Marketing...what would you do?

S

Secret Chimp

New member
I have a few hundred to market with this month. I can spend it on one of three things...

A. Direct mailing of 1000 4x6 cards I have.
B. 4 weeks of newsprint ads in a neighborhood paper that is sent to 20,000 households.
C. Rent a table at a local business event that will draw about 10k people who are seeking to learn about local businesses and services.

All three work out to about the same amount of cash outlay. One gives my business name a wide exposure. One gives me focused targeting of my business service information. One gives me face to face contact with potential customers in my neighborhood.

Which would you choose to spend your ad money on and why?

SC~
 
I like the face to face option. It gives you the chance to educate potential clients. You can pass out a tone of price list and cards. Heck you could even have people book there service on the spot and If they do take 10 bucks off your full service package.
 
Well, it depends on if you are doing this full time or not. I'm just a part time detailer so I can't really afford to advertise. I've got the money to do it, I just couldn't handle the volume of business that it might create. I can only do half a dozen cars a week and advertising might just bring in more requests than I can fill.

However, if I were doing this full time then I would invest my advertising dollars in 'location advertising'. What I mean by that is hanging ads in movie theaters and grocery stores and gas stations and everywhere else I think people might stop and take a look at it. I would use my advertising dollars to lease whatever amount of space on a wall that I need to lease to put my information out there. With your options that you listed then I would have to go with the newspaper ads. You might want to look into radio ads too. Many times the DJs are the ones who are the voices on the ads, so you wouldn't even need to hire any talent. Radio advertising on a popular station that your demographic will listen to is a good way to get the word out. You might also want to look into sponsoring a local car show. That will get your name out there to a lot of people who love clean cars. I don't know what the cost is to sponsor something like that, but I know that everytime I have been able to get the word out about my business at a car show it has been very profitable for me.
 
I like option B neighborhood paper. Does any detailers advertise in there now? If not you 'll be recognized as the detailer servicing the area..maybe advertise a free wash coupon after getting a full detail . That way get them into the habit of having you come out to take care of them. Plus after a full detail a wash will be a cinch and keep the client happy..
 
I am a full time detailer.

Ok, so these are some good ideas.

The radio ad idea could be good. But radio ads reach an audience that is 99% outside my service area. I would have to field dozens of calls per day that would end with, "Sorry, I don't service that town". And since advert prices are based upon the number of ears and eyes it reaches, I would be paying dearly to reach people who aren't my customers. This would have to wait until I have a staff to service neighboring towns.

Movie theater ads are not cheap. I thought about having ads at the local theater because of the focus that type of advert gives. Only locals go to local theaters. That means the movie goers likely live within my service area. But are the people who go to see movies this time of year in my core demographic as a high end mobile detailer? I don't know. I thought movie goers were mostly in the 14-30 demo. That is certainly not my core demo (females 30-60yrs) And I don't want to spend the cash until I do know.

I spoke to a guy in my neighborhood last night about these 3 marketing approaches. He has an MBA and is retired at 40yrs old.....

Heres what he said.

Newspaper print ads and post card mailings have a similar view/booked service ratios to telemarketers. Less than 1%. Thats not so good....

Face to face marketing where you can talk directly to your potential customers gets you a much better results. Almost 10%.

I believe I am going to sign up for the business event. I think I'll put together a drawing for a free detail or two, and some car washes. I'll offer 10% off the price for appointments booked at the event.

SC~
 
I have saturated my market with advertising and here's what I found.

Chamber of Commerce:
A inexpensive way to reach people who conduct their own businesses in the area and like to keep the money in the community. One must be active in the commerce to make the contacts but for about $150 per year, you'll get a free listing on their website and will get referrals from people within the chamber.
Pros:
Inexpensive and shows professionalism
Cons:
Must dedicate time to be involved with other members on an ongoing basis to ensure success

Flyers:
A inexpensive way to reach people in a certain geographic area. One can target certain areas where income will warrant people who want detailing.
Pros:
Inexpensive, if not mailed, but rather hand delivered.
Cons:
Many potential customers look at flyers as junk mail and will throw away your flyer without even looking at it.

Newspaper Ad:
A moderately expensive way to reach large groups of people in a certain area. This form of advertising blankets entire areas with your services offered.
Pros:
If used on a very consistent basis, this form of advertising gets your company recognized as a successful business that people will become familiar with.
Cons:
Can become expensive. Running the ad only a few times a year will not give you a good return. Keeping the ad running weekly, or at the minimum, bi-weekly, will have more more impact than just running the add here and there.

Phone Book:
This form of advertising will give you the biggest bang for your buck, but it will not be inexpensive, especially for an ad that will have some kind of impact for potential customers.
Pros:
Shows professionalism, and that you are a serious business. Many people look to the phone book to find credibility in potential companies to do business with. It often seperates the men from the boys.
Cons:
Will have to pay a monthly fee to run the ad year round. This can be expensive and also can generate much more work than one can handle.

