Advertising tips (1 Viewer)

[bclemms]

I figured this would be a good area to discuss some tips on advertising. What works, what doesn't, best bang for the buck, etc.

I have recently cut way back on the yellow page advertising and increased in my radio spending. Radio may not make the phone ring as much as the phonebooks but my quality per call is through the roof. Radio allows you to target a specific audience and I find that you don't get the price shoppers. Don't get me wrong, I like the price shoppers calling because we can normally compete but in the auto glass business there is always a fly by night company or a company struggling willing to do work for near cost just to keep the cash flow going.

Here is the best kept secret in phonebook advertising:

Call Bellsouth and get a remote call forwarding number set up in the city you would like the number to appear in the phonebook. This remote number costs $18.50 per month and free standard listing comes with it.

 

[Joe OKC]

That's pretty smart...

Radio is OK, but in my line of work the market is flooded with strips club advertising from 7pm until 5 am.. one after the other... So my thoughts here is intead of the same old, same old... Cold Beer, pretty girls... etc.. Do something that they would remember.

Back when we had the Blue Moon Cabaret, we ran alot of Radio ads... I wrote just about them all. My favorite was the one for our Halloween party... Basically I did the Voice of Count Dracula.. and he was telling everyone that was taking Halloween off this year because he would be at our party.

This is the one I have written for Fancy's just waiting to use....

Our girls our so bad,,, How bad are they? you ask...

That we got a bail bondsmen on speed dial.
Santa never stops here,
and President Bush wanted to send them to Afganistan.

ANways.. those little weekly rags that say Take one FREE are OK if the price is right.

Advertising works not by doing it once, but consitensy.

Joe

 

[keepoursaints]

Good tips guys.. Brandon that seems like a brilliant idea.

Thanks for sharing!

 

[Jeff Miller]

I plan to get a booth at the local saturday market a couple of weeks in a row starting in Sept. The purpose would mostly be to advertise and pass out flyers and buisness cards.

Trying to target people who don't do video tranfers themselves on the computers, if they even use computers. I'm hoping that works better than just a add in a phone book.

Radio sounds interesting, i think it would definately target the non tech savey market i'm looking for. Have to check out the local rates.

 

[SaintShane]

For the type of business I'm in(tanning salon), we deal with many of the same people year after year. We began gathering email addys from our clients, and do an email blast once/month - once/every 3 months.

Very professional looking, and really really cheap. We pay about $20/month for the service and use constantcontact.com

 

[primadox]

I plan to get a booth at the local saturday market a couple of weeks in a row starting in Sept. The purpose would mostly be to advertise and pass out flyers and buisness cards.

Trying to target people who don't do video tranfers themselves on the computers, if they even use computers. I'm hoping that works better than just a add in a phone book.

Radio sounds interesting, i think it would definately target the non tech savey market i'm looking for. Have to check out the local rates.

I imagine a YP ad wouldn't work as well for you as some of us, since your business category doesn't have a specific "name" that everyone uses. For me, if someone wants a resume, they look up "resume" in the phone book -- everyone knows that. For your biz, what section would people go to? Video transfer makes the most sense, but some might look under "DVD", "movie transfer", etc. Something to consider if you do go for a YP ad...what section is best for you.

Bclemms, I love the remote call forwarding idea. I may have to look into that!

 

[MrVoodoo]

-- or for those of you trying to promote a brand to a large audience you can use viral marketing or cross-media experiences to get the consumer base more attracted and attached to your brand.

 

[primadox]

-- or for those of you trying to promote a brand to a large audience you can use viral marketing or cross-media experiences to get the consumer base more attracted and attached to your brand.

For those of us who are technically challenged (ME! ), can you elaborate a bit (and use small words, LOL)

Believe it or not, I'm having a lot of luck listing on craigslist...I've gotten a few calls that way. I'm also offering to submit resumes to a few employment agencies free for my clients, and as a result, some of these agencies have referred their clients to me if they need a resume updated/redone.

