A public notice ( or Legal Notice) is a type of classified ad that is used to keep the public informed about things like government contracts, permits, foreclosures, community information, and even environmental conditions that may effect them or their community. A public notice that is not run on time can have serious repercussions that involve a lot of people on various levels, so it is also important they are run as scheduled and free of mistakes and must also follow specific requirements. For instance, all notices are placed in paid daily papers and cannot be run in a free papers. They are also typically not accepted on flyers inserts or layout ads. ( News Media Association )
How do I place a legal notice ad in the newspaper?
Placing a legal notice ad in the newspaper doesn’t have to be a burdensome process. If you need to place a legal notice ad in the newspaper and you wonder why you have to go through all this tedious work for something that you are not sure if anyone will want to read. You will rest assured that public and legal notices running in newspapers are actually a very old tradition that has to do with keeping the general public informed about what’s going on in your local community.
If you need to place a legal notice ad in the newspaper and you are not sure of what steps you need to take to do so it is important to make sure that you understand the goal of a legal notice ad is to get people to act and participate and not to get people to buy a product. Because of this, legal notice ads can be somewhat longer and therefore more expensive than a small 4 line classified ad. In many cases, it can be helpful to recruit an advertising agency that specializes in these types of advertisements to assist in the writing and placement of these types of ads for you.
Steps to Placing a Legal Notice in the newspaper
- Determine the area where your ad needs to run. This may be your city, state, or in some cases, ads will run in nationwide papers.
- Contact the paper or an agency that specializes in placing legal notices.
- Write your ad (see additional information on what information to include below)
- Determine which days you will need your ad to run. This may be a certain number of days or weekends.
- Ask for a quote.
- Approve ad, or to reduce the length of your ad you may abbreviate whenever necessary.
- Submit or confirm ad placement to run (ask for proof so that you can see how the ad will appear in the newspaper.)
- Request tear sheets after the ad has run.
Why do we place legal notice ads in the newspaper?
“Public notices are one of the few regular and official communication channels that exist between levels of government and citizens. Public notice laws additionally regulate the way in which government communications with citizens.” (fundingthenews.usc.edu )
There have actually been laws that dictate the necessity of placing legal notice ads in the newspaper for quite some time. Laws have always stated the necessity of information. Especially when it pertains to community and government changes. It is necessary to share it with people in an easily accessible way. This helps to keep the general population informed about things that may impact them on a variety of levels. By placing legal notice ads in Newspapers the community is able to find out any changes that are taking place. They will also be kept informed about how to participate in the issues that may affect them on a local level.
How do I write a legal notice ad for the newspaper?
- You want to make sure that the information necessary is clearly stated including any dates, locations, or contact information.
- Let the public know how or if they can participate in any hearing, auctions or public meetings.
- Abbreviate whenever necessary. However, because legal notices are meant to benefit the general public do not abbreviate so much that the ad can be misunderstood.
- Request a proof of the ad. Proofs allow you to see how it will appear in the newspaper.
Writing a legal notice ad for the newspaper follows many of the same rules as any other type of ad. With one main difference. The difference between a public or legal notice versus a regular classified ad is that the standard “call to action” that most ads use to encourage a reader to buy a service or product is not the same. The call to action for a legal or public notice is to get them to be engaged. In these types of ads, the goal is to inform or to get a person to act. In some cases, the action may be for a person to attend a hearing. Or to merely be aware of a change in their community. Often this information can mean that public or legal notices can be somewhat longer than a standard 4-line sales ad.
Guidelines
Here are several things to keep in mind when determining where and when to place your notice.
The National Newspaper Association has also determined that a public notice should follow several other guidelines.
- It should be published in a medium independent of the government or other entity compelled to provide notice.
- It should be verifiable so that citizens can satisfy themselves that notice was properly given. A affidavit from the newspaper attesting to the type and date of publication is the typical verification, and these are often used in litigation to demonstrate that due process requirements were met.
- It should be archivable so that future generations can retrieve it.
- It should be accessible to a broad range of people. Surveys demonstrate that a wide majority of citizens believe public notices should be in newspapers.
Additionally the call to action of a public or legal notice is also not the same as it would be for an advertisement that sells a product or service. when are you are getting ready to place a public notice ad consider the fact that for a public notice to be successful the intent of the ad is to get someone to act or participate in a function or to be made aware of a change instead of trying to persuade a person to buy or directly respond to the ad. This can mean an ad that is longer than the typical four-line classified ad.
For more information on Public notices or ad placement services
What Now?
If you need to place a legal notice ad in the newspaper and you are still not sure of what steps you need to take to do so it is important to make sure that you understand the goal of a legal notice ad is to get people to act and participate and not to get people to buy a product. Because of this, legal notice ads can be somewhat longer and therefore more expensive than a small 4 line classified ad. In many cases, it can be helpful to recruit an advertising agency that specializes in these types of advertisements to assist in the writing and placement of these types of ads for you.
For more information about placing public and legal notices or writing a legal notice ad.