Advertising

[Davejochow]

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Hi everyone,

I just want to know if anyone thinks advertising is a waste of time? I get my customers through google search and references from other people, but pretty much the $3000 i have spent on marketing has really gotten me any good customers. I find if I get on Facebook, I tend to get the lower socio group, that want to hire my things to save costs which i dont do dry hire, as people ruin my things. Not that thats bad but the majority of my customers are in the middle socio group. I went to an expo, and that was a bit of a waste of time, as the people tended to be really young and had no concept of cost. But if people contact me directly I have a very high follow through rate. If I use google adwords, people contact me about something that is not related to my business. I do lighting for events and weddings. Please feel free to look at my pics on my profile page for suggestions. Thanks

[Adam Hodgson]

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Hi,
Advertising can be a waste if it is not targeted effectively. If you are already getting your customers through Google search, then Google Adwords and paid Bing Ads may also be valuable for your corporate events market. The wording of your ads and the targeting may get people contacting you for the wrong things. Consider reviewing and updating those.

[Dave Gillen – Former FS Concierge]

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Hi Dave,

Your advertising might have been unprofitable, but not a waste of time.

You’ve learnt a lot about your market and ideal customers, and where they don’t hang out. The trial and error approach to different advertising channels may be disheartening, but think of yourself as a gold miner looking for that seam of gold. If you can find one channel that works, it could be a channel that you can really double down on to grow your business.

So I’d keep testing different approaches with small amounts of money until you find that sweet spot.

Good luck!

Dave

Dave Gillen | LinkedIn

[Danielle Murdoch]

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FS Forum Support, post: 211806 wrote:

Hi Dave,

Your advertising might have been unprofitable, but not a waste of time.

You’ve learnt a lot about your market and ideal customers, and where they don’t hang out. The trial and error approach to different advertising channels may be disheartening, but think of yourself as a gold miner looking for that seam of gold. If you can find one channel that works, it could be a channel that you can really double down on to grow your business.

So I’d keep testing different approaches with small amounts of money until you find that sweet spot.

Good luck!

Dave

Hi Dave,

Dave is 100% correct, you need to keep trying different things and learning about your customers and where they come from. Then apply what you have learn to your next round of advertising.

Advertising isnt a once off trick which you can keep on applying – your company grows and develops, why should you expect your potential customers to stay the same?

Best of luck!
Danielle

[PRO]

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I use

Direct Mail to potential customers
Direct Mail to potential referrers

Radio Advertising

Adwords

And continue to spend more and more on this as we track every lead and new client. Trial different things and if they don’t work we ditch them. Adwords this week has been my most expensive ever spend but have nearly hit 10x revenue v spend.

Things that haven’t worked for me

Newspapers

Magazines

Facebook

Linked in

The problem is with some of the mediums though is that you need to spend a lot to try them out and when you are starting out and can be either impossible or just hurt too much if it doesn’t work. Radio ads are a great example. If you haven’t got around $5k a month then you can’t get a decent run on even the cheapest of commercial stations (not community stations). Advertising on a top FM station in Brisbane is about $15k a month for a decent run.

Adwords is great but you need to get it targeted and make sure you have plenty of negative key words. You can start smallish with a budget on these, aim to come in around 3rd place (top of the right column ads) and they can be affordable. But you might need to start with long chain key phrases as broad ones can be dear. At peak times I can have to pay $27 a click for Conveyancing Brisbane and even now at the quieter time of year still have to pay $15-$20 a click.

Advertising to me is not an expense when it is tracked and you can show that it delivers a positive return (as in your PROFIT exceeds the spend by a significant enough amount to make the time and hassle of advertising worth it). I am a huge believer in setting yourself monthly budgets with advertising and marketing as a percentage of your turnover (what that percentage may be varies greatly between industries and what you want to achieve). Early on the percentage should be much higher than it is later to help you grow (assuming you can still afford to eat). But as you grow you need to keep a decent percentage and keep spending it.

[Dave Gillen – Former FS Concierge]

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What a generous post Darryl!

And well done on your Adwords – regardless of what you pay per click, swapping $1 for $10 can only be considered a bargain.

Your experience gives a great insight into the kind of approach it takes to uncover these highly profitable channels. I think many business owners try one channel and get discouraged because they didn’t hit the jackpot first go.

Have a good weekend.

Dave

Dave Gillen | LinkedIn

[King Creative]

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Hi Dave,

Have you worked out exactly who your target market is? Instead of thinking your customer is everyone who is running an event you could go a bit deeper and discover that your core market is actually wedding planners or event planners. Once you know who your target market is you can tailor your advertising accordingly. Find out what websites, magazines or social media they read/visit regularly and start advertising on those platforms.

Good luck!

Amber

[Davejochow]

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Thanks you guys. My target market is more specifically middle income. Anyone over 25, women holding Christmas parties, weddings, engagments, or any party held outside that needs light.

[King Creative]

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Hi Dave,

My suggestion would be to find out the types of magazines, websites and social media that target market frequent most often and start advertising or marketing on those publications/sites.

[thekindconsultant]

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Thanks you guys. My target market is more specifically middle income. Anyone over 25, women holding Christmas parties, weddings, engagements, or any party held outside that needs light.

Target narrower. Sure, you ought not turn away business from any of those people, but focus your marketing on a narrower view of it. Do your market research – discover where the demand is, where there is less competition, where your product is differentiated the most. Carve out a niche and specialise in it.

As for promotion:

1. Perform an on-page SEO analysis of your website. I just had a look around and while you’re ranking well for a handful of keywords, your page is not optimised so you’re likely to be missing out on opportunities.

2. Find other businesses in your space and form relationships with them. Say you choose to target wedding receptions in Parramatta. What other businesses are servicing those weddings? There’d be planners, caterers, cake makers, venues, photographers, etc. Approach these businesses and build a relationship. You may get referrals and at the very least, ask for a backlink.

If you want to chat further feel free to email me – see my website in my signature.

[Author]

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