Advertising-What has been most effective

[Jim A]

Looking for some advise. Putting together a business plan for a future shop and looking for information on what everyone has found to be the best return for their investment. i.e. yellow pages, mailings, referrals, newspaper, etc. Thank you for any help.

[Jack Cee]

(1) Direct mail; (2) Yellow pages; (3)Newspapers;
(4) Special Events (ie) Block open house, Xmas open house. Sales don't even rate in my estimation of success.

Jack Cee

[Mike Labbe @ GTP]

Results will vary greatly depending on your approach and area, but for us:
(1 = Most effective so far, 11 = least effective so far)

1 - Web site. ~$10/month. At least 40% of new customers come in with w/web coupon & directions.
2 - Outdoor signage / "I drove by and saw the sign"
3 - Repeat customers and referrals
4 - Newsletters. about 7% return so far with our first one. Second went out this week.
5 - Letters to local businesses / community sponsorships
6 - Direct mail postcards to new home owners, etc. (about 1%)
7 - Supercoups/Val-Pak (less than 1%, have since dropped)
8 - Newspaper ads (less than 1%)
9 - Yellow pages (unhappy, over $900/month, about 1 customer per month)
10 - Leads bought from a trade organization (None so far in 18 months)
11 - Placemats in restaurants (None so far in six months)


Have not yet tried: Cable TV, Radio, Billboards, public presentations, home shows, pay-per-click web advertising on search engines, pay for web listing referral services.

Unknown: How many people see the lettered vehicle or one of the above and turn to the web page first before coming in with web coupon.

It should be noted that we have a very young business (21 mos), and the results may change over time.

I'm anxious to see what results others have had, and glad to see it brought up. Great stuff. This might be a good poll topic.

Mike

[Cliff Wilson]

No matter what I say, YOUR mileage will vary! Note that one weekly paper (Local towns) gets regularly mentioned and the city "paper for the arts" did not get mentioned once in 6 months of ads! Roughly equivalent venues get dramatically different results. You have to understand YOUR market! And test, test, test!

In order of return.

1) Sign on building/location
2) Referals
3) Radio ads
4) Gift Certificates given to local auctions/raffles
5) Ads in Local towns weekly paper (delivered to nearby towns)
6) direct mail postcards inviting to "events" (wine and cheese, coffee and ... )
7) Newspaper Article (Story about "the Square" shopping area we are in)
8) Ads in City Daily
9) Ads in City Weekly paper "for the Arts"
10) Display Ad in Yellow pages

We don't have a web site yet. Haven't done "val-pack" or other coupons. Am considering cable TV (see archives)

Yellow Pages was a HUGE negative return! Will NOT renew.

[Less]

1 - Web site. ~$10/month. At least 40% of new customers come in with w/web coupon & directions.
Mike, that is very interesting.

Somehow, I would think that website should not be #1. I would think that your advertising pointing to your web specials should be. How are new clients finding your website?

I like the way you utilize your coupons - new customers - great idea!

I guess you answered my question about Framer Select. It's too bad it's not working.

What has worked for me?

1. Word of mouth.

2. Articles written in newspapers about my business.

3. Networking groups

4. Opening receptions for art shows

5. Walk by with my new location has helped (but signage and drive-by is now poor)


My new yellow page ad is a necessary evil that has improved slightly now that I am located in a recognizable landmark.

For my type of business, coupons haven't work partially because I don't use them in the right way. I am afraid of sending the wrong message to my art collector client base.

Maybe offing a web special is a good way of driving new framing clients to my business without looking like a discounter.

[AWG]

A GREAT non BigBoxesSuck topic...

Mike:
I'm curious, like Less, how you drive that much traffic to your website. :confused: We just tweaked ours (artist info, etc) but I don't thnk we drive nearly that much traffic from it. I may have to get a counter added so I can track visits.
I think you've seen it: www.weframe.com (http://www.weframe.com)

I think YP advertising can really be money thrown away. It's too easy to overspend, for sure :mad: We've had nothing more than an in-column box ad (highlighted with red and lines) at around $200/month (includes web YP). We get a good number of calls each week from it. IMHO I think a big flashy display ad for most shops is a waste, given the huge amount of $$ involved. Maybe to support multiple stores, etc., but otherwise YP ads are too pricey. It does help that we're first in the alphabetic listing, though!! :D :D

About trade leads - where are your leads coming from? We did a mailing with Nielsen earlier this year that had a pretty good response - they provided the addresses.

