• Targeting – choose a newspaper that has local editions for different regions. That way you are making sure that actual buyers will see the ad. For example if you are shoe store in Naperville (suburb of Chicago I used to live in) you don’t want to advertise in Chicago Tribune, because you will pay for whole bunch of people who will see you ad, but will never be your buyers because there are just too far away.
• Costs – you should start by checking the amount of circulation. The higher is the amount the cheaper is CPM and client acquisition cost. Examine the discount on multiple ad placements. Make sure you understand what agates, lines, columns, process and spot colors mean.
• Distribution – examine how the paper is distributed, it is very important. A lot of free newspapers are not actually distributed, so even though the circulation is high the amount that actually reaches the reader can be minimal. As a good rule of thumb choose a company that has an audited circulation.
• Tracking – track what you can, the easiest way is to ask how they learned about you. Don’t forget that you can’t track brand recognition, but it has a huge impact on your business.
  Insider tips:
• It is better to buy smaller ads in a larger frequency, than big ads in a smaller one. Remember the key is frequency!
• If you ad is large enough you can position it in a way publisher won’t be able to put any other ads on this page – that way you get editorial material with you ad exclusively.

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