Print & Newspaper Advertising in Melbourne
Press ads designed in-house and placed across metro papers, local papers, magazines and trade publications, in print and on their websites, with the digital channels set up to measure what the placement actually did.
Who uses print advertising in Melbourne
Print is the channel businesses ask about when their customer is older, local or reads a trade title, and harder to reach online. Usually one of three things is true:
You sell to downsizers, retirees or families making a considered decision: a home, a financial plan, a hospital, aged care.
You sell to an industry that still reads its own magazine.
You want the weight a full page carries, for a launch or a position, that a social ad can’t give you.
Print advertising means designing an ad and buying space in a newspaper, magazine or trade publication. In Melbourne that covers the Herald Sun and The Age, the local papers (Leader and the independents still printing), lifestyle and property magazines, and the trade press for B2B. The same publishers sell display on their websites through the same sales teams, so we buy the page and the site together where it helps.
Print audiences have shrunk, but they haven’t disappeared, and they’ve changed. The people still reading a physical paper or a trade journal are older, wealthier, more local and harder to reach online. For some businesses that’s exactly the customer. And a full page in the Herald Sun or a profile in a trade publication reads as established in a way a Facebook ad can’t.
It works when the audience is right, the ad is designed for print rather than resized from a banner, and the campaign is measured. Most print campaigns fail on the last point. The ad runs, nobody tracks it, and the decision to repeat is a guess.
How we run print
Print is a small part of what we do. When it fits, the ad and the buy come from the same team and get measured like everything else.
Designed for the page
Headline, one image, one offer, readable in two seconds. Designed by the team that makes your digital creative, so the campaign looks like one campaign.
Placed by audience
Publication, section and position chosen for who reads it. Property section for developers, business pages for B2B, local papers for suburb-based services. The publisher’s website where the same reader is online.
Measured before it runs
Two numbers, not one. Roy Morgan readership tells you how many people the title reaches in print and online. A unique URL, QR code, offer code or tracking number on the ad, and a baseline on branded search and enquiries, tell you whether it worked. If we can’t measure it, we’ll tell you before you commit.
Digital set to catch it
Google and Meta campaigns matched to the publication’s audience and footprint, with retargeting for people who search after reading.
Honest about the channel
If print isn’t right for your business, we’ll say so. For most of our clients the money does more on Meta and Google, and we’d rather tell you than sell you a page.
What’s included
Fit check: whether print will do anything for you before you spend on it
Audience and publication planning
Media negotiation and booking with any publisher: the metro dailies, the local and independent papers, the magazines and the trade titles
Media negotiation and booking with News Corp, Nine Publishing, the local and independent papers and the trade publishers
Print-ready artwork and digital assets to publication spec
Measurement setup: URLs, QR codes, offer codes, tracking numbers, search baseline
Digital campaign integration to catch the lift
Post-campaign report with readership, enquiries and the lift against baseline, plus tear sheets or screenshots of every placement
What newspaper advertising costs in Melbourne
Print pricing is published by the publication but rarely paid at rate card. A full page in the Herald Sun on a weekday can be $20,000 or more at rate card and considerably less negotiated. A quarter page in a local paper can be under $1,000. Trade magazines sit anywhere between. Here’s how it works with us.
Design. From $1,200 per ad, including copy, design and print-ready artwork. Additional sizes, versions and the digital display set from $300 each.
Media: local and trade. From $2,000 for a short campaign in local papers or a single trade publication, in print or on their site. Typical campaigns $3,000 to $15,000.
Media: metro. From $10,000 for a single placement in the Herald Sun or The Age. Multi-insertion campaigns $20,000 to $80,000.
Planning and buying. Publishers pay us a standard 10 percent commission on what we book, so on campaigns of $25,000 or more in media you pay the negotiated rate and nothing on top. Below $25,000 we charge a planning fee of $1,500, because the commission on a small buy doesn’t cover the planning.
Transparent buying. Media cost, commission, our fee and design are all shown separately on the plan. No hidden margin.
Minimum campaign. Around $8,000 all in for local or trade press. Metro from around $15,000.
What to expect back. Harder to generalise than other channels. A well-placed trade or property ad can drive a handful of high-value enquiries. A local paper campaign for a service business shows up as calls and branded search during the run. We set the baseline so the decision to repeat is based on a number, not a feeling.
How it starts
1. Fit check
Audience, offer, budget. We’ll tell you straight if print isn’t the right channel.
2. Plan
Publications, sections, sizes, dates, print and digital, and the measurement plan.
3. Design
Copy and artwork, approved by you, supplied to publication spec.
4. Book
Space negotiated and booked, with every cost shown separately.
5. Run
Tracking live before the first insertion, digital campaigns matched to the readership.
6. Measure and report
Enquiries, search lift and cost per lead against your digital channels, with every placement shown.
Print and digital, one campaign
A press ad makes someone look you up later, from the kitchen table or the office. Google catches the search. Meta reminds the ones who didn’t. When one team designs the ad, buys the space and runs the digital, the campaign looks like one campaign, and you can see in the numbers what the page actually did.
See how we run Google Ads and Meta ads, and the results behind them.
Who you’ll work with
Two senior people and nobody in between. William runs creative. Brittany runs media. You’ll deal with both.
William
Creative. Designs the ad and writes the copy, for the page and for the site.
Brittany
Media. Picks the publications, negotiates the space and buys it, and sets the tracking before it runs.
What we plan and buy
Metro newspapers
Herald Sun and The Age, weekday and weekend, in print and on heraldsun.com.au and theage.com.au.
Local and community papers
Leader titles and the independent locals still printing, and their websites.
Lifestyle and property magazines
Property sections and glossies for downsizers and off-the-plan buyers.
Trade and industry publications
The magazines your buyers still read in their own sector, in print and online.
Advertorial and sponsored content
Clearly labelled, written and designed by us.
Who we work with
Builders and property developers
Weekend property sections and lifestyle magazines for downsizers and off-the-plan buyers.
Professional and financial services
Business pages and trade press for credibility with older and business audiences.
Healthcare and aged care
Metro and local papers for families and older decision-makers.
Commercial and industrial suppliers
Trade and industry magazines where buyers still read their sector’s press.
Local services and retail
Community papers for suburb-based businesses with an older customer base.
What we don’t do
PR, media relations or press releases. This is paid space, designed and bought. Getting written about is a different job and not one we do.
Run print for businesses whose customers aren’t reading it. We’ll check before we book.
Resize a digital banner and call it a press ad. A page is designed for the page.
Book space without a measurement plan. If the decision to repeat can’t be based on a number, we won’t book it.
Questions we get asked
How much does it cost to advertise in the Herald Sun?
How do you charge?
Does newspaper advertising still work?
Can you measure print advertising?
Do you design the ad?
Is this PR?
What's the minimum budget?
Print or digital advertising?
How long does it take to get an ad in print?
Do you only work in Melbourne?
Related services
Book a planning call
We’ll tell you whether print fits, what it costs, and what you should expect back. If it doesn’t fit, we’ll say so on the call and tell you where the money does more.