Less:
What are you getting out of networking groups? I'm curious because I just joined one and it seems like it will help.

As for Applewood Gallery, our best advertising breaks down like this:

1 - Referrals and reputation
2 - Direct mail newsletter 3x per year
3 - YP
4 - Daily newspaper

Tony

[Barb Pelton]

I just had this very conversation about 2 weeks ago with some local business owners and it was very interesting to hear everyone's opinions.

I simply can't make a list of exact numbers because most people don't respond off of a single ad. I believe you have to do your advertising in "layers"--very thoughtfully laid out, and you have to be constant, even though you may be lighter in some months and heavier in others. I came to this conclusion after two events: 1) I asked a new customer told me he'd heard about me on the radio. I hadn't been on the radio in almost 6 years! 2) There was a sharp and noticable increase in my business beginning the DAY after I began running local cable ads, yet almost NO ONE cited the cable ads as the reason they came in.

Just because no one cites the YP's as the ad that brought them in, doesn't mean it isn't a valueable tool. People may have seen your billboard, but could'nt remember the location or maybe even your exact name, so they pick up the YP's to see if they can get the rest of the info. If you aren't there--with a consistant look--you might miss an opportunity. What do they remember? The billboard. (Granted, a small presence in the YP's is probably enough.)

For these two months, I'm running alternating commercials on 2 cable companies (4 networks each), along with local paper ads (small ones) every Sun and Wed, a couple of days heavy ads on 2 radio stations (hitting hard on those 2 days, then a few follow up ads for the next week afterwards), also e- newsletters twice a month to our established customers. (This is in addition to my web-site, my regular print ads that I run in a couple of monthly periodicals, and the networking that I try to do continously, YP's, etc.)

This way, the customers will hopefully hear it a time or two on tv, then maybe see something I've framed at a fundraising auction, and then by the time they see the Sunday's ad, it actually registers.

All I know at this time is that it appears to be working. (I'm sure there will be fine-tuning in the future.) I hired an advertising agency to handle most of this a couple of months ago and I learned a couple of things:

Cable and Radio can be affordable and very effective if you front load the campaign. (Several times a day for a while and taper off down to just a couple of times every other day--people still think you are on there "all the time"), and also to "double team" ads. In other words, in a cable ad, mention to "look for our ad in Sunday's paper for more great gift selections", etc.

I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, or anything because I'm definately learning as I go! So far I'm very pleased, and it hasn't been as expensive as you might think. I laid out a rough budget for this idea at the beginning of the year, after last year's lack luster Christmas season. (I called up a friend--a jeweler--and asked how his advertising had paid off for him. I'd noticed he was doing inserts in the local paper EVERY week, plus some cable ads. That one hour brain storming session really gave me some things to think about and I knew this year would get a different treatment after that conversation.)

Sorry this is so long. This is one of those topics I can really get wound up about! ;)

[DTWDSM]

I think somebody said this before but it will depend on your market, what works for us may not work for you. Here is what we do in order of our measurable and/or perceived value:

1. ValPak
2. Direct Mail Postcards (Framing Sale 2x year)
3. Network TV
4. Cable TV
5. Customer Referalls
6. Entertainment Book
7. Customer Thank You Cards
8. Newspaper
9. Yellow Pages
10. Donations (Gift Certificates, Framed Art, ect)

After the top 4 they are all about the same, which is a small percentage. Things like TV, yellow pages ect can not accurately be measured so that is why I said perceived.

Most here will tell you that you should not use ValPak or any type of couponing. That is your decision to make and you have to look at your market when making that decision. I can tell you that over 75% of our Valpak customers are 1st time customers and the average sale is over the average sale without a coupon.

Good luck in whatever you do and remember that you can not judge any type of advertising by trying it once, you need to try it at least 3 times to get actual results.

[DTWDSM]

3 times does not mean run 3 commercials, that means run your commecials for at least 3 months, and be consistant with your message.

