Sean Jersett, Christy Bengno, Julie Mais, Alison Marx, Caryn Vaught
Number one piece of advise for an advertiser:
Be aware of your sale dates! You need to have the deadlines for dates to go to the printer and when catalogs will be to the customers. You need to have your ducks in a row before the printing date.
How do you handle photography?
Photos need to be high resolution, print quality photos to look good in the catalog. "We need to have the photos identified so we know how to use them," Bengno said. Dropbox or email is a good way to send in the photos. Make sure that email allows for the photos to be sent as high resolution. If you have a lot of photos, Dropbox is much easier. Put the photos in Dropbox and then share the folder with the AHA staff. Make sure you notify the AHA staff that you have added photos to an existing shared photo.
When using phones, make sure your phone has a high quality camera on your phone and that you have your phone setting to the highest resolution possible (largest file size). If you don't change these settings, your phone will not take a high enough quality picture. If you have a 72 DPI photo, it will appear 4 times smaller than it should be in print.
What about breeders using Photoshop?
The Photoshop images are a great way for a producer to share their vision of the picture, but the actual Photoshop and other processing needs to be done by AHA staff to make sure that the requirements for print are meet. Send the raw photo, and the AHA staff will do the edits. Make sure that there is enough background space around the animal.
Advice for preparing an Hereford Journal ad?
Make sure that there is good communication. If the photos are not going to be ready in time, let the AHA staff know. "Too much information is often better than too little information," Marx said.
If an ad is made by a different publication, have the other organization communicate with the AHA staff to make sure the ad is prepared according to AHA specifications.
If preparing an ad, share colors that you don't like. Share items you would like to be included. Photos help a lot! Communication is key. "Some times I like a blank page, but at least tell me what you hate!" Jersett said.
What is the difference between a ride-along and other catalogs?
Figure out your target audience. If you are marketing to juniors showing heifers, including a ride along with the September issue that focuses on the Junior Nationals. If you are focusing on commercial cattlemen, printing in the tabloid publications is a great way to hit commercial ranchers.
The tabloids printed on paper are a cost savings for the AHA. If the commercial producer will fill in a card and send it back to the AHA, this allows them to send out the tabloid at no cost to the commercial producer.
How many clicks are you getting on banner ads?
Working on the back end, AHA staff can give you data on your specific banner ads.
Ag Teachers can request for a free subscription to the Hereford World. But, they need to request a new subscription each year.
Decker's Take Home Message
Progressive beef producers need to make sure they are doing a good job branding and marketing their cattle. To see a full return on investment in best practices and technology, producers need to be aggressively marketing their cattle. Working with the right creative services can really help.
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