2017 Marketing And Budgeting- Part 2
Step Number 2 in this process involved digging into last years marketing and then doing the …Whoa!… I spent how much?
Did it work?
In some cases ..Definitely yes.
Here are the details. This is not something that most people will show you but if you have read my posts or listened to the PodCast you’ll soon realize I’m not like most people.
Now let’s get to some of the details.
Anniston Star– One of these charges is for the newspapers that get delivered to the store. I let it run out once and about 2 days later my customers started asking where the paper was. It gets delivered everyday and 99% of the time is still there the next morning. It gets read by dozens of people everyday but nobody ever takes it.
The other charges are for some special publications they ran. As their parent company is local and prints a number of local daily and weekly papers they also have many specialty publications.
CAST- This is a local theatre company that puts on 6-8 great shows each year. An ad in their program also includes a couple of passes to the shows. These ads are specifically targeted to that market and consumer. CASTAlabama.com
Here’s a post I did about supporting live theatre.
DayBreak Media- There are a couple of sections here. One is a local Print and on-line magazine that is published monthly and distributed around the local area.
The other, “On The Menu”, is published 4 times per year and is mostly focused on local Restaurants and some attractions. This is mostly placed in the hotels in the area. The receptionists at the hotel like it as it helps them direct customers to a particular type of restaurant they are looking for. I run a full page ad in this magazine as well. This will continue to be a big part of my advertising as they have just completed a local sports complex that has a number of major events planned, including a weekend with 2 major events and 900 athletes.
Facebook– Last year a did a few “boosts” and a few other things. This will be increased in 2017 and I’ll be learning more about focused ad placements as well. I’m not too bad now but it’s an area I want to improve on. Stay tuned for the posts from that experience.
I did find out one thing about my Facebook ads. People want reality TV and if it’s local they want it more. I had some damage and a person had an extinguisher sprayed at them. Some editing and a $10 boost on Facebook put the video in front of 252,000 people, over 1200 shares and almost 100 comments. HERE’s The Link if you’re interested.
On a side note, I was told by the “veterans” of the industry to never post things like this. I’m here to say that that video increased the sales in my store.
Google AdWords Express– Another area that I am going to learn more about soon. Early in the year, I spent a large percentage of this in a nearby market that had their laundromat burn down. Once it re-opened, another new one about the same time, I stopped advertising in that market. The rest of the year was some simple ads in my own area with not enough focus and attention. One of the ads targeted hunters so they would keep their gear out of their home washers.
High School Football Programs- Oxford High School is right across the road some my newest store. The ad was simple. You can literally see my TV’s from the stands.
I also ran an ad in another local football program. My condition for running this is that the other Coin Laundry that was in it the year before did not run an ad. They have located the opposite direction from this town and I did not want to compete with them. There are lots of places to advertise so why be in the same spot.
NLM- New Leaf Marketing- Our local Swag provider. Pens. I give out about 1200 a year. I buy a good quality, reasonably priced clip pen in Yellow or Pink and leave them everywhere. Restaurants can never have enough pens, Chamber of Commerce Events, when you sign in you are probably using one of mine, I leave them at banks, businesses, and customers take them when they do their Drop Off.
Other items I had for some special events this year were some pockets mirrors, aprons for people to wear during a Pie Eating Contest. They all had my Logo as well. And the tablecloth they sat at had my logo on it.
Some other items that were specific to this year were for the opening of the new Washin Oxford Coin Laundry store. These included Ballots for the Grand Opening Prize Draw, Radio station Live Remotes, Radio Station advertising spots, T-Shirts and a few other items. Plus all the prizes not listed on this sheet (55″ TV, lots of Laundry Tokens, jugs of soap and lots more).
What were the results of the Grand Opening Draw? About 270 non-duplicate entries, and 135 that provided their email addresses.
The 2017 Planning continues.
If you’re looking for some ideas and support I suggest downloading a free guide from David Smith at Valens Point. It’s a simple method to target your marketing and be effective.
The planning continues….
Ken