[Mike Labbe @ GTP]

AWG: I think YP advertising can really be money thrown away.
LESS: yellow page ad is a necessary evil I completely agree. We'll still be in the yellow pages next year (4 local books), but will be switching to a black & white(yellow) style. Ten years ago this was the only place to turn. People now look things up online, IMO, because its fresher and interactive.

The local big boxes don't have a YP picture ad with the framers. Maybe they're smarter than us?

LESS: 2. Articles written in newspapers about my business. I forgot this one. On 5/1/2002, a local community paper did a front page full color article welcoming our shop to the community. People STILL come in (a year and a half later!) and mention that article. That was so incredibly effective, and didn't cost a dime. Most papers will do this for new businesses free, if you ask. We have since sent press releases which were ignored. (FS membership, CPF certification, PPFA contest ribbon, etc).
I need to learn how to write effective press releases that get noticed - and used.

LESS: Somehow, I would think that website should not be #1. I would think that your advertising pointing to your web specials should be. How are new clients finding your website?

AWG: Mike: I'm curious, like Less, how you drive that much traffic to your website. We just tweaked ours (artist info, etc) but I don't thnk we drive nearly that much traffic from it. I may have to get a counter added so I can track visits.It's difficult to measure if they saw another ad first that referred them to the web. Our ads, outdoor signs, YP, and branding refer folks to visit the web. We track the referral source stats through the POS, and ask each new customer. The web page has its own set of stats, telling how how each customer found us. (what search engine, keywords used, their location, etc.) We use the free tool at www.extremetracking.com, (http://www.extremetracking.com,) if interested. The new customer percentage from the web is somewhere between 45-60%, which is amazing for something that costs so little.

Our web page isn't anything great, but it gets seen. With the web, it's all about search engine positioning. If they can't find you on a search, the campaign won't work. I spent a lot of time researching this and fine tuning the right combination of keywords, content, pages designed to catch specific search keywords, frequency of updates, and relevant reciprocal links - and it has been a success so far. While we've been in the top 5 for just over a year, that could change at the drop of a hat. The search engines are always changing their formulas, and there's a fair amount of work involved to stay on top of it. The search engines seem to like FRESH content, which means making slight changes at least once per week.

AWG: You have an incredibly nice site (much nicer than ours!), which is designed entirely in FLASH. For it to be ranked high on the search engines, it must also include some "text" outside of the flash window. The search engines index based on the (non flash) text on the page, and this is one of the main factors considered for ranking. They also give high value to the TITLE of the page. One way to get a higher ranking might be to consider including a paragraph below the flash window that tells what you do and includes keywords people might use to find your page. Try to include some of these in the TITLE as well, and you'll do well. Be patient though, it can take up to 2 months for the search engines to notice and adjust. If you want details, don't hesitate to email.

We attended a presentation by Rob Markoff recently at the NE PPFA meeting, where he gave some GREAT information about marketing your business and how to present it to customers. (window decorations, store merchandising, gift items, corporate image, having a cmc, etc) To my surprise, the web wasn't mentioned at all - and this still seems to be a weak point for the industry. I'm not saying this is the best or only form of advertising, but feel it is worth serious consideration to reach the 20-30 something generation.

I think advertising results will greatly vary depending on the local demographics, competition, branding, and ad content. The few responses to this thread are a good indicator of this. (some rank YP/WEB/VALPAK first or last, opposite of others)

This thread brings up many interest questions, and hopefully some of the industry leaders will jump in with their input, and more folks will share their results.

What works for you? What factors are important? How can we improve?

Love this thread smile.gif

Mike

[ 11-20-2003, 10:42 AM: Message edited by: Mike-L@GTP ]

[Pat Murphey]

Mike,

Send your press release enclosed with your advertising payment check. Local papers are all the same.

Pat :D

[Barb Pelton]

Mike-
thanks so much for the extreme tracking link. I need to get more info as to how the website is preforming.

DTWDSM-I'm very interested in what you have said about the Val Pak. We're doing something similar that will mail out Dec 30, (28,000 households) and it will feature several businesses in our strip mall. I'm trying to get everyone to pitch in for a couple of weeks of cable ads where we each add at the end of our ads "And look for the upcoming brochure arriving in your mailboxes the first of January" and then tying in some sort of incentive--either a free inspection of framed artwork or a free print when you purchase the framing--that's been very good for us in the past and I need to whittle down some print inventory. I'll let you all know if we get a return. I think it has possibilities if done right.

