Notes for owners · Business growth
Newspaper, radio or hoarding: choosing offline media for a store opening
How to pick between a newspaper insertion, radio spots and a hoarding for a store opening in one catchment, what to test first and how to read the first week.
The GullySales team · Updated 17 Oct 2026 · 6 min read
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For one store in one catchment, choose the medium that reaches the households you already know come from that area, and test it before you buy the rest. A local newspaper edition suits a store that sells to families across several localities. Radio suits a store near a road where people drive. A hoarding suits a shop on a route people pass every day. Buy the smallest slot of one, count the first week honestly, then add.
What does each medium actually reach?
The question is not how many people see it. It is how many of them could walk into your shop this week.
| Medium | Reaches | Weak at | Smallest sensible test |
|---|---|---|---|
| Local newspaper edition | Households that take that edition, by locality | People who read online or not at all | One insertion in the edition covering your catchment, on a day your buyers read it |
| Radio | Listeners in cars, shops and kitchens across the city | A precise street, and anyone who skips stations | A short run of spots at the hours your buyers drive |
| Hoarding or panel | People passing one road at speed or in traffic | Anyone off that road | One panel on your main approach, booked for a short period |
Ask each seller for its rate card, the dates and written proof that the ad ran. This post gives no rates, because they differ by town, edition, slot and season. Get them in writing and compare per day, not per booking.
How do you decide which to test first?
Draw your catchment from the addresses you already know. If you are opening a second branch, pull the pin codes from your existing bills. For a first shop, use the households within the distance you would travel for the same purchase. Then apply three rules.
- If more than half your likely buyers live in two or three localities, start with the newspaper edition that covers them.
- If your buyers come by vehicle along one road, start with a panel on that road, close to the shop, on the side where traffic heads towards it.
- If buyers are spread across the city and share no locality, radio may be the only one of the three that reaches them. Check its cost against the rate card. The message is short and an address is hard to remember by ear, so give a landmark, not a street number.
If none of the three fits, do not force it. A store that sells to office workers in a business park may do better with a stall in the building lobby than with any of these.
An invented example: a stationery and school-bags store in Nellore
Imagine a family-run stationery and school-bags store opening a second shop on a main road in Nellore. Its first plan was all three media, each with the same message: "Grand opening, big discounts".
Its existing bills showed most buyers coming from two nearby localities, along one road. So it tested a newspaper insertion in the edition covering those localities and one panel facing the traffic towards the shop. It dropped radio for the first round, because its buyers kept no common listening hour.
The first plan's mistake was giving every medium the same offer, so nobody could say what had worked. Each medium got its own word instead. The newspaper ad carried "FRIDAY" in the offer line and the panel carried "ROAD". At the counter, staff asked every customer how they heard and made a stroke on a sheet for each answer. Parents shopping with children at weekends came through the newspaper. College students and office-goers on weekdays came from the panel. That told the owners where to put the second round of money, and how to staff each day.
The tally was rough. Two tree branches hid half the panel for the first days, and several customers could not say how they had heard. The sheet showed a lean, not a verdict.
How do you track the first week?
You need only a sheet with one row per day and one column per medium.
- Counter tally. At the billing desk, ask "How did you hear about us?" Record the answer before the bill is closed.
- Code words and numbers. A different word in each ad, or a different WhatsApp number printed on each, so calls and messages can be traced.
- Footfall count. Someone at the door clicks a counter for one set hour each day. Compare the same hour across days.
- Proof of execution. Keep the newspaper cutting, the recording or a dated photograph of the panel. If the ad did not run as booked, you need to know before you judge the result.
Before you pay, ask whoever sells the space where else the ad will appear. A panel may sit among several others on the same stretch, and an insertion may share a page with a bigger advertiser. Neither is a reason to refuse. Both are reasons to keep your message short and put the shop's name where the eye falls first. Our guides on tracking newspaper advertising and tracking a hoarding campaign go deeper on each medium.
When is offline media the wrong choice?
If your opening depends on an appointment, a quotation or a specialist sale, a hoarding brings curiosity rather than buyers. A showroom for made-to-measure furniture is better served by calls to architects and past customers. If you cannot answer a flood of calls on opening day, spend less.
What to do this week
Pick the medium your catchment points to, buy the smallest sensible slot, give it its own word, and start the sheet. For help with the buying side, see grand opening and store launch advertising, and the marketing hub lists the other routes. When you are ready to compare media for your own opening, tell us what you need.
