Three Ways to Hook Advertisers in a Recession

Securing contracts has been more challenging this year. For some organizations, it's meant giving a little extra to sweeten the deal. Here are three ideas that are working: 

1. Give new advertisers a "two-fer." Offer first-time advertisers a free ad as a trial run with a commitment they'll pay for advertising in a future issue. Make sure they understand this is a one-time deal.

2. Extend an extra frequency break. Offer a 3x advertiser the 6x rate. And do the math; make sure advertisers know exactly how much they're getting "for free." 

3. Hold last year's rates for "loyal" advertisers. Or if that's more than your budget can handle, only extend the deal to current advertisers with a full schedule in the prior year.