I love this thread! Wish I'd read some of this about 4 years ago.

[Reynard]

interesting stuff here.I don,t think I have seen a lot of return on ANY of the money I have spent on advertising.I am going to cut right back on it next year as I feel it has been a bit of a waste so far although I did have to try it out I guess.I actually don,t like the way people pick out the shop in the yellow pages or whatever and then ask me for a random price on something.I very rarely ever see these people come into the shop.

My best form of advertising has been word of mouth.You cannot beat the fact that someone else has recommended you.

I havent tried advertising by local radio and I don,t think I will bother to be honest it just won,t work for the type of business I am.I might try an advert in one of the artists magazines as I may get some return from that.

[JPete]

Word of Mouth.

Image ads, just keep your name visible.

Many years of building a reputation.

In early years we did presentations for organizations. We still do if requested.

A kind word and a small discount or gift when that good customer least expects it.

We have a web page which is just image, but we do get e-mails in batches sometimes.

Using the internet to look up information for a customer is done a few times a month. A recent look up turned an order into not wanting to spend much to better framing on two things.

[ 11-20-2003, 07:49 PM: Message edited by: JPete ]

[AWG]

This is DEFINITELY a great thread. Lots of great ideas floating around here....

Mike: thanks for the kind words about our site. I'll take your advice and get with my web guy about some additional changes to pick up some more traffic. I'd like to see your latest newsletter if you've got spare copies floating around.

Barb: WOW! It sounds like you're doing LOTS of advertising. Care to share what kind of budget you're working with? Did the ad agency help with concepts, images, or branding?? Can you get a better price on your media buy going through an agency? Right now we do most of the design and buying ourselves. Lotsa work -- maybe I should give it to the pros. :rolleyes:

I think THE key to successful advertising (duh) is constant, consistent exposure. Everything we put out (vehicle, newsletter, newspaper ads, postcards, etc) features our logo, tag line (Charlotte's Innovative Framing Studio), and PPFA logo. Eventually they'll see the apple tree and think Applewood (kinda like Nike's swoosh :D ) :cool:

[ 11-20-2003, 09:31 PM: Message edited by: AWG ]

[B. Newman]

I do very little advertising, but I market continually. I do have the "in-line box ads" in the yellowpages, but for framing, they bring in very little. The greatest majority of my customers are repeat customers. Now, they may not be repeat framing customers, but they come from people that I have done other things for, then they become repeat framing customers.

The main thing that I do is keep my name in front of my customer list. I send thank you cards with ppd reply cards asking if they want to receive my mail and/or e-mail newsletter. I frame newspaper articles.

I talk about framing everywhere I go. If I'm in a group, I make sure the conversation eventually gets around to me asking "Are you originally from this area? What do you do?" And of course, then comes, "and what do YOU do?" So I tell them.

I probably give out way more brochures and business cards in a month than most framers, because I carry them all the time. Never assume that people know what you do. Recently I was in the local "hamburger joint" (having comfort food) for lunch. A teacher friend of mine came in. I would have sworn that he knew what I did. He commented on my choice of reading material, and I said jokingly, "yeah, my boss let me go out for lunch today." He said, "Oh, where do you work?" Out whips a brochure.... smile.gif

I always ask how a new customer heard of us and a great number of them say I saw your name/got your card/was told about you, etc, but then they add, "then I looked at your website before I called." Now, I'll be the first to admit that our site needs a LOT of work, but it is an online presence, AND (I think I've mentioned this before) last year it brought in 30% of our caning supplies sales from out of state. It is a proven entity. I already know that when I am able to give it the kind of attention it needs, then sales will go up accordingly.

Everything you do creates YOU. It creates your brand. I really don't think we can judge any one thing we do by the number of "specific" customers it brings in. Everything works together. Lots of small things in a lot of areas beats "splash and dash" any day! (I love Barb's marketing plan!)

Betty

[Barb Pelton]

Kassandra and Tony-
It's a long story, but I'll try to be brief.
4th qrt ad budget=$1500. (What I started with). The marketing director at the city cable did a very good job of selling me. I told him my entire budget was 1500, and he came back with 1500 worth of cable ads, but he "guarateed" I'd see an increase in the first month of this campaign or I could cancel the rest of the contract. (Pretty good deal)

We DID get immediate response off of the ads, so I thought I'd just increase my ad money from the profits. The marketing director quit the cable company and started his own ad agency. I was his first client, and he was hungry and needed to make a "winner" out of me in order to attract new clients. I thought what an opportunity for a win-win situation.

