How should I advertise?

JohnCorite

Hi All,

I am currently wanting to advertise my computer business in a local free newspaper (it gets delivered to houses for free and is 50p if bought in the shop). I am currently looking to advertise in Wandsworth and Fulham of London but have the following questions:

1)

The scenario - I can only afford 3 or 4 weeks worth of advertising, over a two month period, as each week ranges from £25 (small ad) to £50 (medium sized ad). My budget can be no more than £30 a week, ideally.

The customer may respond to the ad straight away (i.e. they have a virus infection) or may wait months before they have computer problems. So if they wait until such time and pick up the paper, and I'm not advertised in that issue I will not get that job of course. So my question is:

Do I advertise for 1 Month straight or cover two months by advertising every second week? Which one do you think would get more customers? Or should I do the first two weeks in month one and then split two weeks in month two?

2)

Do you think people would look at back issues to find my details (i.e. because they liked my prices), or perhaps note down my details straight away, or do you think they would go with the copy of the paper they have in front of them?

3) In line with question 2. Do you think they would think "great prices etc" but then think "I don't need to write his details down or keep this issue because I know (or would expect) him to advertise again"? And saying that, would you call out someone from a previous issue if they were not in the current issue?

4) Would you go with a smaller ad or bigger ad?

Any feedback would be great.

Kind Regards

John

bigpound

I would go for the minimum price placement, so you can get a taste of the type of response you receive, and whether or not it is a good investment.

Savvy_Sue

And don't tie in to too long a contract, even if there is a big discount. You might find other methods work better.

lincroft1710

JohnCorite wrote: »

Do you think people would look at back issues to find my details (i.e. because they liked my prices), or perhaps note down my details straight away, or do you think they would go with the copy of the paper they have in front of them?

As soon as the new edition of the local weekly is delivered, last week's paper goes straight into the recycling bin. I can't remember if I've ever kept the details from any ad, unless it was for a service I knew I would be needing in the next few weeks.

Horace

Look at different ways of advertising your business - paid ads in newspapers and magazines tend to get overlooked and basically it is money down the drain. Ask the newspaper how much they will charge to insert a leaflet into the paper? The reason I ask this is that it is often cheaper for them to insert a leaflet than it is to pay for advertising. Personally, I wouldn't throw money at traditional advertising, I would use other methods.

You need to start going to business networking meetings sure there are some that expect you to pay big membership fees and then pay for your breakfast or whatever but there are business networking places out there that are a nominal fee such as Business Biscotti which you can drop in and out of (you pay for your own coffee). Networking works - I know someone who is in the same line of business as you, in the 2 years that I have known him, he has gone from working in the spare bedroom to having an office with 3 members of staff. He works B2B and B2C and gets referrals etc. He also has an extremely good website which has been optimized.

The more you talk to people at networking events, the more business eventually comes your way when you attend regularly because you are in the fore front of their minds when one of their chums/colleagues/suppliers tells them that they have a computer problem and do they know anyone who can help them out.

kymbogs

I know nothing about advertising a business but I have plenty of experience of looking for people to help when things go wrong (contractors etc) and personally, the free ad paper would never even spring to mind. I agree with Horace, look at different methods.

[Deleted User]

I can't believe people look in a free paper to get computer repairs

I remember when i was 16, I decided I'd offer 'in your own home computer repairs' (sadly, i was too ahead of the times in 1996 and not enough people had PCs to make it a viable business)

I had a 2-tier marketing strategy
1. Pay for adverts in all the local newsagents
2. Post hundreds of leaflets through doors

This was 'pre-internet' (or at least, mass internet roll-out). It sounds like you're trying to apply 1990s marketing strategies to a 2010s business.

I guess you need to get into on-line directories, like this one: http://www.computerrepaircompanies.co.uk

You effectively need to build up a web presence and increase your search engine visibility. Traditional media advertising is ineffective and expensive. Your ROI will be terrible. Even with my '1996 teenager marketing strategy', i broke even with my 2nd on-site visit.

When looking at the advertising, think about what your return on investment (ROI) would be. I do agree that business-to-business networking is the best thing you can do

alisonmeyers

ringo_24601 wrote: »

It sounds like you're trying to apply 1990s marketing strategies to a 2010s business.

I guess you need to get into on-line directories, like this one: http://www.computerrepaircompanies.co.uk

You effectively need to build up a web presence and increase your search engine visibility. Traditional media advertising is ineffective and expensive. Your ROI will be terrible.

When looking at the advertising, think about what your return on investment (ROI) would be. I do agree that business-to-business networking is the best thing you can do

This is excellent advice, and as someone with a brother who basically helps companies in this exact way (he runs a web design firm who does search engine optimisation (definition here) as a segregated part of the client contracts) I know it's good advice. ROI ROI ROI should be the bottom line for informing your marketing choices - how can you know whether X is a good investment for the future (e.g. is it more or less effective than Y, or last year? etc) if you don't come at it from that angle.

This is where a web presence is much more transparent than traditional marketing methods - you should be able to clearly identify where your business is coming from, and from which channel brings in the most revenue. As a PC repair company I'd expect you to have an established web presence, even if it's not 100% aligned with your main business, because you're tech savvy (get someone outside to do the web development - nothing worse than a tech company with an ameturish looking website!)...

For example, my local butcher takes orders on the net - he has a decent website - ok doesn't change much but it does't need to - and his isn't a tech company. As a pc repair company, it is even more appropriate that this is one of your primary advertising channels.

wimblewomble_2

agree with the B2B approach.
"normal" customers are usually one-shot affairs.

if you can get some corporate deals, offering tech-support to companies using many PCs, you might get repeat custom.
or even offerintg regular PC-MOT type deals.
networking with business-types is likely to result in better results. and joining local chambers of commerce might be useful.

good luck.

gibson123

Get along to a google workshop, http://www.googleworkshop.co.uk/

They do these free and get yourself an effective website, get yourself a facebook page and on to Linkedin. Use your money to get some nice business cards or cardboard flyers made and pay some schoolchildren or students to attach them to car windscreens and put them through doors. If you attach something to hang them up, like a funky plastic bulldog clip people are more likely to hang them on their pinboards. You could also get fridge magnets made with your business details on for the areas you particularly want to target. Perhaps get some of those promotional data sticks, and give them to current customers for more WOM recommendations. Good luck