Stores With Book Sense Create Joint Advertising Effort

By Laura Hansen

Here, Laura Hansen, owner/manager of Bookin' It in Little Falls, Minnesota, shares her recent presentation to a local business group about the benefits to her store from working cooperatively with other booksellers to get the word out about their businesses and the availability of Book Sense gift certificates.

Here's an example of a scenario where joint advertising really works and why you should consider it for your business. In our area of the state, there is a very fine glossy magazine whose demographics and distribution area is a perfect match for our store. Lake Country Journal Magazine appeals to an NPR-type demographic, to double income, well-educated individuals as well as to vacationers, to seasonal residents, and to Minnesotans in exile in other parts of the country. It has a small but well-defined distribution area (60 mile radius of Brainerd), and the magazine's content focuses on people, places, events, and natural attractions within that area.

For a year or two when the magazine first came out, I was so convinced that Lake Country Journal Magazine (LCJM) was the perfect target market for the bookstore that I contracted for a full year of 1/12th page black & white ads at $270 per month which the magazine (charitably) placed without fail next to the regular book review feature without charging me the $30 preferred placement fee. This is a tiny ad, mind you. A sample is shown at right.

As you can see, it had to be largely an image ad and could not be easily adapted to promoting specific products or events. But still, I felt it was the most target-effective way to attract the attention of vacationers and regular lake goers. The cost began to mount up, however, beyond what our small advertising budget could endure, and I was forced to drop the contract at the end of the second year. This was a painful decision as visitors to the store regularly told me they saw my ads in LCJM.

If advertising year-round on contract was expensive, advertising periodically at off-contract rates was out of the question. The one or two ads I ran in this manner cost me in the range of $350 dollars for a black & white 1/12th page ad (placed again at no up-charge next to the book review) to $435 for a non-contract rate in the November/December Holiday Gift Guide Section. This, too, I had to abandon for budgetary reasons.

The editors of Lake Country Journal Magazine, however, like to see their area bookstores represented in the magazine and encouraged me to reconsider. So, when Bookin' It became a member of the national Book Sense program offering gift certificates that could be used at other participating independent bookstores across the state and across the country, I saw an opportunity to gain entry back into Lake Country Journal Magazine.

The ad copy reads: "These popular titles are all highly recommended by your local booksellers -- people who know books. The Book Sense Gift Certificate is available for purchase and redemption at over 1,200 independent bookstores. It's the perfect gift for all occasions. Available at these fine bookstores: Bookin' It -- Little Falls; Fishing With Your Mind -- Walker; Rainy Days Bookstore --Nisswa; Sister Wolf Books -- Dorset."

First, I identified the other Book Sense booksellers that were within the Journal's territory and contacted them to make sure they all sold and honored the Book Sense gift certificate. Then, I called my Lake Country Journal sales rep and proposed splitting the cost of a LCJM Holiday Gift Guide ad between the four stores as a way of promoting top Book Sense picks and gift certificates. She verified with the publisher that cost-sharing was acceptable and then, based on the information I provided and using the ad copy I prepared, presented the idea to the other stores who were all regular or occasional LCJM advertisers but were not planning to purchase an ad in the Gift Guide. Everyone got on board and after tinkering with the ad copy a bit to get to a version that pleased everyone, and with each store selecting a recommended book for the photo, we were in business.

So, now I can again be in a magazine that I admire and that targets the kind of people who I hope will become Bookin' It customers, and my final cost for the ad was only $96 with the ad rep doing most of the running (bless her heart.) The editors were happy to have us on board again; the rep was happy to have us back; and we got bold, color, on-target advertising that dollar-for-dollar we couldn't have gotten on our own. A big win for everyone involved. That is how a cooperative advertising venture works and why you should consider it whenever possible. Don't wait for someone to sell it to you. Design the program yourself and sell it to your advertiser of choice. By being creative and proactive and finding common goals and market needs, we can help each other gain efficiencies in our own marketing efforts.