Advertising

[Magellan498]

Hey you detailing business owners out there,

What are your main methods of advertising? I have heard recently of the idea of calling people in the classified section of the paper among other things. I was thinking, has anyone made good on the movie theaters? In AMC and Cinemark theaters here, they always show business ads before the movies along with one slide saying to call to advertise. Has anyone tried this? Well, any ideas are welcome. I was kinda shooting for a "compendium of knowlege" sort of thread. Share all



Miguel

[Scottwax]

I haven`t advertised (other than a sign on my car and a listing in the Yellow Pages) since 1996, so I am not up on what may be working now, but I used to blanket nice neighborhoods with flyers.



I rely on repeat business and referrals now. Only 6% of my business is cold calls from the yellow pages...and I am usually booked up a week in advance. Once you get known and have a good reputation, your customers will do your advertising for you.

[dr427]

Originally posted by Magellan498

I was thinking, has anyone made good on the movie theaters? In AMC and Cinemark theaters here, they always show business ads before the movies along with one slide saying to call to advertise.

Miguel

I think that is a great idea!:xyxthumbs

I too have thought of that. What exposure! Never looked into it though.:nixweiss

[Scottwax]

Originally posted by dr427

I think that is a great idea!:xyxthumbs

I too have thought of that. What exposure! Never looked into it though.:nixweiss

Two things--



1. It is likely to be pretty expensive

2. Name the last company whose ad you saw at the theater. I can`t remember a single one. I just don`t think they are that effective, especially since most people don`t bring a pen and paper to the theater to write down contact information from the ads they see prior to the movie.

[Turbonator]

i`m right there with scottwax. i used to pass out flyers in upscale neighborhoods and have magnetic signs on my truck. also like scottwax i get most of my business from repeat customers and word of mouth from those customers. i`ve looked into the movie theater thing, but they, like the local radio stations wanted $800 - $1000 per month for a min. of 3 months. that`s a little to pricey for me. currently i am looking into running a commercial(30sec.) on cable tv. no one else in my area does a commercial for detailing services.:xyxthumbs

[Magellan498]

Wow, I didn`t know that movie theaters and radio stations charge that much...

[Thomasfl]

One thing I have found with movie theater advertising is that the best way to be succesful is to follow up the add with some paper. In other words if your ad is playing have someone there handing out flyers at the end of the movie. To me it seems this sort of advertising would be for a very well funded high traffic detailing service.



We all know that referrals and word of mouch is the best way to get clients. An idea I have is to find some younger kids who want to make money give them some fliers and a little background on your services and detailling. Offer them 10% of all business they get for you, first time only. Most likely they can get you clients very fast, like relatives, neighbors, teachers, etc. These clients can become repeat clients.