Personally, I don't have the answers to your questions, but I can tell you this:

A "stand-alone" insert ad (like a flyer in the paper) has been shown to out-pull display ad response by over 4-1.

I've heard this several times and know of two business people who do it with good success.

To use this stratege can be expensive in a larger circulation paper, but much more affordable in a local, neighborhood paper.

Where I live, there's a very well-done homeowner association newlsletter sent to over 3000 homes every other month. They allow five full-size insert flyers per issue for around $300 per mailing.

A good option to explore!

Lawrence