Newspaper Ad

IHA Mark

IHA Mark

New member
Hi guys, I'm looking to try some newspaper advertising and would like your opinion. I can run the following ad for about $130 a month, including the logo. The lines can be no more than 35 characters each. Please give me some feedback. Should I try and put something about more specific services, or stay generalized? I'm not sure which would be better for mass advertising...



my logo, see below



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Any input would be appreciated! I'm hoping to get some decent leads from this, even if it is price shoppers.
 
What sort of customer are you looking for? Seem like a good ad for basic detailing.
 
Is that is a regular, daily paper or a "shopper" paper that is delivered free to the area?

Folks I have talked with seem to find a better return by running a weekly ad in the "shopper" type papers.

Grumpy
 
I'm looking for mom and pop customers from this ad, not exotics.



It goes in a regular regional newspaper, but if you purchase a month it goes in the monthly shopper paper the same paper offers too.



I figure even if it doesn't bring a massive amount of business, it will increase my branding and bring people to my website.
 
sorry, but print is dead. It has been for a while. If I'm going to dump $130 a month in advertising, I'd use it towards Google adwords.
 
Last year I ran an ad with 2 coupons for 4 weeks in 3 different local papers from the same newspaper "company" or whatever you would call it. It was a very nice looking ad that was very attention grabbing. I got ONE customer from it and just about broke even. Would never do it again, waste of time and money. Google Adwords on the other hand was very successful for me this past summer.



It MIGHT help you with branding, but I'd say your better off doing that on Facebook, Twitter, etc. It's free and is the way people are going these days rather than reading the newspaper.



If you want to get into the newspaper, write some press releases and email them to the editors. You can write informative articles like why to prep your car for winter, why detailing is good for preventive maintenance, etc. It will help your branding and also get your name out there as a subject expert. The one I did was that I was a very eco-friendly shop. A writer saw it and included me in an article he wrote for another local paper about the town my shop was in going green. There's no cost to get an article in the paper and the few people who do still read the paper will most likely read it if it has a good headline, rather than look at an ad you run.



EDIT: here's where I posted about my press release:



http://www.autopia.org/forum/detail...ting/135249-pays-off-send-press-releases.html
 
Only need one return per month to break even, plus it puts your name out there to be seen. But it seems to me there are ways to get better return for your money.
 
mbs431 said:
sorry, but print is dead. It has been for a while. If I'm going to dump $130 a month in advertising, I'd use it towards Google adwords.
Click to expand...



This. $130 invested into google adwords + craigslist/kijiji + website + youtube + Facebook is where it's at. We're also doing targeted print and e-mail marketing campaigns as well to the customers we already have. Keep the people you have already done business with coming back more often.
 
Thanks for the opinions guys. I nixed the newspaper ad idea long ago, going to do a USPS direct mail campaign in the spring, plus have my website finally professionally done. I am going to look into the press releases though, sounds like a great way to get "free" advertisement and really up your credentials as a professional as well.:biggrin:
 
IHA Mark said:
Thanks for the opinions guys. I nixed the newspaper ad idea long ago, going to do a USPS direct mail campaign in the spring, plus have my website finally professionally done. I am going to look into the press releases though, sounds like a great way to get "free" advertisement and really up your credentials as a professional as well.:biggrin:
Click to expand...



I've gotten tons of free publicity from the newspaper and local business magazines via just asking if they would run a story about us.
 
ShineShop said:
I've gotten tons of free publicity from the newspaper and local business magazines via just asking if they would run a story about us.
Click to expand...



Another great piece of advice, thanks. I guess it never hurts to ask eh?
 
mbs431 said:
sorry, but print is dead. It has been for a while. If I'm going to dump $130 a month in advertising, I'd use it towards Google adwords.
Click to expand...



correct. I spent nearly $3k on a run of 6 printed ads some years ago. I think i'm still paying off the CC bill. It was in a high end business journal which I figured would bring in lots of correction/high end gigs and it brought me 2 gigs total. Actually, more of my existing clients told me they saw the ad then new ones....
 
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