 

[geauxboy]

This is a great idea.

My gf is trying to get her energy healing biz going, but is having a tough go of it. Rarely any nibbles and even less biters. The website isn't up yet, so that has delayed us from handing out flyers and biz cards and such. Gotta admit though, we haven't been geaux getters exactly, but we are gearing ourselves for early spring to let loose whatever we can.

So far, she has only advertised in some local mags. Got a few clients, but nothing really to speak of.

At this time, she is working by herself and she rents a room for an hour or two in the city, but sometimes they come here. I suppose in the short term, she shouldn't advertise to the world because that would be too much too fast.

What would be a good ad medium to use for a start up operation? The only thing we do right now is hand out flyers at the subway station.

 

[primadox]

This is a great idea.

My gf is trying to get her energy healing biz going, but is having a tough go of it. Rarely any nibbles and even less biters. The website isn't up yet, so that has delayed us from handing out flyers and biz cards and such. Gotta admit though, we haven't been geaux getters exactly, but we are gearing ourselves for early spring to let loose whatever we can.

So far, she has only advertised in some local mags. Got a few clients, but nothing really to speak of.

At this time, she is working by herself and she rents a room for an hour or two in the city, but sometimes they come here. I suppose in the short term, she shouldn't advertise to the world because that would be too much too fast.

What would be a good ad medium to use for a start up operation? The only thing we do right now is hand out flyers at the subway station.

An ad in the yellow pages is the most effective, IMO, but in the NYC area I know it's likely to be way too pricey. If she gets a separate business phone line, the number should be listed in the appropriate section of the yellow pages, but an actual ad would cost extra. I used to advertise in the Morris County NJ area, and it wasn't terrible price-wise, but it covered a minimal area (only half of Morris county was covered in one book). Now here in Houston we have one huge book for the entire area, and the price reflects it. After a couple of years of not enough business, I took the plunge and bought an ad this year....books just came out, so I'll keep you posted!

Online avenues are cost effective, but harder to target a geographical area. I'd try Craigslist for the NYC area, yellowpages.com, yellowbook.com, etc. Find the names of similar type businesses in the area, search for them by name on the internet and see where they pop up...that will lead you to other sites she can advertise at; some free; some for a cost. Ask local holistic stores if you can post flyers on any bulletin boards; same for local colleges. Just a few ideas...I'll post more as I think of some.

 

[LmrC333]

The cheapest and most effective marketing anyone can do is a combination of radio, referrals, and myspace.
Radio can be used by anyone in business. For those who can afford it, they can drive their name into people's heads. "Branding" is the idea of getting your name into people's minds. The least you want to do is have your ad run 3 times in a day. If you are doing less days a week, then run it more than 3 times in that day. If you can't afford to run all week long, pick one or two days and OWN those days. Other radio info:

1. don't be afraid to advertise on Mondays and Tuesdays. Those usually are the cheapest because business owners who think they know everything are buying up Thursdays and Fridays.
2. promote your unique selling point. What is it that makes you different than anyone else? What will make you stand out in a crowd of businesses?
3. more people than you know listen to the radio late at night. Don't be afraid to spend your money on "overnights" like midnight to 5am. If you don't have much money, this is a perfect way to start advertising.

Referrals are a great way too. Pass out business cards to anyone you know. Hell, give them 5 each.

As for the last one, MYSPACE IS FREE.
Get your business added to your friends pages and promote a website if you have it or just put your information on there. DO NOT try to sell anything on myspace.

Anyway, hope what little knowledge I have helps someone.. lol.

 

[geauxboy]

Allsome. We're investigating these options and I'll post the results.

Thanks y'all.

 

[primadox]

Allsome. We're investigating these options and I'll post the results.

Thanks y'all.

Yes, let us know! There's always room to learn something new, especially regarding advertising, when you own your own business.

