Myself and other members of the News Journal staff had an enjoyable time at the 2024 Kentucky Press Association Excellence in Newspapers awards banquet last Friday night in Lexington. I got to catch up with some folks I hadn’t seen in a while, the dinner was delicious, and we were lucky enough to come home with another first place award in the General Excellence category. Many thanks to all of those who had a hand in organizing this year’s event. Your efforts are always appreciated.
With that being said, this week I would like to take the opportunity to address all of those businesses and organization who are either already spending their advertising dollars with us, or hopefully soon will be…
Of course, the whole point behind a business taking out an ad in the local newspaper is to help spread a message. It could be about a specific product or service. It could be that some merchandise is on sale, or that there are some new offerings available to the community. It could just be to raise awareness, or it could be to promote an upcoming event of some type. No matter the objective, we can definitely help you to reach a broader audience.
Instead of just saying that, however, I thought now would be a good time to fill you in on a few of the specific advertising opportunities that you might want to consider taking advantage of. This list is far from comprehensive when it comes to what we can offer, both in print and online, but they account for some of our most popular options throughout the calendar year.
Business Spotlight – You will notice this page of color advertising beginning to run in the paper this week. It is a special that we have offered for many years that was designed to give businesses an affordable option to increase visibility as we are coming out of the often-times slower winter season. This year’s page is already full, but if you would like to get more information on how you can maybe take advantage of this starting in 2026, go ahead and give us a call to get the details.
Community Directory and Travel Guide – This annual project is one of our biggest undertakings. A magazine-quality publication, it contains listings for area businesses, emergency services, school systems, entertainment venues, and much more. When you advertise in this book, it serves as a good “one shot” ad placement that will last for the entire year. It gets distributed all over the tri-county area, including at tourism offices, hotels/motels, waiting rooms, and anywhere else we think that people will pick one up.
Strictly Business Magazine – Since 2017, we have partnered with the Southern Kentucky Chamber of Commerce to produce a quarterly magazine publication that exists to spotlight the efforts of chamber members and the wide array of goods and services that they offer. Again, these are distributed widely throughout the local area each time a new issue comes out, and we always make sure that plenty of copies get delivered to the chamber office itself.
Sports specials – Among our most popular offerings are the various sports-related specials that we produce each year. Regular specials include a high school football season preview section in the late-summer, a basketball season preview section in the fall and a section previewing high school basketball postseason play that comes out the week before district tournaments kick off in late-February. Of course, if we have a team, or teams, that happen to win regional or state titles, then we always try to commemorate those achievements by putting out special sections that include congratulatory ads from area businesses. Currently, we are hoping to see one (or two) of our coverage area basketball teams make it to a Sweet 16 tournament. Stay tuned…
Senior Living – This monthly publication appears as a special insert in our paper, and focuses on issues that appeal to our local senior citizen population. Expect to see content that is geared toward health and well-being, as well as special columns that tackle subjects that are especially important to folks who are 55-and-older. We will also include some interesting feature stories when the opportunities present themselves.
Contests – We try to keep things exciting by offering a few contests throughout the year. Whenever we do this, we will give area businesses chances to sponsor the proceedings, typically on a dedicated color page in the paper.
Sponsored content – This is another option that we offer where we can format an ad to appear as an article in the paper, complete with text, a photo and a headline. As a sponsor, you pay to have your name attached to the content in the ad/article, which our subscribers will read in order to learn more about what you are offering.
Again, these are just a few ideas. There are plenty more options when it comes to using our publication to advertise your business, so if you would be interested in learning more, then please, feel free to give us a call here at the office at (606) 528-9767. I can be reached by e-mail at tsherman@corbinnewsjournal.com, as can Advertising Manager Melissa Hudson, at mhudson@corbinnewsjournal.com.
Now is the perfect time to start thinking about getting your messages out. Spring is approaching and folks will be getting their tax refund checks in the mail soon, so reach out to see how we can help you today!
