Newspaper advertising is definitely the most popular form of advertising these days. It goes without saying that if you invest in a good newspaper advertisement, you will definitely get the returns that you want.

The important question is, what makes a newspaper advertisement effective? Is it only the popularity of the paper that you are placing the ad in? While the readership and circulation of your paper is important, there are several things you can also do to make sure that you get the desired response for each ad that you place.  Here are a few tips to make your newspaper advertisement effective:

• Be clear in your communication. Especially if you are placing a text classified ad, you need to mention all the requirements in a crisp and concise manner so that the reader is able to respond immediately based on your requirement. This is important whether it is a classified ad or a display ad.  You want to keep it clutter free and easy to read.
• Maintain a theme. This gives you a brand identity, especially when you are placing a display ad for a product. Keep the color palette similar for a series of ads. Decide what your theme is. Do you want the ad to be sophisticated, funny, quirky or just direct? Choose the terminology, the colors, the fonts and the images according to this theme.
• For those who are placing display ads for a brand, consistent advertisement leads to brand recall. When you maintain the theme mentioned above and place several ads at a regular interval, readers will focus their attention on your ad eventually. They will also be able to recognize your campaigns, hoardings, advertisements etc. and respond if they have a particular requirement.
• Keep the headline catchy. Nobody has time to read ads. If your headline is quirky and interesting enough, however, a reader may get curious and try to learn more about the ad. The reader should get a vague idea about the offer, the product or the event but should be left with questions that intrigues him to read the ad once.
• In a paper, the more visible your ad is, the more response you are going to get. For a display newspaper ad, a full-page ad is the best option. However, if that is out of your budget, make sure that your ad is placed in the right hand side corner of a page which is the most visible area. Next, for classified ads, you cannot determine placement. But, you can make it catchy by adding borders, bold texts, backgrounds etc.
• Make sure that the ad is reviewed multiple times. If there are spelling errors or contradicting statements, readers will not trust the quality of your brand.
• Always have a call to action. Adding words like “Book Now”, “Call Now” or “Limited Seats, enroll now” makes the reader want to respond at a very subconscious level.

With these tips you should be able to make the most of any newspaper ad that you place, whether it is in a national, regional or local paper.