We work on ads together and I've learned alot from him. I feel I'm pretty good at newspaper
ads but he's definately better at the cable ads. The production team he's contracted for my commercials are terrific--much better than what I had when I tried cable a few years ago. (Which had NO response for me, btw). I've had 4 other business owners call me to find out "Who is doing your commercials?".

I pay the same--he negotiates his commission
on the other end, so for the same price I get expert advice and he handles all the scheduling, the running around, etc, and he moniters the commercials to make sure I'm getting the schedule I've bought, plus that they're aired during good spots and the quality is what it should be.

The other added bonus is that he polls everyone he talks to about his clients, (feed-back on their impression of the ads, whether they're being seen, etc) and since he's a long standing customer himself, he's sort of like an additional sales person among the community.

Total ad budget now for 4th qrt: $3,200.
Some of that was "invested" in the production of the commercials that can be reused. Business has increased significantly since the cable ads started, so it's paid off.

We're working on some things for after Christmas that will be interesting to see what results we get. We's co-ordinating some promos among myself and neighbors in the strip that I think will benefit us all and we'll share in the costs.

[gemsmom]

For the last three years, I have been marketing myself, not the store, with very good results. My ads feature a photo of me, along with whatever it is I am promoting at the time-CPF framer, competition win, framing diplomas, etc. These ads defintely get noticed. I think it is important to advertise. People do not need our product all the time, but I want them to think of me when they do. A by-product of my ads is people are starting to think I am the "area expert". I get calls from people asking advice, which is okay by me. They might not need something now, but hopefully, by being helpful, they will come to see me when they do need something done. I have people come in and ask if I am the one they see in the paper all the time.

Next year is my 20th anniversary. I am already planning the press release, and I am hoping to get the paper to have a photo accompany it. I have already mentioned to the papers I deal with that I expect an article, and word so far is, I will get it. (It helps to be a regular customer).

Funny thing about YP ads. I went from a good sized ad to a box this year. Lately, I have had a number of people tell me that is where they found me. Maybe smaller is better.

I think I were opening a new business, I might do some advanced marketing, like joining the local Chapter. It can't hurt to think of ways to get your name around well in advance of opening your doors.

Business cards are helpful, and you might want to be sure your employees carry some (if you have any, that is).

[Mike Labbe @ GTP]

Did anyone else see today's Decor E-Tips e-newsletter results? They did a similar survey to THIS ONE (http://thegrumble.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=14;t=000084#000005) and it also ranked advertising success as we have in this thread. Like the poll here on the Grumble, it only represents about 200 framers so it may or may not have any useful meaning. Here is what their results were:

1 Referal from other customer 173 86.50%
2 Walkins or customers who see your store while in the area 98 49.00%
3 Yellow page advertisement 69 34.50%
4 Direct mail letter/postcard from your company 64 32.00%
5 Advertisements in newspapers 42 21.00%
6 Other 38 19.00%
7 Your Web site 34 17.00%
8 I'm not sure 9 4.50%
9 Advertisements on the radio 7 3.50%
10 I do not track such information regularly. 4 2.00%

The survey goes on to say that only 54% of those who participated have a web page, 71% track names/addresses, and 54% track email addresses.

Decor E-Tips is available at www.decormagazine.com, (http://www.decormagazine.com,) and goes into more detail.

[tnframer408]

Brother Tim long ago talked me into cable TV. No regrets whatsoever; three times per week, add weekends for a total of five times per week, and just as religiously as church on Sunday.

Next best is direct mail, direct mail, direct mail. My own, plus three pieces from three LE publishers. Have tiered my customers so everyone gets my postcard, then higher tiers get the more expensive publishers' direct mail pieces.

Also good stuff coming out of website.

Unlike Tim, however, I think ValPak and those ilk are money thrown away. tried it for a few years and just didn't work. then again, our market is not known for that type thing. Iunderstand other geographies do well.

