Know-How Exchange : Advertising/PR

the main reason we are doing billboards is because we won 4 free billboards at an event we were at. we have never advertised through billboards before. we have alot of advertising put into the phonebook because that is where most pple would find there plumber at. we have done some advertising throughout the years in magazines and newspapers and things like that. we have 3 divisions to our company basically. in one division we do alot of service work from everythign to sewer and drain to hot water heaters to a drippy faucet. another division does construction work ...building alot of restaurants and commercial properties. the other division is bathroom remodeling... we do everything from design to finish. i guess our main focus for these billboards are for half name branding and half bathroom remodeling. for bathroom remodels we use the slogan "From design to finish, You'll enjoy the experience."

I'm a telemarketing guy, not a billboard guy... from the point of view of some experts above, billboards would not be their first choice - and so I guess that if I was stuck and had to make good use of a billboard, I might consider a couple of ads campaign featuring one of your best customers - (and I'd pick one with the potential of future work) stressing how happy they were with you. If nothing else, this will strengthen your relationship with your key account... and you could probably get the billboards printed as fliers as well - so that you will have a record of how happy they were with your work, as a future sales tool.

I wasn't aware that plumbing had a classier end. A blocked sewer still stinks, no matter the neighbourhood.

The experts above have given some great advice.

I suggest if you are dead-set on going ahead with the ads, you do something very simple such as:

Leaky faucet?
1-800-your number
Your name

Or

Blocked drains?
1-800-your number
Your name

That way, if you get no calls, at least you haven't wasted too much time on it. Spend the money you otherwise would have spent on creative, instead, on getting better prominence in the yellow pages if that's where all your work comes from.

And undertake a corporate campaign to grow the construction division, if that's where the big profits come from.

Hope that helps.

ChrisB

Really, the best place is in the yellow pages for plumbing services...that's where people look.

You can be creative with something like:

"Do I really need a plumber?"

or

" I can fix it myself"

Then, direct them to a part of your website that list potential/common plumbing problem and suggestions for fixing them yourself.

There's a lot of good content you can add. Basically you'll catch the attention of a homeowner who has a small problem that's nagging, but not urgent. Still it's your chance to build an online relationship.

Michael

i know that billboards certainly arent a great way to advertise for plumbers. that is why i dont want to focus on the service end of the company. i want to focus on bathroom remodeling. they were FREE!...and i would have to disagree somewhat with what you have said. billboards have great success with name branding for plumbing and electrical companies in our area. It isnt so much to generate a phone call from the billboard itself but for when someone does need a plumber or does need to remodel their bathroom and they go to look in the phonebook they will come across our ad and be like "hey i recognize this logo or this company...they had the billboard up on the highway" ...and when a customer is flipping through a phonebook and sees 20 different plumbers listed there...anything that would help seperate you from the others to the customer makes a big difference. like i said they were FREE...i have nothing to lose here. I work in the lehigh valley, pa (allentown area)...4th fastest growing area in the eastern coast of the US.

I myself tend to shy away from recommending billboards to clients, they have their place - and direct results should not be expected, however, it sounds as if you are going to move ahead with the billboards - your decision.

I would say that you actually answered your own question with the last post. If you are strictly looking to reinforce your other advertising by adding name recognition, then just do something simple with the branding tools in place. Run the company logo with a phone number and be done.

yes i am going to go through with the billboards...they are free...why would i waste them? doesnt make any sense to me to just throw it out.