Other:
Local restaurants sometimes have space available on their menus. Pizza menus can be very effective and not very expensive.
Church bulletins also can be an inexpensive way to reach large groups of people.
Sponsoring sports teams in your community can be a great way to get your name out there. The uniforms the kids wear will have your name on them for the entire season.

I guess, what we all want, is to get our business to become a recognizable name that when people think of detailing, they think of you. A regular, ongoing approach with different methods will produce the results we all want. What works in one area might not work in another. Patience and perseverance will always pay off with advertising. Oh, and by the way, DO GOOD WORK! That will be your best advertising. Word of mouth doesn't cost a penny but can be your biggest return on your investment.


Mark Waldron
 
I'll throw in my 2cents.

If only picking one I think it would be the newspaper . The reason why is your ad/ads would run 4 weeks to a ciculation of 20,000 people each time. Your talking a possible 80,000 people or more . You really only need less then 1% to respond to your ads for it to be successful , even with those numbers your talking about alot of customers with word of mouth figured in . Your ad would have grab them and keep them reading it to find out more about your business.

Even the business event could be successful for you . If your a good talker and enjoy the public then this would be a good boost for your business. Just like in your print ad your not going to attack every viewer or passerby but if you can bring in a small percentage of them thats all you'll need. Good luck either way you go . :bigups
 
I manage three radio stations, one which has been voted "station of the year" by our peers three times. With 20+ years in marketing, advertising, and promotions (plus an MBA and too many certificates) I can officially tell you that you've received some great advice... congrats! :bigups

Secret Chimp said:
The radio ad idea could be good. But radio ads reach an audience that is 99% outside my service area. I would have to field dozens of calls per day that would end with, "Sorry, I don't service that town". And since advert prices are based upon the number of ears and eyes it reaches, I would be paying dearly to reach people who aren't my customers. This would have to wait until I have a staff to service neighboring towns.
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Very well said. Radio is great at many things... ironically one of the best is it's geographic reach. However, to succeed you must be able to service what you reach. When you're ready to look at radio, talk to your local stations about trade. I have trade with a local guy (he doesn't touch my cars), and I use his trade for staff incentives, prize giveaways, etc. He gets a strong monthly ad flight and probably pays $0.35 on the dollar for his advertising. Plus you end-up working with customers who are very well connected, and I know refferals come from my people all the time.

Secret Chimp said:
Movie theater ads are not cheap. I thought about having ads at the local theater because of the focus that type of advert gives. Only locals go to local theaters. That means the movie goers likely live within my service area. But are the people who go to see movies this time of year in my core demographic as a high end mobile detailer? I don't know. I thought movie goers were mostly in the 14-30 demo. That is certainly not my core demo (females 30-60yrs) And I don't want to spend the cash until I do know.
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Perfect! You're right about the service area, and dead-on with the demographics. There are 30+ females going to the movies, but they are secondary and not core... and you don't want to pay for secondary demos.

Secret Chimp said:
Newspaper print ads and post card mailings have a similar view/booked service ratios to telemarketers. Less than 1%. Thats not so good....

Face to face marketing where you can talk directly to your potential customers gets you a much better results. Almost 10%.
Click to expand...
Could not have said it better. The only thing to add is that your response rate on face-to-face marketing is truly what you make of it. I know people who get that 10% just going through the motions. Put some effort and follow through on it and your number will increase dramatically. :bigups

Secret Chimp said:
I believe I am going to sign up for the business event. I think I'll put together a drawing for a free detail or two, and some car washes. I'll offer 10% off the price for appointments booked at the event.
Click to expand...
Your best possible option! Put some effort into your display, use color when you can, and really work the event hard... your effort should pay for itself. BTW - go with a 20% (or higher, whatever works) discount for appts at the event. Often people are not prepared to sign at a business event so you need an big incentive, and usually they're looking for free stuff anyway. That said, make a ton of 10% coupons! ;)
 
Thanks guys. :)

I signed up for the business event today. I was able to haggle a special rate also. :cool

My display will consist of my 1961 Mini and a 32x32inch 3 color banner. I am going to have a drawing for a free detail and 2 free car washes during the day. That way I can get some names and numbers to call during the week next week. :D I will also be giving a 10% discount to anyone who books a detail on the spot.
 
SC,
Good luck at the event!!!
Your plan sounds like a winner & I'm sure your Mini will be a great asset! :bigups
Let us know how it goes!!
Norah
 
Good Luck ... Try to have some Before and After photos. The uglier the before and the better the after shots the more impact you will have. I am assuming you are taking an actual car to the event ... another idea is take a car that is detailed on one side from the center of the hood and in bad shape on the other ... People like to see honest results.
 
