Collective Advertising?

SlidingShelves

Hello..
Earlier I posted a thread on *Getting Started* and I have already thought of a few more specific questions to ask...
1) Do you think a new business would be better off participating in a mail campaign such as (ValPak, Money Mailer, RSVP)... or would the results be better by sending a (stand alone) post card - of course this would be the most expensive way to do it!
2) Or.. since my product is more of a See & Buy - would you think my dollars be better spent doing strictly Home & Garden trade shows? 
3) Also, some would say that Black & White display adds (with photos of my product) will not sell well & are suggesting that I spend almost triple for a full color ad... any thoughts??
Thank you!!!

ToddF

1. we had success in Valpak`s. It will help you move more common items and will help promote branding/awareness efforts. Stand alones are EXPENSIVE and can be risky.
 
2. Any additional shows are always good but we`ve never seen anything all that good come from trade-shows. Again Brand Awarness, don`t expect lots of sales.
 
3. Color has come down a lot in price, still expensive, but when you figure in cost of mailing, etc, its seems almost like a waste NOT to go color. I personally do all our printing in house. Yep, I use an Okidata 5500n color laser, and get refills for 100$. It`s the cheapest possible way to do color copies as I`ve already ran over 8K pages through the machine and I`m running another 1.5K tonight.

LogoMotives

1. The postcard and ad paks can be very effective it reaching a well-defined target market.  A client of mine was recently approached to participate in a postcard pak that would be delivered to a large number of households, in specific zip codes, with household incomes of $300,000+.  That was a very lucrative market for her business.  We immediately decided to NOT have the postcard company produce the card as the design quality was just not that great.  I created a card to maintain the brand image we`ve created over the past two years.  It`s a little too early to determine success of the effort.However, my clients stand-alone mailings have been very successful.  A one-shot deal seldom produces a great return.  We do a mailing 3-4 times a year that is a coupon for a special offer and the return is easily measured.2.  I agree with ToddF in regards to the trade shows.  Many of my clients have done trade shows in the past.  The experiences are much more of an introduction to their products/services - rather than producing on the spot sales.  Still, a good product promotion brochure or sales sheet is often held onto by the potential customer and may result in a later sale.3.  Well-designed, well-placed black and white ads can be very effective in creating awareness and resulting in sales.  The ads to need to be placed in publications that will reach your specific target market.  A client of mine was spending $100,000+ a year to run BW ads in the local paper because she felt she needed a presence in the publication.  She occasionally ran full-color ads if they paper offered some special promotion to do so.  There was no noticeable difference in the response to the ads.  Six months ago she quit advertising in the publication completely, freeing up a large part of her advertising budget to be used elsewhere.  Getting out of the major local newspaper had no negative impact on her business.  In fact, business increased dramatically by being able to make use of other advertising avenues.She`s good at negotiating with publications.  It`s possible to negotiate a contract rate for so many BW ads with a freebie spot-color or full-color ad tossed in every so often.  If the publication wants your business bad enough they will work with you on such issues.  Just make sure you have some "call to action," or special, within the ad to make sure you have some manner of being able to judge the effectiveness of color vs. BW.Good luck!- J.

SlidingShelves

Todd, Jeff & Joann... Excellent Info.. Thank you!!
I recently contacted other sliding shelf companies and the consensus is that they take appointments for estimates at trade shows & little to no on the spot sales..
In terms of newspaper ads, my thought is to place a small b&w ad in a couple different retirement communities.
Concerning direct mail, I am figuring my dollars will be better spent as pulled together with other companies (val pak, etc).. at least for a trial run.. the stand alone approach will simply take up too much of my budget..
Lastly, I found a small group of companies that are pulling their resources by stuffing a bag of postcards for door hangers to be delivered door to door in selected target areas!
I love the idea of calling on interior designers!! Wonderful tip!! I will check on the memberships you mentioned and local hardware/improvement stores.. btw what are women to women groups?
Joann - I would be interested in hearing more about the closet company as we have a similar target market.. infact, would you think that type of company would be a good referral source?  
Thanks again! Ken.

SlidingShelves

Follow-up question about companies like ValPak..
When discussing pricing with them, they all seem to have a minimum 10,000 homes per mail drop and most want a 3 month commitment (which I understand).. however, my question is how many homes should I try to hit at once?
I have heard repeat mailings over and over gets a sale, or instead of mailing to 50,000 homes at one mailing, mail to the same 10,000 5 times....
Any thoughts? SlidingShelves2007-10-25 12:31:10

SlidingShelves

Thanks again Joann,
I was thinking my advertising efforts could / should be similar to a Closet Type of business more so than receiving referrals from them..
I just checked out BNI`s website and I was stunned that I had not heard of them before!! Thanks very much for the heads up!!
Ken.