Advertising in church bulletins

**Bugman** · 06-23-2009 01:12 PM

I am thinking about taking out an ad or two in church bulletins where they have all the sponsors on the back. I'm trying to find out if this is generally a good advertising media or just a waste of time/donation. I'm sure some people would patronize the sponsors but definitely not everyone.

Has anyone tried this before, particularly with a local service business?

Please note that there are two parts to the poll, you can answer in terms of dollars or call volume. The latter is probably the best. I wanted to give it the option to pick 2 but didn't figure it out.

**BALLERMODE** · 06-23-2009 01:25 PM

Just a guess, you're an exterminator? I've never advertised in a church bulletin, but am curious to know what the rates are like?

**Bugman** · 06-23-2009 01:31 PM

Yes, I'm an exterminator. I wish I hadn't messed the poll up, but I guess either one is fine, though I would have preferred to give everyone two options. I came and posted this here because there is almost no information about it at all online. The yellow pages have their stats, like 4x the return on investment and others have theirs, some you have to guess or make adjustments, but at least there is a base figure to work with. Door hangers I'd say run .5%, but likely around .02% for pest control.

Oh, and I meant the figures based on one ad in one bulletin.

**BALLERMODE** · 06-23-2009 01:39 PM

Still wondering what the rates are.

**Bugman** · 06-23-2009 01:45 PM

You'll have to be patient. Free, pertinent information like this is worth it. Internet polls usually take an hour to get many responses at all, and a technical one might not get any hits for 24 hours. This one might not get many responses at all due to its limited nature.

The internet is great! Even 10 years ago it wouldn't be possible to share thoughts on a topic like this without a great deal of effort. Now it's just so easy.

**BALLERMODE** · 06-23-2009 01:59 PM

Oh, ok. I thought you would have found out rates before posting.

**Bugman** · 06-23-2009 02:07 PM

Oh, you mean the advertising rates? I was thinking conversion rates, like return on investment kind of thing.

It's about $8/wk for the small ad up to $16-18 for the big one. They wanted 1 year agreement and gave 5% discount for year in advance.

Sorry, sometimes I'm thick headed.

**BALLERMODE** · 06-23-2009 02:14 PM

Depending on the size of your church and your profit margin per service call, I'd say $395/year is really cheap.

**Bugman** · 06-23-2009 02:25 PM

Originally Posted by BALLERMODE

Depending on the size of your church and your profit margin per service call, I'd say $395/year is really cheap.

Generally, it's around 1500-2000 households which means maybe 1000 "purchasers" per week. $400-$850/yr might sound cheap but if you were taking a match to 4 $100 bills you wouldn't think it was any fun at all. I've seen advertising dollars go up in smoke and I don't care to repeat the experience. I bought a cheap yellow page ad for $750 once because I didn't want a bigger one and got an ad on the radio during local school sports events for $300, both with a 0 response rate. I've had other failures, too. I don't like to repeat mistakes and prefer to avoid them if at all possible. If others have done this and it was a monumental mistake I'd like to know. I'm sure for some venues, like funeral homes because they are always in there, it's perfect.

I wish I still had that money.

**jonathanfigaro** · 06-23-2009 04:05 PM

I think it depends on the relevance of your information to the people at the church.

**Bugman** · 06-23-2009 05:12 PM

I think it's probable a matter of being memorable. If they need a bugman and then remember that there's a guy in the church bulletin they should call. So the trick is making them remember you're there with a catchy line or slogan.

hmm, I was hoping for a few more votes than 2.

**myfayt** · 06-23-2009 06:54 PM

Originally Posted by Bugman

Yes, I'm an exterminator. I wish I hadn't messed the poll up, but I guess either one is fine, though I would have preferred to give everyone two options. I came and posted this here because there is almost no information about it at all online. The yellow pages have their stats, like 4x the return on investment and others have theirs, some you have to guess or make adjustments, but at least there is a base figure to work with. Door hangers I'd say run .5%, but likely around .02% for pest control.

Oh, and I meant the figures based on one ad in one bulletin.

Yellowpages lie about their stats.

**Bugman** · 06-23-2009 11:00 PM

Yes they do. But the 4x return is a pretty reliable figure, assuming you take out a competitive ad.

**2heaven** · 06-23-2009 11:02 PM

it did not help me, ( they found out i was jewish)

**Bugman** · 06-24-2009 12:16 AM

Hmm, yes I had thought that might be a problem with a different religion than your own, particularly if it is a small church or one that meets several days per week and possibly all day on Sunday, like some do.