Yes I also think you have chosen the right path for your one time event, but Mark Waldron hit a very important note that many people may over-look ...the Church bulliten is a very very very (did I say very) good way of getting exposure and constant work from people who you can associate with and become long lasting customers. They will (should) see you weekly and will put a name and a face together that can build a business with trust and friendship.
Remember what it says on the money you receive;)
 
I just saw this thread and haven't really had time to read all of the replies since I have an appointment to go to soon but I want to mention that from personal experience, it's not a good idea to do business with total strangers if you don't have to. When I've done complete details for friends I get comments like "my car has never looked so good" and "I could kiss you...my car didn't look this good when I bought it from the dealer" but when I've done the same work for a "friend of a friend" they were very seldom happy no matter how good their car looked as if for their $100 or $200 they expected that you were going to give them a brand new car as a game show prize. I guess it's the same with every business - you're better off dealing with people who you know and in the auto detailing business you really need to see what condition the car is in before you qoute a price for your work.
 
Poorboy -That sounds like a pretty good way to get out of going to church too. Mess up a few cars, and you're sleeping in on Sundays
icon10.gif
 
Poorboy, your idea about marketing in the church bulletin is a great one for those folks who attend church. Advertising there gives the impression that you are a man of god and are somehow more honest and higher quality that your competition. I have an uncle who built a general contracting company doing just that. He ONLY marketing was done in his church bulletin. His business is now a very successful one.

mgm2003. You are right in that when you detail for people you know, you are more likely to get compliments than when you detail for strangers. But just because someone doesn't compliment you on a job well done, it doesn't mean they are displeased with your service. I know that I don't throw around compliments if a hired service does what I asked them to do. I would only compliment if they went the extra mile....or convinced me that they did.
 
kimwallace said:
Good Luck ... Try to have some Before and After photos. The uglier the before and the better the after shots the more impact you will have. I am assuming you are taking an actual car to the event ... another idea is take a car that is detailed on one side from the center of the hood and in bad shape on the other ... People like to see honest results.
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I considered having an 'example' car to show people. But since I am only allowed one vehicle, I chose one that will attract attention.

Instead of selling my service on the quality of my work, I am going to be selling the virtues of my waterless, environmentally friendly detailing service. This is California after all! And the community hosting this event was built on environmentally friendly principles....ie, electric conservation, low emission paints, recycled building components, solar power, WATER CONSERVATION.... The people who bought homes in this planned community did so because of their environmental stance. :)

SC~
 
Just as a follow-up, I wanted to report back to the board about this.

The business event was a smash success for me!

1. I generated over 80 leads for my service in the form of a raffle. I have a pile of raffle tickets with names/phone numbers/ locations....each person will get a call and a special offer from me this week.

2. I was tipped off about 3 or 4 business parking lots in the area that are currently not serviced by detailers.

3. 3-400 of my 4x6 marketing cards were picked up voluntarially by individuals attending the event. I explained my services to over 100 of these folks individually.

My phone has been ringing like crazy! And with each wash or detail booking they say something like, "well my neighbors and I are looking for someone who will wash and wax our cars....". So each job booked may well flower into 4 or 5 jobs if the referrals start flowing!

So if anyone out there is on the fence about attending a community fair or business event, just do it!

SC~
 
Wow! Thats great. I would actually take part in one myself in one thats coming up right next week, but unfortunatly I havent even had time to prepare since I only just started / starting. One good thing for me though, is since im fairly well known amongst my church, word has been spreading about my detailing business to be, and I have had one person specifically tell me they want me to detail their car as soon as im up and running, and I have had our largest company develop interest in me and my services (multi-million dollar company! :) ) Exciting Stuff!

But yeah, next major event, im sure to attend with my own stand.
 
Secret Chimp said:
Just as a follow-up, I wanted to report back to the board about this.

The business event was a smash success for me!

1. I generated over 80 leads for my service in the form of a raffle. I have a pile of raffle tickets with names/phone numbers/ locations....each person will get a call and a special offer from me this week.

2. I was tipped off about 3 or 4 business parking lots in the area that are currently not serviced by detailers.

3. 3-400 of my 4x6 marketing cards were picked up voluntarially by individuals attending the event. I explained my services to over 100 of these folks individually.

My phone has been ringing like crazy! And with each wash or detail booking they say something like, "well my neighbors and I are looking for someone who will wash and wax our cars....". So each job booked may well flower into 4 or 5 jobs if the referrals start flowing!

So if anyone out there is on the fence about attending a community fair or business event, just do it!

SC~
Click to expand...
CONGRATULATIONS! :bigups :bigups :bigups
 
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