Advantages
Great color and photo reproduction are possible in magazines that are printed on slick or high-grade paper.
Selecting a targeted audience can be easy. Guess who reads Golf Pro, Old House Restoration, and Bikers' World? Furthermore, some magazines have images of their own. They might be considered an authority in their subject area or prestigious, hip, or reliable and this image can rub off on advertisers' messages.
Magazines have quite a range of layout flexibility. Ads can contain color or fragrance samples. They can have moving pieces, pop-ups, or carry microchips for sound. Photos can bleed off the page or fold out to larger sizes. This provides advertisers with many options for creating attention-grabbing ads.
Magazines have a long life span. People often save magazines to read at a more leisurely time. When a magazine is read over the weekend or on vacation, the ad is still there and the reader may be in a receptive, rather than rushed, mood.
Disadvantages
Because most magazines are printed on slick paper that makes for excellent reproduction, the costs are higher - to the consumer and to the advertiser.
The timing of reader exposure to your ad is less predictable. Most magazines carry longer features, so reading can be delayed, and some ads could go out of date before they are seen.
Deadlines for placing advertising art are one month or more before publication. This means an advertiser must begin work on an ad long before it will be seen by the target audience.
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