As advertisers we would all love to know what our audience are doing as they go through our adverts. Being a fly on the wall at this point in time would help us market to them better. That is why we have drafted these three scenarios to help you imagine what your readers are going through as they interact with your print ads. So sit back and enjoy.

SOMEONE WHO NEEDS YOUR SOLUTIONS RIGHT NOW

We can all plan as much as we like, but things are bound to happen. This reader (let’s call her Sue) has just had her living room flooded by a downpour. Thanks to her insurance she can get to work on fixing it straight away and she wants to because it doesn’t look pretty. Before anything else, she picks up a copy of HOMEMAKERS magazine. This is a convenient place for her to browse because she will be able to find a ceiling company, carpet company and an industrial vacuum cleaner to soak up the water. According to QuickSprout, “Consumers think with both their rational and emotional brains,” so when thinking of which brand to buy from we think emotionally first and then logically (based on the money we have available). According to Psychology Today, an emotional response to a print ad has a greater potential to lead to a buying decision, by a factor of 2 to 1 for print ads.

Sue is feeling very emotional at this point, so she will be on the lookout for businesses that she can identify with, ones that are sensitive to her needs and will be able to help her quickly and get her living room looking great again as if nothing happened. If Sue sees a print ad of a man trying to hold up his ceiling so that the flood gates don’t open up, and print copy saying: need a little help? Sue will identify with this on an emotional level.

WHEN A CUSTOMER GOES BACK TO OLDER PUBLICATIONS TO SORT OUT A RENOVATION PLAN THAT’S BEEN PUT ON HOLD FOR A WHILE

Meet Eric; he has been meaning to paint his roof tiles for quite some time now, but something always seems to get in the way. As it’s a huge job to carry out, he’s been telling himself he will get round to it eventually. December rolls around and Eric finds himself with more free time. He decides to go through a stack of HOMEMAKERS magazines he’s been saving for later. So, while sitting on his couch, sipping a freshly made cup of tea and going through the HOMEMAKERS magazines he stumbles on a print ad about a cost-effective roof painting service that can do it all for him. This gets him excited because he will not have to paint the roof himself and his wife will be quite nagging him about it – problem solved!

WHEN A PRINT AD CREATES A NEED AND DESIRE

We all want to make our homes unique, we want to show them off and ultimately create our perfect dream home. So when Aviwe sees a print ad on beautiful wooden staircase, she simply must incorporate it in her home. Advertisers often use techniques to help attract a customer’s attention and in this case, Aviwe was swayed with an image of a beautiful home and then looked at the advert more closely. Being that she had her phone close-by, she quickly pops onto the company’s website to take a closer look at their offerings and to get a feel for the company’s credibility. She doesn’t just want anyone to help turn her home into a dream home – she wants the best!

WANT TO CREATE MOMENTS LIKE THIS?

Get your company face time in the limelight right here in our home and lifestyle magazine. You could be creating one of these magical scenarios. Our home and lifestyle magazine publications are distributed to 705 000 homes across South Africa, are all available online and we further distribute them to a list of 50 751 subscribers once a month, in an effort to help get your business noticed.

Image Credit: The Huffington Post

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