Indirect Advertising

[SteveG]

New here and just thought I would post something that had happened to me years ago. I had a small interiors store, mainly flooring, and window coverings. We were pretty successful at about $1.3 million per year. My advertising budget was small at about $1,000 per month. I did the bulk of my advertising cold calling on developers, property management and other commercial clients. One of our sub contractors was a wall paper remover. She asked if I would run an ad for her in the penny saver and answer the phone in my office, in return she would refer us for wall paper sales. I agreed. The add cost about $30.00 per month I believe. Little did I know this ad would turn out to be the most successful ad I had ever run - it got me in the door at just the right time to sell furniture, carpet, wallpaper, paint, drapery etc. I think we averaged about $200,000 a year in business from an ad that cost me about $360.00 per year. I always think of this ad whenever I am formulating a marketing or advertising plan. Botttom line is meeting the customer at the right time, before they have already made too many contacts with competitors. Whatever your product is, there is a good chance you may be able to apply this same logic.

Steve

[pacificfame]

That's a great story. What I have against advertising in these money savers and monthly publications is, what is your ROI?

I've asked many business owners who pay $1,000+ in a local money savers publication what their return was? They don't know!

It is hard to measure your return. I call this Pay and Pray advertising. Works for some. Others it doesn't. The sad thing is these business owners will continue to just pay the money monthly and they don't even know the return. They are just paying and praying monthly.

[Pwc585]

That's a great story. What I have against advertising in these money savers and monthly publications is, what is your ROI?

I've asked many business owners who pay $1,000+ in a local money savers publication what their return was? They don't know!

It is hard to measure your return. I call this Pay and Pray advertising. Works for some. Others it doesn't. The sad thing is these business owners will continue to just pay the money monthly and they don't even know the return. They are just paying and praying monthly.

true indeed, i thought the same way and i always figured it was becuase of my lack of knoweledgein the business industry.,,. great story tho

[TaraYE]

Hi Steve - It sounds like that ad was definitely a great move for you! When considering placing an ad like that, I think others should think about who their target audience is and whether or not they are likely to reach them with the publication, media outlet, etc. Talking to the other advertisers to determine the success of their ad can also be helpful.

Thanks for sharing your story!

Tara

[SteveG]

Pwc, we did track our ROI reports as much as possible. In my particular business yellow page returns were so low they were not worth tracking. For the most part flyers going into specificaly targeted neighborhoods or industries were the most effective for me. I think over the long haul we figured about an 800% return on investment. Bulk mailers were profitable and we figured about 200.00 per month on these, I don't remember the return on these but I remember it didn't excite me. Steve