Results of a survey of a town of 138,000 done by MTTelephone. The gentleman that did the survey owned a sign company.
The Yellow pages had a marketing company analyse the results of three different size ads. The company was given a very large ad, a smaller type ad and a listing for the survey (lucky guy)
Here are the results of the yellow pages.
Large Ad Calls 1070 calls new callers not repeat 91 per month Cost $550 per month
Smaller Size Ad 2 x 1.5 113 total new callers not repeat 11 per month Cost 150 per month
Listing two line 60 total new callers not repeat 5 per month Free So what are the real results....Did they increase business and dollars???? I called the owner to find out. He stated that he always goes to a large ad. He also stated that he needs 91 new customers per month to stay in business. He maintained his sales over previous years. So if you consider what the results were I would say that the phone ad did work. Here is why I feel that way. He maintained sales in a tough year. (recession and September 11th.) The survey shows a large disparity in calls between the larger ad and the smaller ad. We can say that at least 2/3 of them were tire kickers. So you get 33 new customers a month with a large ad. Combine that to your average sale and then figure out the rest. It also shows the type of ad you should run if you want to remain the size that you are. What do you think?
Posted by Kimberly Zanetti (Member # 2546) on :
It also depends on what type of business you are looking for. With yellow pages ads come the yahoos who call up and say - Hey, how much does a sign cost? Do you call Ford and ask how much a car costs? The "yellow pagers" are usually the people who have NO IDEA what kind of craftsmanship and time go into creating a sign.
Now, playing my own devil's advocate...since a signpainter is looking to make a living (well, I assume most of you are) and not paint the Sistine Chapel, you have to hope that the phone keeps ringing.
Even though my father had a one line entry and not an ad, he got a lot of calls because he called his biz AL ZANETTI SIGN & DESIGN, thus appearing right at the beginning, rather than Zanetti Sign & Design and getting stuck at the end.
I for one, as a consumer, will tend to call someone from a medium-sized ad first. My theory is that the "big-ad" companies might be a little less customer service oriented and that the medium-sized ad companies are big enough to be established. Just a theory.
Posted by cheryl nordby (Member # 1100) on :
I had a 1/2 page ad at one time. Yes I did get calls...but the majority were price checking for the cheapest sign. I also had small ads. For me they worked better because I did the design and made it stick out. But to be honest.....I would not go down the yellow page road again. It simply was not worth it for me.
Posted by Robb Lowe (Member # 2121) on :
I have tried the yellow pages ad route twice, and got the same results both times.
A complete and total waste of money. In fact, the biggest single business related waste of money so far.
I know a lot of people say the infamous line about "I cant get that kind of money here in my town", and I know a lot of people say poppycock to that. Well I can tell you for a fact - that unless you marry the biggest housing contractor or realtor's daughter in town - people here will shop till the drop to save one penny.
I once lost a bid over thirty cents! and he was a repeat customer!
Phone calls are 99% of the time tire-kickers who already know what they want and are shopping price. The yellow pages is a conveinence thing, not a sales generating thing, least not around here.
For proof (in my town) - both fastsigns and sign-a-rama have cut their 1/2 to 3/4 page ads, down to 1/4 page.
Wal-Mart is the root of all evil. They have trained the world that price rules, and if you look long enough you can save a penny.
Thats my opinion, and the facts of my 3 year yellow page campaigns, that ran concurrently in both the screenprinting and sign sections.
Posted by old paint (Member # 549) on :
when i 1st started full time i took a small box add in the yellow pages...my co. name is A SIGN MINT the listing of names i show up in the top 3-4. the box add i had was stuffed in the lower right corner of the left page one year and then the lower left of the right page the next(these are the inside next to binder, where no one looks)yellw pages play to the big adds and dont give a hoot about the small ones. ive got a commercial phone so they have to put me in the yellow pages, and having you name show up in the top 3-4 is your best advantage. oh and ive also been told the reason they called A SIGN MINT was because they found it "cute, catchy, smart play of words," rather then being AAAAAA+++++SIGNS......and you will find from year to year how many of those type names dont show up 2 years in a row..
Posted by Doug Allan (Member # 2247) on :
I have seen a higher gross sales each of 5 years since I bought this business. I truly believe that increasing my ad the first 3 years contributed to that growth. But the year before last I cut back from a $400/month ad to $115/mo. I still had a record year & my then-new Gerber EDGE lease payment was almost entirely paid for with the savings from reducing the ad. I have noticed less new customers, but thanks to the EDGE I can offer a wider variety of products that are also more profitable. I stuck with the $115 ad this year & am on pace for another record in sales.
Just reread & thought I may seem to contridict myself if I don't explain that the former owner was around long enough that some name recognition & some existing satisfied customers were part of the business I bought, but mostly equipment & a slight head start on building a client base. The former owner was very talented, but prioritized personal life & surf time a little higher then I do. I felt the business needed to grow some before I relax into having a life. Now I just have to remember to go have one!
[ February 02, 2002: Message edited by: Doug Allan ]
Posted by Mark Fair Signs (Member # 289) on :
i am cutting back to a bear minimum as far as a yellow page ad.
16 years as a one-man shop, I have spent big bucks on "yellerpage" ads.
enough is enough!
this spring my ad will be $38.00.
the small in column ad will simply say...
Fair Signs
visit our online portfolio... markfair.com
then my shop address and phone number.
signs are more cost effective than phone books.
that's the way i see it,
mark
Posted by Chris Lovelady (Member # 2540) on :
Kevin,
we have looked into this issue often but for a Large ad here in Tallahassee it is anywere from $1,500-$2,000.
we have to identify what kind of client that we are wanting. do we want to spend all that time weeding out the tire kickers, and shoppers("i can get that down the street cheeper...").time on the phone does not pay the bills, doing bids that never pan out...we have determined that the kind of clients that we want to atract is Buiness to Buisness relationships(plumber, contractors,electrictions, realestate, artitects that sells signs in there drawings...ect).
we have taken that money, time and used it in being involved in the local building Associations, Chamber of Commerce,ect.... there are so many ways to network in these inviroments and in the procces are give list of participateing members that are sent flyers and mailings, cold calls...ect.the local building associations dues are $400 a yr. and that fee has been payed for over and over..and the customers have been repeat..everyone!
the key ive dicovered is realationships!...if you build strong relationship will these kind of business owners they share you with there other buinesses...and they tell 2 freinds ect...ect...our buiness has grown leaps and bounds this year and no resession has effected us...this has been the busyest Dec.Jan(typically the slowest time of year!)in our buiness life. In my opion it has been because of the relation ships that we have began to build in these communitees of business owners.also i have found that other industries face the same struggles that we sign companys face and haved recieved alot of good advice in the mean time!
i guess what im trying to say is that if you are fishing for bass or cat fish, you want to know what they eat and provide it for them.not just chum the water and see what you get! identify the kind of work that profides the best profit and fills your need for fulfilment in design and production!
good luck fishing...the water in great!
chris
[ February 02, 2002: Message edited by: Chris Lovelady ]
Posted by Tim Whitcher (Member # 685) on :
We run 2 ads in 2 different books. One is a 1/4 page, the other a "dollar bill" size ad. I'm also considering downsizing both ads, but with the discounts I was given to go with the larger ads, I don't think I'll be saving much. I think it has more to do with how you represent yourself in the ad than the size itself. I don't have a large number of competitors in my area, though.
