January 17, 2011 / Why Didn't I Think of That?

Ads, news releases for local newspaper can tout yearbook

Written by Marketing Staff

Our latest “Why Didn’t I Think of That” tip comes courtesy of the yearbook staff at Palmyra High School in Palmyra, Mo., who has used ads in their local community newspaper recently as part of their marketing efforts. And they accomplished it for less than the typical cost.

The Palmyra staff worked out an exchange deal with the newspaper, in which they got a yearbook ad published and they provided a free book for the paper. This type of agreement will be very attractive to many newspapers, which value having a yearbook for archive purposes and view helping the staff as a community service.

The local community newspaper ad will definitely be effective in towns where there is only one high school. A nice ad should also be run in the school newspaper as well, something too many yearbook staffs overlook.

Another way some yearbook staffs have received some free promotion for their yearbook is by drafting news releases for the local newspaper, an idea we heard about from the yearbook staff at Chillicothe High School in Chillicothe, Mo.

Most staffs are so busy on their book – writing articles and taking pictures – that it never occurs to them that the activities of the yearbook program and the sale of the book might just be news itself.

For schools in smaller communities, or in any area served by smaller community-oriented newspapers, this tactic can definitely be successful.

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Marketing Staff

Marketing Staff reports are posts compiled by the Walsworth Yearbooks Marketing Department, covering a wide range of yearbook topics.