Question

Topic: Advertising/PR

Best Roi For Advertising For A Small Business!

Posted by bradleygt89 on 6/9/2009 at 4:34 PM ET 250 Points
We are a small(4 employees, including me) family owned Water Treatment/Softening Company in Jacksonville Florida, in business since 1995. I have been with the company since March, '09 and joined to help expand business with my sales and marketing background (which is limited, but growing). I work for them on total commission, unless I help with service/installs. I have developed a website (hydromedixwater.com), placed ads in craigslist.org, classifieds.com and a local free neighborhood website. I have concentrated on sending mailers and calling previous customers lately with limited results(great for getting service apts for checkups on systems, but very few sales).

The other strategies I have tried is door to door (market saturation with Rain Soft, Culligan, etc), placing enter to win boxes in business (only two have allowed this so far) and asking for referrals.

Since I just got the website up since I started working for them, there is little knowledge of it among our customer base. I have discussed with our owner the need to do some paid advertising, but because he has had moderate success without advertising beyond his van's signage and a small listing in the Yellow Pages he is resistant to spending the $ on advertising.

I have talked to him about doing a coupon mailer to our current customers to try and drive up sales, like a 10-20% off any new product purchased. We are also discussing a deal with a local TV channel that has a very inexpensive program (nets out to about $50 per 30 sec commercial and THEY pay for the production of the commercial as well).

I really love this line of work and helping people get good water to their home, but have reached frustration level at trying to 'find' new customers for sales. Service business is very good and what is keeping the company afloat. We have an excellent reputation for service, just not for sales!

What is the best approach for us to take? Mailers with coupons, TV, neighborhood print, local print, radio, billboard, or continue the 'free' advertising campaign we have going?

Thank you so much for your time and I am glad I found this site!

Brad
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RESPONSES

  • Posted by michael on 6/9/2009 at 5:41 PM Member
    Brad,

    Makes me want to run down there and do a sales blitz with you.

    Just remember that it takes 7 contacts before there is any rememberance. For the owner...I would start asking on every call "Have you seen our truck?". He'll be shocked how many people don't remember ever seeing it.

    Start Tweeting. Just to be there. It's free, you should be there.

    I'm not a big fan of mailers or coupons...though some on this forum have chastised me for it. If they are done right, I love them. Better copy solves most of the problems.

    Not sure how big your community is, but take some coupons and bring them to a local business. Give them a special code that only their employees can use. Saves a lot on mailing is more measurable

    Michael
  • Posted on 6/9/2009 at 7:37 PM Accepted
    In some markets the group mailers (e.g., ValPak, Money Mailer, et al.) are VERY cost-effective. One business with which I was involved was able to get the average cost per new customer down to $35, mostly using ValPak.

    Of course, each market is different, as are each vehicle and each product/service category. You really have to try a bunch of things to see what works for you. There's no way I know of to "short circuit" the system and come up with the right answer a priori.

    The good news is that the media you'd consider have all "been there and done that" before. The ValPak folks, for example, can draw on experience for your category in other markets. And they'll probably give you a very friendly introductory rate to try their service ... knowing that you'll be back for more at full rate if it works for you.

    What you need to do is carefully track results from each thing you try so that you know your ROI and can make decisions based on hard data, not just based on cost or subjective assessments or a fast-talking salesperson who is motivated more by a quick commission than by a long-term relationship.

    And, as michael says, copy is key. Great copy can overcome a sub-optimal media decision, and even turn a marginal offer into a winner. The things that count are the copy and the offer ... along with the list or medium you choose.

    It took us 3 or 4 iterations of copy to get our cost per new customer down from $50 to $35 ... so don't give up on the medium until you have satisfied yourself that the copy is right. This is an area where it will probably be worth your time and money to find a good local agency or creative team.

    Hope this helps. This exploration won't be a free lunch, but it could prove to be a very big idea if you take the assignment seriously, plan carefully, and test/measure everything.
  • Posted on 6/9/2009 at 7:48 PM Moderator
    P.S. You need to also be sure your closing ratio is high once you get the leads. It doesn't make sense to spend money on advertising to generate leads if you can't convert them a high percentage of the time.

    The business to which I referred -- paying $35/customer -- closed more than 90% of leads, so the cost per customer was almost identical to the cost per lead. If we'd only closed 50% the cost would have been $70 and way too much for us to pay.

    So in addition to everything else, you need to have a sales process that works really, really well. Otherwise your lead-generation effort will cost you a lot more than it makes.
  • Posted by Gary Bloomer on 6/9/2009 at 9:05 PM Accepted
    Dear Brad,

    You need additional elements in your marketing mix.

    Customer benefits, not company features.
    An offer that people really, really don't want to pass up.
    A deadline for that offer to create urgency.
    Social proof (in the guise of testimonials).
    A really strong call to action.
    A bullet proof, way beyond vanilla guarantee.
    A compelling, benefit-driven, value-drenched statement that tells people why your company's the best choice.

    In your marketing, talk about your customers in language they can understand about things that are important to them. By not doing this you're being ignored.

    Basically, your customers don't care about you, they care about them.

    All that stuff on your website about the length of time you've
    been in business? All that GE Smart Water, Water Boss, and Pentair service contractor stuff? The fact that people can put their trust in you, your provision of personal, customized service and exceptional quality? Even your services and products being guaranteed?

    Dull.

