking me a while to get to any content. So, I went back and counted. The first 17 pages were all ADS!!! Do you think anyone is stopping to read those ads? These first 17 pages are before any actual story appears! And these are full-page ads that cost a premium!

People are paging through them at 3 pages per second…so you better have a nearly-naked body in your ad if you want someone to stop turning. It better be a more exhilarating picture than a sofa. Or a bunch of meaningless words. And it better be more than a stock photo of someone smiling, photos of your staff (eek), and please stop with the photo of someone with their arms folded in front of them trying to look tough or smart. Please. Pleaassse!

Nobody is stopping to read your ad within that first 17 pages. I’ll put my ad up against yours and see which performs better. Mine will be a quarter the size of yours…and placed adjacent to an article in which I believe has enough good content within it so someone may actually PAUSE on that page longer than 3.5 seconds.

I don’t know what a business owner thinks they’ll get out of these ads. Awareness? Branding? Phooey. 99% of the ads I see in these mags are a waste of money for the advertiser.

MY AMBITION at this moment in my life is to help businesses attract more new customers with better advertising. I’m sure I’ll upset someone with this little rant and there will be a minor “hub-bub” somewhere about it. I’m OK with that. But I’m NOT ok with businesses being sold something that has basically zero chance of working.

Have a nearly-naked day! You’ll get more attention.

Have a great day!



Local Marketing Cafe 
Sioux Falls, SD