NewsPaper Ads
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Where are you advertising?
To what market?
What are you selling (websites, SEM, underwear...)?
What is the market's expected spend?
What % ROI do you anticipate as a result of running your ads?
What print advertising campaign would you suggest for 1-3 man operations?
What do you think of Yellow Pages for print ads?
MickyWall
New Member
Hi Peter,
You'll find out what I think of Yellow Pages Ads on my new blog Michael Wall.
I've put any newspaper ads on hold for the minute as I'm not sure if one or two ads as opposed to a long campaign works.
You'll find out what I think of Yellow Pages Ads on my new blog Michael Wall.
I've put any newspaper ads on hold for the minute as I'm not sure if one or two ads as opposed to a long campaign works.
RedCardinal
New Member
I would have left a comment but you require logins 
How they could possibly tell you what the expected call rate would be I don't know. That's a new (and low) tactic I hadn't heard of before.
How they could possibly tell you what the expected call rate would be I don't know. That's a new (and low) tactic I hadn't heard of before.
MickyWall
New Member
Sorry I'm trying to get used to WordPress as a total newbie to blogging. I've set it to 'Anyone can Register' if that's the setting you were after?
Not only was it one saleman, it was 2 different guys that came off with the same figures. I've emailed them and asked them for their research.
Not only was it one saleman, it was 2 different guys that came off with the same figures. I've emailed them and asked them for their research.
I've had similar experience with the Golden Pages. I spent around €700 on the Dublin and Kerry books and have had only two calls that I suspect came from the books - one of them was from a Golden Pages sales person trying to get me to sign up again for next years book! I had to laugh. Money down the drain but that's the cost of experience I guess...
Also, I was interested in Blacknight's thoughts on this (well you did ask "What would you like to know?") I thought you might have some words of wisdom that might point a couple of amateurs in the right direction...You could use '%'s' instead of real figures if you want...
grandad
Member
I dunno how I missed out on this topic before, but here are a few thoughts of my own....
I have a few clients who have tried various forms of advertising for their websites, and who asked me to track the hit rate responses.
A couple tried running ads in the Irish Times. No discernible response at all.
A couple tried a series of radio ads [one on RTE, the other on East Coast Radio] - No discernible response at all.
Grandad had a feature about his blog in the Irish Times in December, and another mention last Saturday in the Weekend magazine. The response from the feature did bring a small amount of traffic, but the magazine article had no noticeable effect.
The only advertising that had ANY effect was for the Jack and Jill Foundation, where there were appearances on the Late Late, and interviews on the radio with Pat Kenny. These were long slots that appealed to the public and the response on the website was more than significant.
So the long and the short of it is that I never advise a client to advertise on radio or the newspaper. And the same should apply to a web design business. When people are reading a paper, they are rarely going to suddenly rush to the keyboard because they have seen a printed ad.
I have never advertised since I set up, and I'd say the same would go for most web design companies. It is all done by word of mouth. The odd business card handed out doesn't go astray, but I would never bother with a printed ad.
As I say - just a personal thought.
I have a few clients who have tried various forms of advertising for their websites, and who asked me to track the hit rate responses.
A couple tried running ads in the Irish Times. No discernible response at all.
A couple tried a series of radio ads [one on RTE, the other on East Coast Radio] - No discernible response at all.
Grandad had a feature about his blog in the Irish Times in December, and another mention last Saturday in the Weekend magazine. The response from the feature did bring a small amount of traffic, but the magazine article had no noticeable effect.
The only advertising that had ANY effect was for the Jack and Jill Foundation, where there were appearances on the Late Late, and interviews on the radio with Pat Kenny. These were long slots that appealed to the public and the response on the website was more than significant.
So the long and the short of it is that I never advise a client to advertise on radio or the newspaper. And the same should apply to a web design business. When people are reading a paper, they are rarely going to suddenly rush to the keyboard because they have seen a printed ad.
