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How do I read a magazine “rate card”?
By Illiki Rai, owner of Rising Women Magazine
A “rate card” is the information supplied by the magazine, that tells
you, the media buyer, specific information about the “products” the
publication has to offer you. Some of the information included is the cost
of buying their space, the targeted audience demographics or readership
statistics, deadlines, and design specs. This information is what you need
to review and understand when making a media buy.
1) Rates - This is your cost of buying space. Every
publication offers a “one time insertion” rate. This is the cost of placing
one insertion (advertisement) in one issue. If the publication runs
throughout the year, such as quarterly (four times per year) or bi-monthly
(six times per year), they usually offer “frequency discounts” when you run
more than one insertion. This means that you get a break in the cost if you
commit to a longer campaign. For instance, let’s say “one” insertion costs
$260. If you book three however, the cost comes down to $230 per insertion;
a total of $690 and a savings of $90 for committing to three issues instead
of one. This information helps you with your short- and long-term budget
plans.
2) Demographics - This tells you who the publication is
targeting; basically who their readers are. This can include gender: such as
women, men or teens; age: women 40 to 60+; social status: 50% career
professionals/50% entrepreneurs; financial status: average household income;
and any other detail the publication feels pertinent that relates to their
readers. This gives you a fair idea of whether the publication targets your
desired customer and/or assists you in creating your campaign to appeal to
that targeted audience or readership.
Deadlines - Most publication rate cards will list deadlines
for booking insertions, deadlines for finished ad copy and publication
distribution dates. This information basically helps you to plan your
campaign from scheduling in-store promotions around publication dates, to
booking insertions and creating the ads on time. And if you are already
running ads, it gives you dates to mark down for changing your ads or
renewing your insertions.
Design Specs - These give you specific guidelines on the size
of the ads your are buying as well as the specifications on creating the ads
from the exact sizes to the computer formats accepted (PC or MAC platform,
gif, .tif, .pdf, etc.) This is important information for your ad copy
designer, or for you to understand if you are creating your own ads.
For more advice on this subject, send your questions to our panel of
Experts at experts@risingwomen.com
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