Frequently Asked Questions

What Ad Size Should I Purchase?

Advertising works by frequently reinforcing your message to readers. Therefore, when possible, you should budget your advertising to last at least 3 months if not more. We offer incremental frequency discounts to advertisers who commit to advertising over several months.

Choose your ad size based on what you can afford to sustain, keeping in mind that larger ads are more likely to catch reader attention, and that it may take time to build trust with readers before you see a return on your advertising.

For time-sensitive material, larger size ads enable you to make a bigger impact in a shorter amount of time.

How Can I Get a Special Deal on my Advertising?

GayCalgary Magazine offers special discounts to reward long-term advertisers, in increments of 3, 6, 9, and 12 months. See our rate card for details.

Aside from this, we do not deviate from the rate card or have sales/specials, because we already offer our advertisers the lowest rate possible for our magazine. Still, you can rest assured that your competitors are not getting a better deal than you are.

Does GayCalgary Magazine Reach a National Audience?

GayCalgary Magazine is a regional publication that caters its community-related content to Alberta readers. As a result, Alberta readers find our publication more meaningful to them personally, and with this higher level of engagement comes more effective advertising exposure.

However, our magazine also contains a great deal of content that is not region specific, such as our celebrity interviews, travel features, political column; or topics of interest to tourists, such as major community events. This attracts readers from across Canada, the US, and the World to read our publication online.

According to Alexa.com, a 3rd party site that ranks websites around the world, our website (GayCalgary.com) is currently the #1 most popular website of all LGBT Publications across Canada - including National publications.

Furthermore, the electronic flipbook version of our magazine on ISSUU.com receives anywhere between 5 and 20 times more views each month than other local and national Canadian LGBT publications who use ISSUU exclusively for their online distribution (we receive an additional 150,000 average downloads from our PDF edition each month).

So although we say we are a regional publication, advertisers can reach a National audience through GayCalgary Magazine without paying 3 to 4 times our rates to be in National LGBT newspapers or magazines.

What Should My Ad Look Like?

Investing in ad space is sometimes not enough; the appearance of your ad is a critical factor in its effectiveness. The number one reason print ads are overlooked is because they are ugly: cluttered, hard to read, poorly laid out, contain low quality images, etc. If your ad doesn’t offer readers something that they want to look at, then it is likely to slip by them unnoticed.

Here are some basic guidelines for designing your ad:

Grab Reader Attention

Something about your ad needs to get them to initially look at it. This is typically accomplished with an attractive image, or a brief heading that inspires further curiosity.

Information at a Glance

The important details of your ad should be obvious, and absorbable by readers within seconds of looking at it. If your message isn’t immediately clear, most readers will move on.

Additional Details

When your ad does catch a reader’s full attention, you may wish to include further information in smaller print. But be careful not to overdo it, too much text is worse than not enough.

Making Contact

When readers are interested in your ad, it is critical to give them a way of reaching you. In most cases, a phone number is essential so that readers can obtain information. An E-mail address works to a lesser degree. For a retail store or venue, a Street Address is critical. A Web Address is also helpful. For events, you MUST mention location, date, and most commonly forgotten, a time even if only tentative.

If you feel your in-house design capabilities are not up to par, talk to us about designing your ads for you. Our graphic designers will help you to develop an effective advertising campaign.

Why is the Magazine not Out on the First of the Month?

GayCalgary Magazine’s target schedule is to be released within the first week of every month, not necessarily on the 1st day of the month. We plan the magazine’s press schedule around important community events, not around end-of-month boundaries.

This allows us to publish community event coverage in a more logical and timely fashion, so that month-end event photos can appear immediately in the following edition, not two or three months later.

Advertisers receive roughly the same duration of exposure per edition as they would within a normal month. However, advertisers may want to consider promoting some events a month in advance (e.g. an event occurring early in December should consider advertising in the November edition). Failing this, we have other deadline-free advertising options, such as web banners.

I’m a Day (or Two) Late for a Press Deadline - What Should Do?

Submit your files regardless, and call us immediately! There may still be a chance for your advertising to be added before the final designs are submitted to our printers. However, it is at our digression to refuse the late ad insertion if it causes unreasonable hassle.

For deadline information, refer to the information in this media kit, visit our website, or subscribe to our monthly business newsletter for reminders and updates.

Is your Circulation Audited?

No. By using controlled circulation, we already know where our magazines are going. We verify critical locations ourselves, and have paperwork from third-party distributors to show that the rest is being distributed.

What does the Magazine Do to Support the LGBT Community?

GayCalgary Magazine is an independently owned for-profit business, however, part of our mandate is to maintain a very strong commitment to LGBT community, culture and history.

Much of LGBT community and culture arises from grass-roots non-profit organizations, charities, and special interest groups who invent creative ways to raise funds or inspire participation in fun activities.

Our magazine is a wonderful means for exposure that can help these groups and their events to grow. We offer in-kind advertising and services as acknowledged sponsorship for community groups who, in some cases, may otherwise not be able to afford it. When possible, we also frequently write preview articles about upcoming events, and publish photographic coverage that may work to promote future events. In turn, this benefits our advertisers, who see higher pick-up rates because of our community involvement.

Do the Articles and Photography Features Relate to Advertising?

Our photography features are created according to the magnitude of the event, its relevance to the LGBT+ community, and the number of photos that turn out well enough to publish. Advertising may make us aware of businesses and events that we should cover, but the amount of advertising a customer purchases does not carry any guarantee about quantity of coverage.

How many people subscribe to GayCalgary?

Currently we estimate over 16,000 people subscribe electronically to GayCalgary® Magazine through GayCalgary. com, Facebook, and Twitter. They receive weekly updates when the electronic copy of the magazine is posted, along with notifications of new online articles, events, photos and videos, prize draws and more.

Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions:
403-543-6960 | 1-888-543-6960