I have never advertised since I set up, and I'd say the same would go for most web design companies. It is all done by word of mouth. The odd business card handed out doesn't go astray, but I would never bother with a printed ad.
As I say - just a personal thought.
davidbehan
New Member
Then again... you could spend loads on tv, radio and print advertising and when someone finally decides to visit your site, they see it's crap and leave without browsing through it, e.g. IFSRA – It’s Your Money: Information on Financial Products
jemmi
New Member
Hi, this probably won't help but we looked at placing ads in the local paper for us a couple of months back and I ran it past a friend. He asked me how many ads could I remember from the local paper without looking - when i checked there were about 4 continuous pages - couldn't remember one....
It seems like a very wide audience you are trying to capture and it can be hard to try to be all things to all people. I'm not in a position to advise anybody so don't think I'm patronising you but I think you must pick a segment and go for them - at least if you go for say SME's you could target them in journals based at them. And I think you must have an striking image to then at least grab their attention.
It seems like a very wide audience you are trying to capture and it can be hard to try to be all things to all people. I'm not in a position to advise anybody so don't think I'm patronising you but I think you must pick a segment and go for them - at least if you go for say SME's you could target them in journals based at them. And I think you must have an striking image to then at least grab their attention.
figment
New Member
richardo, how long a campaign did your clients run?
What i have been reading in the Guerilla Marketing Handbook is that 1 or 2 ads is a waste of time and money and that a long term ad campaign is needed to build up exposure and make a return.http://www.irishwebmasterforum.com/members/richardo.html
What i have been reading in the Guerilla Marketing Handbook is that 1 or 2 ads is a waste of time and money and that a long term ad campaign is needed to build up exposure and make a return.http://www.irishwebmasterforum.com/members/richardo.html
grandad
Member
I'm quoting figures off the top of my head now as it is a while ago...
One client was advertising a luxury holiday home. Another was advertising luxury cruises around Dublin Bay. Both ran ads in the Social & Personal in the Irish Times on a Saturday. I don't know how many weeks the ads ran for, but there was minimal response. Both are relying successfully on word of mouth now.
Another client ran a week long campaign on East Coast Radio for a training company. Yet another ran a week long campaign in RTE Radio 1 for a management company. Both said it was a complete waste of cash.
In contrast, one client plastered his URL all over his shops and vehicles as soon as the site was launched. The site was an instant hit and draws a lot of traffic.
There is one bloke who advertises his web design company in our local county newspaper every week for as long as I remember. To give you an idea of the impact - I couldn't even tell you the name of the company!!! I don't even think I've visited his site. Obviously I can't comment on his success rate.
The most effective forms of marketing are word of mouth and actual product demos, with the latter obviously involving some previously successful contact to get the prospect to attend or view a demo.
If you're doing print advertising, one or two placements are indeed a waste of time and money. Thge boffins in the ad world tell us that research shows it takes as many as 12 exposures to an ad (potentially across various media) before it truly registers in our overloaded brains.
PR can often be the most effective form of print, radio and TV advertising - having a trusted, objective (at least most of the audience must consider this to be the case) voice report on a given topic. Many prominent business and technology publications in Ireland are crying out for content, and will be more than happy to have knowledgeable experts submit articles that will be relevant to readers.
Even if someone approaches you for advertising, chance your arm and say you'd be more likely to consider it if the publication/station kept you in mind as an expert available for quotes/analysis for business or tech spots.
Of course in the design/dev/SEO world, there isn't very much blanket, sustained branding/advertising because aggressive lead generation doesn't seem to be part of the sales and marketing approach. We're (the industry "we") doing events, some e-mail, paid search, organics etc. and to a large extent doing quite nicely from people coming to us through the above and the golden goose of referrals.
As agencies do get more proactive about outbound prospecting and lead generation, the kind of "air cover" provided to a sales force by PR and advertising becomes far more important.
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