For many high school yearbook teams, the financial requirements of creating a well-made keepsake can be a challenge. Often this problem can be solved by selling advertising that allows local businesses to market to young customers and boost their standing in the community. This niche advertising venue comes with its own set of challenges and opportunities.
Instructions
1. Devote a large amount of the ad space to a school-related message. Typically, full-page yearbook ads devote half the available space or more to these types of salutations, whether it's a shout-out for a school sports team, a message of congratulations to new graduates or best wishes to all students for a fun summer vacation. A business's primary goal with such yearbook advertising is to show support for the school and create a positive image with students.
2. Write advertising copy with teenagers in mind. Anastasia Goldstein, a writer for School Library Journal, says this age group is used to absorbing information in short, complete bites (think text messages and Twitter). So an effective ad for high schoolers will avoid paragraphs of text in favor of concise, stand-alone sentences of 150 characters or less. If you must convey more information, break it up by putting sentences in different locations, sizes and fonts in scattered areas on the ad.
3. Explain why your product or service will be useful for a high school student. On the surface, what your business has to offer might not seem hip or fun. But chances are you can create an advertisement that appeals to teens by tying your product or service in with their priorities. For example, if you're advertising an eye-care clinic, a good yearbook ad might target the importance of eyesight in classroom learning, reading and good grades.
4. Feature photos of young people enjoying your product or service. This, in addition to a youth-oriented message, will help teens see your business as beneficial to their age group.
5. Include names and faces of current students, if possible. This might mean a note of congratulations to one or two particular students with whom you have a connection, such as the winner of a scholarship you sponsor or a student your business employs. You also could ask students to be models in your ads. Seeing friends and classmates in your ad will bolster positive feelings about your business.