    Sorry, but it's just not sexy. It's not telling customers what's important to them. Which is THEIR NEEDS.

    Your bosses anti-advertising bar his van's signage and his small listing in the Yellow Pages? It's not enough. His resistance to spending money on advertising is a false economy. It's not an expense. It's an investment. The sooner he wakes up to this news, the better.

    Want your business to blossom? Invest in marketing. Look. don't get me wrong. I'm not selling you anything. I'm offering free advice that would normally cost you several thousand dollars.

    Brad, because you're in charge or marketing, you've got to take the lead here. People are not responding because you're not nourishing your relationships.

    Got a list? Of course you have. What else can you offer (or could you offer) the people on your list? Something that's related to water softening? Or even not related? Health? Wellness? Fitness? Vitality? Think!

    You think you're selling water softeners. Wrong. You're selling purity. Clarity. Safety. Freshness.

    You know your business and your buyers. And if you don't, make it your business to find out. And if you don't know, your boss sure as hell does know.

    So interrogate him.

    Pick his brains. Every last synapse. Turn his grey matter inside out. If he's been in business since 1995 he must have seen something that connected with him. Something memorable. Something meaningful.

    Whatever it is, find it. That's one of your keys. Use it.

    And that huge logo on your home page and all those images happy chaps in front of vans and equipment in garages? They're doing you no favours at all. Get them off your website.

    Replace them with images of health, vitality, soft water, anything. Go to www.istockphoto.com, open an account and search for images that match your mission. Nothing technical. People don't care about the technical stuff. They want soft water, pure water, and whatever else you're offering.

    Here's what I recommend you do.

    Contact Christopher Hurn and Nick Nanton at
    www.gkic-orlando.com. I don't know either of them. Never met them. But they're your local Dan Kennedy No B.S. Certified Business Advisors.

    You know what B.S. is?

    Christopher and Nick run your local GKIC (Glazer Kennedy Insider Circle). You need to join their group and learn from the people they mix with.

    Their next meeting is on June 17 in Lake Mary, FL. There are more details on the website above. Mike Capuzzi, the head of the GKIC- Philly chapter (which I belong to) is speaking to your local group on the 17th.

    He's a smart guy.

    Don't know who Dan Kennedy is?

    Go to www.dankennedy.com and learn.

    Consume anything you can get your hands on from Dan. And, while you're at it, likewise anything you can find from Yanik Silver, Frank Kern, and John Carlton.

    You've read lots of other great advice in other answers to your question. Take it. And as for my two cents' worth? It's offered with the best of intent.

    And although it's a long drive to Orlando, it will be worth it for both you AND you boss. It's essential that he buys into this.

    All of it. So even if you have to drag him there. Go.

    And tell Mike I said hello.

    Good luck to you.

    Gary Bloomer
    Wilmington, DE, USA
  • Posted by Jay Hamilton-Roth on 6/10/2009 at 12:19 AM Member
    As others have mentioned, people aren't looking for water softeners, conditioners, treatment unless: they have a medical condition that can be helped with purer water, they like the taste the water (at a friend's house), or they have a new child and want to ensure no health problems. I'm sure there are other key reasons - find them, and then identify the people who have these problems - and market to them (and their network).
  • Posted on 6/10/2009 at 4:51 PM Accepted
    Gary said, "You think you're selling water softeners. Wrong. You're selling purity. Clarity. Safety. Freshness."

    This is the key. You're not selling a filter, you're selling a story about how your customers feel when they use your product.

    Figure out the emotional reward from your product and tell a story about it.

    Famous example:

    For years, brewers advertised that their beer was pure. Big headlines proclaimed each brand's purity in ever increasing type sizes. Then, Schlitz started showing a plate glass room with beer cooled in filtered air, describing how each bottle was washed four times in live steam, and how the brewer drilled down 4,000 feet for pure water.

    The truth was that ALL beer was made that way, but nobody said so (since it was "obvious" to the brewer). It wasn't to the audience though. Beer sales shot up and Schlitz went from 5th to #1 in a few months.


    Likewise, Disney doesn't sell theme parks, it sells happy memories.


    What's your story?


    Jodi
  • Posted by bradleygt89 on 6/10/2009 at 6:00 PM Author
    Wow!

    when i posted this I was hoping to get a couple good answers ans feedback. I must say I am happily surprised by the number of replies!

    In the 24 hours since I posted this and started reading some of the responses here is what I have done:

    1. Changed our website up. I had a "Do you need" type questions on the front page, replacing the pics of myself and the owner. I put the owners pic on the "about us" page. I know I need to get some more pictures up on the front page to help tell the story: I am thinking pics of a clean bathtub, a happy child or mom or both drinking clean water from the tap, soft looking laundry and maybe like a bag of money to illustrate the saving by cutting out bottled water?

    2. I also updated our monthly specials page for the summer promotion we decided to do, including a 10-20% savings on all products with some examples. This is the same promotion I am going to start sending out to existing customers, along with our service special we have. I am and have been keeping track of closing and responses %'s.

    3. I will be meeting with the owner either later this week or first part of next week to 'pick his brain' as was suggested. I have done this a bit when I first started with him, but now that I have a better understanding of the business I know it is time to dig deeper :)

    I will keep you all updated and if anyone has a chance to add some feedback over the changes I made to the website, I look forward to it. hydromedixwater.com

    Thank you all for the great and very informative responses!

    Brad

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