Finally we do a free school coupon book; that is, our ad is free and the book is bought by schoolkids and their parents/friends/relatives. It's a fight each year to get inot it===too manybusinesses and not enough pages--but usually we're there If we aren't there (and we know a few months in advance) then we up our direcdt mail for that particular year.

Yeah, it gets expensive. But returns are good and we don't gripe

Stuff that didn'w work for us: Yellow Pages (A real waste of money) newspaper (except for TINY ads in our artsy newspaper that's a weekly) and any generally published newspaper/newsletter geared to people that don't care about art.

[Roxanne Langley]

Everyones response has been so great to read that I've printed it out and am sitting down with it when I start thinking about next year myself.

But, the things that have worked and not worked for me goes along very closely with everyone else.
My direct mail (quarterly newsletter) has been the best. Just recently has my leads from a trade organization started working after almost 2 years. I redesigned the mailer this past summer and so far the response has been, "we were so impressed with the creativity of the mailer that we figured the framing had to be as creative." It was something that I stepped out of the box and mailed out and so far it seems to be working. Now if I just had time to make about 100 or so of these a month at least.

The yellow pages have been knocked down to listings only, sometimes if the book offers it, then I make the listing in red (not a big cost difference). Newspaper ads, so much money has been wasted on this avenue I hate to think about how much. The press releases are a different animal and it seems I've hit or miss on them. Recently I took an afternoon seminar with my local Chamber and learned how to write better releases, so we'll see how that works.

Even though I'm bad about not following through with it, I have to get myself on a schedule of advertising/marketing for next year. Other than the newsletter it seems that I do things more sporatic which isn't good. From what I have read and seen, getting a plan together may be the key for all of us.

Well, thanks for such an interesting topic as usual.

Roxanne

Langley House Gallery
(where it's to be 80 degrees today and 35 tomorrow night, Houston weather!!!!) :confused:

[Emibub]

I've had to use the cheapest form of advertising available to me which would be ValPak, Money Mailer, and Pocket coupons. I just dumped Money Mailer because they have an unethical snakelike rep although their coupons always did well for me. I do get response on them. Not all the people who come in clutching a coupon are looking for bottom dollar prices. All are looking for a good value, perceived or otherwise. Some are simply discovering they have a frameshop in their neighborhood so the coupon is the equivelent of leaving bread crumbs to my front door. I'll take the bottom feeders and price shoppers also. Their money spends just as well.

I have mailed out postcards to existing customers which always gets a good response. Handwritten thank yous also get a good response, just reminding them I am still here.

My new sign that say's "FRAMING" is what I am most excited about. It has been up a couple of months so who knows if it is working but I have gotten more than usual new people in who are not clutching a coupon in their hands. I have also had several people remark how nice it is a frame shop FINALLY opened up in the neighborhood, even though it has been here for 11 years. So, although intangible to count, I have high hopes over time the new sign will establish me.

I hope as time goes along I can get into more sophisticated advertising and give up the discounts and get into solo direct mailings but right now I am using what is available to me with my budget.

Great ideas here though.

[Less]

Less:
What are you getting out of networking groups? I'm curious because I just joined one and it seems like it will help.
Tony,

Frankly, I get jobs to do. In one of my networking groups, I would say about 30% of 35 people use me.

Not everyone uses me, but I'm sure many of them don't really use custom framers, or perhaps they have always used someone else. This is fine with me, as I do not use several of the other members' services either.

It more than pays the dues and those people in turn introduce me to their friends. I just had one of the most respected members (in the group and the community) bring a client to my recent art show. She bought a painting. He has purchased several paintings from me and is a great framing customer as well. It is well worth the time.

I also belong to another local business group and the local Chamber of Commerce. I am not as active as I need to be with these groups, but I don't believe there is a better way of marketing than networking by getting out there and shaking some hands. It has also been a great exercise for an otherwise introvert.

[Barb Pelton]

Originally posted by lessafinger:

but I don't believe there is a better way of marketing than networking by getting out there and shaking some hands. It has also been a great exercise for an otherwise introvert. Amen to that! I think that the fact that most of us ARE introverts is one reason our industry is suffering as much as it is. We all need to be out there on an individual basis speaking, networking, in the public eye as much as possible. It's good for our industry and it's good business.