 

[MrVoodoo]

For those of us who are technically challenged (ME! ), can you elaborate a bit (and use small words, LOL)

Believe it or not, I'm having a lot of luck listing on craigslist...I've gotten a few calls that way. I'm also offering to submit resumes to a few employment agencies free for my clients, and as a result, some of these agencies have referred their clients to me if they need a resume updated/redone.

I apologize for the late response (I actually lost track of this board for a little while). For viral marketing, your intention is to create a buzz about your product or services. The buzz becomes a monster that is fed by the people that hear about it and share it with their friends.

What I'm most familiar with is the use of "alternate reality games" as a means to create this buzz. You present something to an audience which generates interest, not specifically for your brand or services, but for a game or event. The game or event has to be something that creates a bond between it and the audience, then you inject the brand or service that you offer. The bond then transfers to your business. (in theory anyway).

It's easier to use this approach on a larger audience with the desire of drawing attention to a larger brand. It's possible to do it for a smaller company, but there are various considerations that would have to be taken. When dealing with this approach from the point of view of a smaller company, you're looking to build a relationship with your customers to draw in repeat business. A restaurant, car dealership, or the such could benefit from building that relationship with their customers. They would likely spend more on the campaign than they generally would with a television commercial campaign, and the results may not be as immediately evident as they are when customers bring in coupons from mailing lists. However, players of the game would bond with the brand - communicate their bond with the brand with associates, and over time it would pan out.

For your resume business, I couldn't imagine this approach being very useful though

 

[bclemms]

The cheapest and most effective marketing anyone can do is a combination of radio, referrals, and myspace.
Radio can be used by anyone in business. For those who can afford it, they can drive their name into people's heads. "Branding" is the idea of getting your name into people's minds. The least you want to do is have your ad run 3 times in a day. If you are doing less days a week, then run it more than 3 times in that day. If you can't afford to run all week long, pick one or two days and OWN those days. Other radio info:

1. don't be afraid to advertise on Mondays and Tuesdays. Those usually are the cheapest because business owners who think they know everything are buying up Thursdays and Fridays.
2. promote your unique selling point. What is it that makes you different than anyone else? What will make you stand out in a crowd of businesses?
3. more people than you know listen to the radio late at night. Don't be afraid to spend your money on "overnights" like midnight to 5am. If you don't have much money, this is a perfect way to start advertising.

Referrals are a great way too. Pass out business cards to anyone you know. Hell, give them 5 each.

As for the last one, MYSPACE IS FREE.
Get your business added to your friends pages and promote a website if you have it or just put your information on there. DO NOT try to sell anything on myspace.

Anyway, hope what little knowledge I have helps someone.. lol.

You make an excellent point about Monday and Tuesday on the radio. Usually the big car dealers, casino's, bars, restaurants and nightclubs load up on ads Thur-Sat and it makes them considerably more expensive.

I do almost all of my ads on Monday and Tuesday and these days actually work better for me than the others. I get my ads extremely cheap by talking to my sales rep. I just told her to call me on Thursday when she has extra stock on Monday and Tuesday the following week and I would buy them up if she sold them cheap. Don't be afraid to negotiate with the sales rep because they do have some room to work. Think of the sales reps just like a car salesman because they will use the same strategies like having to talk to a manager to approve a price, etc.

I get ads on the biggest station in Mississippi for $15 a spot and get some of the better stations for $8-$10 a spot. I have found running one ad for a long period is actually more productive than running a bunch of different ads. Burn your name in their brain. I write my own commercials and let the radio station produce them (free). I am very specific in what I want, make the ads funny and corny to get peoples attention and then hit the main points with a professional attitude. I always stick my number early in the ad then twice towards the end so people have time to get the number.

Referrals also work great for me. I give a stack of cards to all the places that sell inspection stickers and tell the guys there that I will give them $15 for every customer they send and we do work for. I also have the sales guys at the car wash doing the same.