I know I've mentioned this book about 7 or 8 times already, but Seth Godin's "The Purple Cow" had such an interesting perspective on consumer habits that keeps coming back to me. (I DID read more than one marketing book this year, but I seem to keep thinking about this one).

Basically he says that there are certain people who love to "be in the know" and to always be the first one on the block (so to speak) to have the newest...whatever. He calls them "sneezers" because the LOVE to tell everyone they know about the newest greatest "whatever" they have "discovered" of purchased. The trick is to identify those people and market to them and let them spread the "virus" for you.

Now we all agree that work of mouth is the best advertising. However, most people just don't start talking about the framing they had done in the routine conversations. With that in mind, we can either create a situation where people are asking their friends for an opinion (they saw an ad and are wondering just what kind of quality and service they can really expect from you) OR you can identify the sneezers and really try to be unique enough that you'll attract their attention.

I think it's a good idea to do both and then some more. ;)

[AWG]

Barb - thanks for the insight on the benefits of working with an agency. It sounds like I need to hunt around for an ad agency to work with before we shell out the big $$$ for a TV campaign. Our print stuff is good and consistent, but the money involved in TV means we've got ot do it right.

Thanks again,

Tony

[Framerguy]

Tony,

A word of advice, don't sign up for an annual package with cable unless you have no choice in the matter to get the very best rates. I did that and cable has proven to be the very worst advertising media of any I am using down here! Up North it was the very best so I just assumed that it would also be the way to go down here in FWB.

Now I am locked in for a year and have to pay a hefty penalty to get out of the contract if I choose to. I recently moved my TV advertising over to the East of my shop to try to attract new business out of the Destin/Sandestin area. I am hoping that this will pay off for me since the last 4 months of TV advertising locally have paid off in virtually zero new business! And you can choose which channels to advertise on so ask for age, gender, and income demographics before deciding on which channels to put your money into.

I wish you good luck with your campaign.

Framerguy

P.S. Not going to make it to Vegas this winter. Sorry, I would have enjoyed hanging out with you and Kassandra.

[Jim A]

Just want to thank everyone for their feedback, I greatly appreciate it.

[DTWDSM]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Emibub:
[QB] I've had to use the cheapest form of advertising available to me which would be ValPak, Money Mailer, and Pocket coupons. I just dumped Money Mailer because they have an unethical snakelike rep although their coupons always did well for me. I do get response on them. Not all the people who come in clutching a coupon are looking for bottom dollar prices. All are looking for a good value, perceived or otherwise. Some are simply discovering they have a frameshop in their neighborhood so the coupon is the equivelent of leaving bread crumbs to my front door.


My question to you is why drop a form of advertising that is working well for you? The rep is a snake...So what? He's making you money isn't he/she?. I don't like all of my reps but if I can make money from their product then I will use them. The bad ones will always go away and be replaced.

Using coupons like Val Pak, Money Mailer ect will be successfiul for some and not for others, you have to experiment and do some research. Look to see where your customers are coming from already if you want to experiment with offers. Look at demographics of the area before sending to them, are those people your target customer?

Here's another question for you...Who is your target customer? Age, sex, income, marital status, working or non working, home owner? If you don't know this information then you are wasting time with your advertising. You have to make sure that your target customer gets to see your advertising and see it often, otherwise you are wasting your money, you might as well hire a sky writer.....nobody has mentioned that one yet smile.gif

One of the keys to advertising is to determine your target customer, and your secondary target customer and use a medium that will hit both types of customers. Try to get as much crossover as you can. Be consistant in your message and make a commitment to whatever form of advertising that you decide to use. Twelve years ago when we tried ValPak we were not as successful as we wanted to be but, we sent out to a couple zip codes and experimented with offers. Now we know what zip codes respond to what offers during what months. Our rep will meet woith us this week and will TAKE our order for next year, he won't try to sell us anything, he knows better.

[Emibub]

Originally posted by DTWDSM:

My question to you is why drop a form of advertising that is working well for you? The rep is a snake...So what? He's making you money isn't he/she?. It really wasn't pertinent to the conversation so I shouldn't have even brought it up Tim. But since you asked...............If somebody is dishonest and tries to take advantage of me I have a hard time substantiating giving them my money. It is a principles thing. I suppose my decision was an emotional one but I can't deal with someone who is unethical.......